Recommendation 8

We asked HMPPS why the costs of its Rapid Deployment Cells (RDCs) had risen so significantly.25 HMPPS said that increases were due to three factors: design changes as it developed its understanding of what was needed; site–specific costs due to unforeseen issues such as asbestos; and nutrient neutrality regulations, which require it to offset the impact of projects on the environment.26 We asked MoJ if it had a maximum price that it was willing to pay for a prison place.27 MoJ explained that, while there have been some instances where it had not progressed projects because of cost, there is no specific point at which it would regard a project as too expensive. It told us that decisions to progress projects depend on several factors such as how urgent the need for additional capacity is and how quickly places can be delivered.28 18 C&AG’s Report, para 1.15 19 Qq 23–27 20 Qq 11–13 21 Q 8 22 Q 13 23 Q 23 24 Qq 13–18 25 Q 30 26 Q 31 27 Qq 33,34 28 Q 34 10 Delivering the remaining 14,000 prison places