Company Selected To Build Wrexham Prison

It has been announced that ‘Lend Lease’ has been selected to build the new prison in Wrexham.

The press release published on the Ministry of Justice website said: “The contract proposals offer a significant benefit to the north Wales economy and by creating jobs and opportunities ties in with this Government’s long term plan to build a stronger, more resilient economy. The £151 million (plus VAT) construction contract also ensures that, with other expenses, the overall project spend is set to be £212 million – substantially under the original £250 million estimate.”

“The proposals include approximately £50 million to be spent with small and medium enterprises (SMEs), £30 million to be spent with local businesses and 50% of the entire workforce to be recruited from the local area, including around 100 apprenticeships. Lend Lease has also proposed to offer practical help to local schools and dedicate time to meeting local needs with a community engagement manager employed.”

The release also references the ongoing stat of “The construction of the prison is estimated to create approximately 1,000 jobs and boost the regional economy by bringing in around £23 million a year. ”

Last year we questioned the numbers, with the latter figure now increasing from a previous £17 million however with no details on where the extra £6 million benefit has been found. The figure is quite close to the adjustment for inflation that we suggested at the time.

The estimated job figures are still the same, based on data from 2009.