Simon Burns

Conservative Party | Chelmsford West

Simon Burns MP secures commitment from Justice Secretary, Jack Straw MP, that there will be no new prison at Boreham Airfield

28 April 2009

Commenting on his question in the House of Commons to Jack Straw, Simon Burns MP said:

"I am sure that my constituents in the Boreham, Great Leighs and Northern Springfield will be as relived as I am by Justice Secretary Jack Straw's commitment that Boreham Airfield will not be the site of a new 1,500 place prison.

"Later in the Parliamentary Statement in the Commons, he went on to reconfirm this by saying that apart from a new prison at Runwell there will be no other new prisons in the whole of the county of Essex. This commitment means categorically that Boreham Airfield will not be used, and that is good news for the local community in the northern part of Chelmsford and the surrounding villages."

ENDS

Notes to Editors

Hansard – 27th April 2009 : Column 569

Prisons and Probation Statement

Mr. Simon Burns (West Chelmsford) (Con): Will the Secretary of State confirm that Boreham airfield was also on the list for consideration as a Titan prison? Can he assure me, for my constituents' peace of mind, that Boreham airfield will not be proposed at a later date for consideration as a mini-Titan prison? Boreham would be totally unsuitable for that purpose and the people of Chelmsford would not accept it.

Mr. Straw: The hon. Gentleman will recognise that we have announced the two sites today, and a list was made public on Friday, in response to the hon. Member for Billericay (Mr. Baron), of the large number of sites that we have looked at. We have made relative assessments about those sites. I cannot make a prediction for ever and a day, but we have announced two sites today and the one to which the hon. Gentleman referred is not one of them. I would add that it is improbable that we would build two prisons quite so close to each other on such different sites.

Later in the Statement Jack Straw also said:

Mr. Straw: We have no plans to build additional prisons in Essex, apart from the ones that have been announced. Last Friday, we responded to a freedom of information decision of the commissioner—the FOI request had been put in by the hon. Member for Billericay—and from recollection, the information provided listed 72 sites across the country. That reveals an inherent problem in the planning of all such big projects: to begin with, such sites must be identified fairly privately …but many sites are ruled out from the beginning. However, an FOI request was made. I thought there were good reasons, precisely so as not unnecessarily to worry local residents …not to make those proposed sites public, because these were simply inquiries. However, wherever a decision is made to secure a site—that is the decision, and no more, that I have announced today in respect of Runwell and Beam Park West—there is a proper planning process and process of public consultation in the normal way.