To ask the Secretary of State for Justice for what reasons he chose (a) Wales and (b) London as the first regions in which to introduce the structural changes to the prison and probation service; and what factors he took into account in choosing those regions. (184056)

The decision to move to new regional structures for the Prison and Probation Services in London and Wales in April as part of the restructuring of the National Offender Management Service was taken because the operational assessment is that the transition to these new arrangements will be more straightforward in London and Wales than in other regions.