To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what equipment was purchased for prison gymnasiums, sports halls and sports complexes in each prison in each year since 2007-08.

The Ministry of Justice does hold limited data which can be provided relating to the purchase of gym equipment in prisons. Providing you with the information in the format requested would incur a disproportionate cost as locating and consolidating this information at local level would require significant resource within the timescales for submission. We are however able to provide limited information extracted from the MoJ Procurement Directorate.

Since 2007 the NOMS HM Prison Service has contracted with three main suppliers of gym/sports equipment who are Newitts Ltd, Physique plc and Service Sport. Newitts product portfolio consists of mainly light sports equipment, such as rackets, bats, free weights and consumables etc. Physique and Service Sport product ranges mainly consist of gym machines and other light sports equipment. The HM Prison Service where possible purchases remanufactured/refurbished heavy gym equipment. Purchasing equipment is considered the most cost-effective method of procuring those types of goods and where it is possible the HM Prison Service will be continuing with purchasing remanufactured equipment, subject to availability. The MoJ is currently working in collaboration with the Ministry of Defence for the next generation supply framework contract where a collaborative approach will allow the MoJ and MOD to leverage its economies of scale in the market place. This activity is currently being advertised in the Official Journal of the European Union. The framework contract is due for completion in summer 2011.

The net expenditure for those years is as follows: