Labour admits fast-track prison plans would overrule local authorities due to ‘national importance’

Labour admits fast-track prison plans would overrule local authoritiesBBC

Transcript

00:00Telegraph this morning saying that means that you're going to fast-track

00:03applications and overrule the objections of local people, local councils. Is that

00:08right? Yes, so our manifesto commitment was that we consider prisons to be of

00:13national importance. These are critical infrastructure projects. They

00:19are absolutely necessary in order to make sure the country doesn't run out of

00:22prison places and no government has to face the inheritance I faced when I

00:27walked into the Ministry of Justice and I was told that we were just days away

00:30from running out of prison places. So in order to prevent that happening of

00:35course the building of new prisons has to be considered and we would want to

00:39get that done more quickly and what we've said is that future a new prison

00:43building will take place according to the Crown development route, that's what

00:47it's called, but essentially the decision goes to the Secretary of State for

00:50housing communities and local government.