Source · Select Committees · Public Accounts Committee
Recommendation 1
1
Accepted
Progress in expanding the prison estate examined by the Committee.
Conclusion
On the basis of a report by the Comptroller and Auditor General, we took evidence from the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) and HM Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS) on their progress in expanding the prison estate.1
Government Response Summary
The government agreed with what it perceived as the committee's recommendation, committing to actively adapting processes for the 20,000 prison place programmes, capturing lessons learned quarterly, and reviewing its Lessons Learned Strategy bi-annually, with the next review in October 2025.
Government Response
Accepted
HM Government
Accepted
The government agrees with the Committee’s recommendation. committed to implementing findings and recommendations from reviews, subject to assessment, and is actively adapting processes to incorporate knowledge gained from the delivery of the 20,000 prison place programmes. Findings from an internal 2022 Peer Assurance Review with Network Rail highlighted several areas for improvement, with a significant proportion having been implemented in the period since. Notably, both the MoJ and HMPPS will continue to capture lessons learned for prison place programmes quarterly. This learning is proactively shared across programmes and stakeholders to improve future delivery. To ensure that the Lessons Learned Strategy, and associated Log, remain fit for purpose and consistent with current best practice, HMPPS is committed to reviewing these on a minimum of a bi-annual basis, with the next review point in October 2025. HMPPS will ensure these materials can be used to embed delivery insights into the 20,000 prison place programmes, land acquisition workstreams and longer-term prison supply through iterative best practice. Additionally, Senior Responsible Owners (SROs) are committed to overseeing regular internal lessons learned exercises at key milestones, ensuring informed delivery of their programmes. Upon completion of the ongoing review into the handling of prison capacity, the MoJ and HMPPS will consider how best to apply recommendations to improve delivery of the remaining 14,000 prison places. The MoJ and HMPPS will continue to be active in feeding into future major infrastructure projects and strategies across government.