§ Mr. WilshireTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) what consultations he carried out1160W with the local borough council and local residents before deciding to build a Category A unit for female prisoners at Ashford, Middlesex Prison; [133707]
(2) what the anticipated cost is of building the proposed Category A unit for female prisoners at Ashford, Middlesex Prison; [133712]
(3) what will be the maximum number of prisoners that can be accommodated at the proposed Category A unit at the women's prison at Ashford, Middlesex. [133705]
§ Mr. BoatengThere is no proposal to build a category A unit at Ashford. However, the Prison Service notified Spelthorne Borough Council on 13 July that it was proposing to ask bidders for the prison to design and cost proposals to hold high security (category A) women. In order to meet the security requirements for holding category A women, it is proposed to make one small design change, a facility to hold dogs in kennels. The remaining upgrade will be procedural, including extra patrols (with or without dogs), additional searching and close monitoring of the movement of the individuals concerned. The existing proposal for internal and external physical security are considered sufficient for use with category A prisoners.