Written question asked by Jon Cruddas (Labour) on Thursday, 14 May 2009, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Monday, 18 May 2009. It was answered by Jack Straw (Labour) on Monday, 1 June 2009 on behalf of the Ministry of Justice.

Prisons: Barking and Dagenham

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice (1) pursuant to the statement of 27 April 2009, Official Report, columns 569-71, on prisons and probation (1) how many visits members of his Department have made to the Beam Park West site in connection with the construction of a prison; and when the first such visit took place;

Answer: As part of the Capacity Programme, a number of site searches have been carried out to meet a range of requirements.Following the publication of Lord Carter's report 'Securing the future; Proposals for the efficient and sustainable use of custody in England and Wales' in December 2007, a list of potential sites for 2,500 place "Titan" prisons was drawn up. This included 12 sites in Essex, but not Beam Park West.The Beam Park West site was identified during an exercise to identify potential sites for a prison in London. This was undertaken jointly with the London Development Agency in autumn 2008.As announced on 27 April, instead of building three 2,500 place prisons, we will now build five 1,500 place prisons. The Beam Park West site is one of two sites announced on 27 April for these new prisons.Following the identification of the Beam Park West site as potentially suitable for prison development, National Offender Management Service officials have visited the site on two occasions, 20 January and 5 February this year.

Secondary information

Type: Written question
Reference: 493 c82W; 276406
Session: 2008-09
Related items: Prisons and Probation
Monday, 27 April 2009
Parliamentary proceedings
House of Commons
Subjects: Prisons Barking and Dagenham
Link: View this Written question on www.publications.parliament.uk