Issued by: Ministry of Justice

The largest prison building programme since the Victorian era will be accelerated through a £110m investment announced by the Lord Chancellor Alex Norris today (1 September).

• £110m to accelerate construction of prison places alongside investment to secure new land for prisons of future

• Government signs contract to kickstart works on new 1,700 place jail in latest step in prison building boom

• Extra £18.9m for specialist victim support services

The cash will go towards speeding up the construction of hundreds of prison places, as part of Government plans to add 14,000 extra spaces by 2031 to lock up dangerous criminals and keep the public safe.

It will see existing space within prisons converted into cells to deliver much needed capacity - including through unused office space, laundry rooms and storage areas.

Ministers have also confirmed there will be investment to purchase new land to secure potential sites for future prisons and build a credible pipeline to enable more prison building in the future.

Today’s news comes as the Government have signed a contract paving the way for the first phase of works to begin on a new 1,700 place prison in Lancashire.

This is the latest step in decisive action to ensure the country never again faces the nightmare of running out of prison spaces.

Lord Chancellor and Justice Secretary Alex Norris said:

"This Government is serious about fixing the broken prison system we inherited, which is why we’ve already delivered more than 3,200 prison places in just two years.

"We’re now investing to boost these efforts further – getting spades in the ground quicker to deliver thousands more places to lock up dangerous criminals and keep the public safe."

The Lord Chancellor will today update Parliament, setting out changes to upcoming sentencing reforms which will block hundreds more dangerous offenders from earlier release.

The measures also include plans to remove foreign national offenders more quickly, and end the historic injustice of Imprisonment for Public Protection (IPP) sentences in a way that balances fairness and public safety.

The Justice Secretary will also confirm an extra £18.9 million investment into vital services for victims, providing the specialist emotional and practical support needed to help them move on with their lives. This is on top of a record £550 million already announced by Government to bolster this important support over the next three years.

Notes to Editors:

• The £110m has been fast-tracked from existing budgets so Government can deliver prison places more quickly, including turning existing spaces inside prisons into cells. The £18.9 million investment into vital services for victims is also reprioritised from existing budgets.

• Under this Government, we’re spending more than three times as much on building new prisons as was spent over the previous seven years.

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