Ministers sign contract to kickstart work on new Leyland 'super prison'

The Government has signed a contract to kickstart work on new 1,700-place prison near Leyland.

The Ministry of Justice (MOJ) made the announcement on Tuesday in a wider statement about a prison building boom - to “ensure the country never again faces the nightmare of running out of prison spaces”.

The MOJ said three companies had been given the contract for the work - Kier, Laing O’Rourke and Wates Construction - but did not reveal how much the contract was for. However, it has been widely reported as worth between £236m and £400m several industry publicatons.

Details on when work will begin have not been revealed.

The category C ‘super prison’ - part of the Government’s Alliance 4 New Prisons programme - will now spring up on land alongside the existing Garth and Wymott lock-ups, in Ulnes Walton. It means the combined jail population in the area will reach more than 3,700 - exceeding the number of people living in the village itself by around 1,000.

The resettlement facility - which will house men nearing the end of their sentences - was first put on the table by the previous Conservative government before also being pursued by the new Labour administration in an effort to bolster the country’s dwindling prison capacity.

The decision to allow the prison was eventually made by the High Court, after years of protests from locals and politicians, including South Ribble MP Paul Foster, who said he was “hugely disappointed”.

The news comes as Justice Secretary Alex Norris set out his plans to build hundreds of extra prison places with £110 million of investment and announced an 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.

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.”