To ask the Secretary of State for Justice (1) who his Department consulted prior to the decision to secure the site at Beam Park West to build a prison; who will be responsible for making the decision on the planning application to construct a prison on that site; and whether his Department has contingency plans for circumstances in which planning permission for that site is refused; (275074)

My Department consulted both the London Development Agency and the Greater London Authority concerning the availability of sites in the London area.

The responsibility for submitting the planning application is with the head of site assessment and planning within NOMS. It will be submitted to the London borough of Barking and Dagenham and determined by the London Thames Gateway Development Corporation.

Prior to the submission of a planning application for the site, officials will hold a public exhibition of the proposals. A wide area surrounding the site will be leafleted, advising local people of the exhibition and our proposals for the prison. The local planning authority will be consulted about the scope, location, date and time of the exhibition and about specific groups of local people, councillors and others they feel we should make a special presentation to.

We will consider the options available to us should the application be refused.

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice (1) when he expects the proposed prison on the Beam Park West site to reach its prisoner capacity; (275076)

Construction activity at the Beam Park West site will commence once the contracts have been awarded and a successful bidder is in place. This timetable is therefore dependent on successful conclusion of the procurement and detailed planning processes, currently estimated to be mid-2011. Construction itself will take approximately two years.

It is intended that the proposed Beam Park West site will be populated in a phased manner taking into account wider population management issues across the estate. It is anticipated that within six months of opening, the site would be running at its intended capacity.

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice (1) by what mechanisms the criteria for bids for (a) construction and (b) operation of the proposed prison on the Beam Park West site will be published; and when he expects such criteria to be published; (275092)

The tender criteria for Beam Park West will be published via an invitation to tender (ITT), and in line with the Official Journal of the European Union (OJEU) compliant EU procurement directives, during the main procurement later this year.

The timetable for bidder engagement is expected to commence at some stage this year with the publication of the relevant OJEU notice.

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice (1) what estimate he has made of the number of jobs which will be created by building a prison on the Beam Park West site; (275115)

Research indicates that the operation of a 1,500 place prison is likely to create around 800 jobs, many of which are likely to be held by local people.

It is not anticipated that the construction of a prison will have an adverse impact on local transport infrastructure. However, following discussions with the local planning and highways authorities, a transport assessment will be submitted in support of the planning application.