Plans to build nine new prisons across England and Wales are set to create a raft of new construction jobs, the Construction Industry Training Board (CITB) has said.

The £3bn prison proposals aim to replace outdated Victorian jails, which will be sold off to free up space for approximately 3,000 homes while raising funds to pay for the building programme.

Gillian Econopouly, Head of Policy and Research at CITB, said: "The expected announcement to build nine new prisons by 2020 is a further demonstration of the Government's commitment to new infrastructure projects.

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"The challenge, however, is to find and develop skilled workers for these projects. We are playing a key role in training skilled workers for the North Wales Prison in Wrexham and look forward to working with industry and Government to do the same for these proposed new prisons."

Each of the new institutes could cost from approximately £270m to £320m with 10,000 inmates being relocated.

However, reports suggest the reforms could save the Treasury £80m a year.

Chancellor George Osbourne will unveil full details of the prison reform plan in the spending review on 25 November.

He said: "We are going to reform the infrastructure of our prison system, building new institutions which are modern, suitable and rehabilitative.

"And we will close old, outdated prisons in city centres, and sell the sites to build thousands of much-needed new homes.

"This will save money, reform an outdated public service and create opportunity by boosting construction jobs and offering more people homes to buy."

It is hoped the construction of at least five new prisons will be completed by 2020.

(LM/MH)