The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) has awarded a Serco Group-led consortium a contract to provide and operate a new prison at Belmarsh West, London. The contract has a value to Serco of approximately £415m, and will run for 26 and a half years.

Serco will operate Belmarsh West, a local prison, under a Design, Construct, Manage and Finance contract.

The prison, which will be built to Category B standards by Serco's construction partner Skanska, will accommodate 900 adult male prisoners.

Construction works will begin immediately, with completion expected in the first half of 2012. Equity and debt finance has been secured from third parties.

This is the first prison contract to be awarded in the UK to an alliance of the private and voluntary sectors.

The prison is designed to be highly efficient and, as a local prison with a high remand population, Serco's focus will be to minimise the dislocation that short-term imprisonment can cause.

In conjunction with other providers Serco will also support the effective delivery of prison healthcare and other services, to ensure a safe, secure and decent environment for those in our care.

Serco had previously announced its selection, in June 2009, as the preferred bidder to provide and operate two new prisons at Belmarsh West, London and Maghull, Liverpool. It is intended that the contract to provide and operate the prison at Maghull will be signed later this year.