WIREDGOV

A fresh search for sites on which to build new 1,500 place prisons is set to begin, Justice Minister Maria Eagle announced today.

News of the search by the Ministry of Justice comes after Secretary of State for Justice, Jack Straw announced plans in April to create 7,500 new prison places by setting up new establishments.

The National Offender Management Service, which runs prisons in England and Wales for the Ministry of Justice, will look across the country for sites to serve areas with greatest demand for prison places. The search will be focused on London, the North West, North Wales, and West Yorkshire.

So far, plans for two new 1,500 place prisons have been announced – one on the site of the former Runwell Secure Psychiatric Hospital in Essex and one at Beam Park West, Dagenham.

Justice Minister Maria Eagle said:

‘Crime has fallen by more than a third since 1997, with 70% more violent and dangerous offenders locked up, and for longer. We have already created 25,000 additional prison places in the last 12 years and we are committed to providing sufficient prison places to hold serious and persistent offenders, who rightly should be behind bars.

‘These new prisons will allow us to further modernise the estate. They will help protect the public and make communities safer by providing regimes to punish and reform offenders.

‘Finding the most appropriate place for a new prison is of paramount importance. They should be located in those areas where there is the greatest need, areas where the greater number of prisoners come from.

‘This will allow us to keep prisoners closer to their home areas and will help ensure that important family and other links can be maintained, which help prisoner rehabilitation. As part of this search, we will announce our interest in an identified site and will consult with all interested parties.’

The outcome of the site search will be a published shortlist of potential sites. Once a site is identified, consultation with local MPs, local authorities and residents will be undertaken in order to achieve the most open and transparent process possible.

Once consultation has concluded, we will seek to acquire that site with an appropriate planning consent.

Notes to editors

1. On the 4 August 2009, the National Offender Management Service (NOMS) launched a competition via the Official Journal of the European Union (OJEU) to appoint up to seven suppliers to a Private Finance Initiative (PFI) New Prisons framework, to build up to five new 1,500 place PFI prisons.
2. Last week, seven suppliers were invited to compete for inclusion on a framework which will allow firms to bid for contracts to design, build and run new prisons by the Ministry of Justice.
3. Now the lead consortia will be invited by NOMS to submit a tender for inclusion on the framework, following evaluation of Pre-Qualification Questionnaires issued as part of the procurement exercise.
4. For more information please contact Tom Hodson in the Ministry of Justice press office on 020 3334 3527.