Justice Minister Jack Straw has said that a site near Lichfield would not have been suitable for a Titan prison.
But he gave no indication over whether the site at Curborough would be considered for one of the three remaining smaller 1,500-capacity prisons which the Government is intending to build instead across the UK.
The site – which was once earmarked as the site of an eco-town – was on a list of more than 70 across Britian which was published last month.
Mr Straw’s comments came in reply to a question posed by Lichfield MP Michael Fabricant who had asked for more details over the plans for Curborough.
Hansard reports Mr Straw as replying:
“We will not be proceeding with the 2,500 place ‘Titan’ prisons, but we will be building 1,500 place prisons instead. There are no current plans for prisons on any of the sites listed other than those named by me in Parliament on April 27.”
“The site at Curborough was one of a number of sites brought to the attention of the National Offender Management Service as part of the site search exercise for ‘Titan’ prisons to hold 2,500 prisoners. It was assessed, but not considered suitable for development as a Titan.”
