§ Ms RuddockTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) if he will name the construction firms which were hired to build each prison that has come on stream in the last 15 years;
(2) what are the projected capital costs, and over what period, of the new private prisons announced on 6 October;
(3) whether the proposed new prisons announced on 6 October are in addition to the prison building programme currently nearing completion.
§ Mr. Peter LloydResponsibility for these matters has been delegated to the director general of the Prison Service, who has been asked to arrange for a reply to be given.
Letter from D. Lewis to Ms Joan Ruddock, dated 18 October 1993:
The Home Secretary has asked me to reply to your recent Questions about the prison building programme and the proposals to build six new prisons.I attach a table listing the construction firms employed to build the new prisons which have opened in the last 15 years.The six new prisons to which the Home Secretary referred on 6 October are in addition to the current new prison building programme which will be completed when Doncaster prison opens next year. The construction of the first two of these prisons was announced in the Autumn statement last year. On 2 September 1993 the Home Secretary announced that the design, construction, management and potentially financing of the new prisons would be contracted out to the private sector. I expect that the further four prisons which were announced on 6 October will be procured in the same way. It is too early to indicate the cost of these prisons which will be assessed on the basis of value for money obtained for the complete financial package comprising 113W both capital and operating costs. Outline proposals and expressions of interest in the first two prisons will be invited shortly.
Prison Location Date of Opening Main Construction Contractor Wymott Leyland Lancashire April 1979 Alfred McAlpine Frankland Frankland Durham April 1982 Fairclough Wayland Thetford Norfolk January 1985 Carters of Norwich Stocken Oakham Leicestershire June 1985 Miller Construction Thorn Cross Warrington Cheshire July 1985 Shepherd Construction Full Sutton Full Sutton York September 1987 Monk Construction Littlehey Huntingdon Cambridgeshire January 1988 Bovis Construction Mount Bovingdon Hertfordshire March 1988 Wimpey Construction Garth Leyland Lancashire July 1988 Tarmac Swaleside Isle of Sheppey Kent May 1990 Mowlem Belmarsh South East London April 1991 Wimpey Construction Moorland Hatneld Woodhouse South Yorkshire July 1991 Higgs and Hill Whitemoor March Cambridgeshire September 1991 Monk Construction Brinsford Featherstone Staffordshire November 1991 Taylor Woodrow Elmley Isle of Sheppey Kent February 1992 Mowlem Bullingdon Bicester Oxon March 1992 Kier Construction Wolds Brough North Humberside April 1992 UK Detention Contractors (Consortium: Mowlem and Sir Robert McAlpine) Holme House Stockton-on-Tees Cleveland May 1992 Sir Robert McAlpine Woodhill Milton Keynes Buckinghamshire July 1992 Higgs and Hill High Down Banstead Surrey August 1992 Alfred McAlpine Lancaster Farms Lancaster March 1993 AMEC Blakenhurst Redditch Worcestershire May 1993 Tarmac Doncaster South Yorkshire April 1994 Shepherd Construction