The Fire Next Time?

 

As wide-ranging collective failures to prioritise fire safety are laid bare in the report into the Grenfell Tower tragedy, what’s being done in a high risk area where central government has sole responsibility- prisons? 

As the Prison Service’s Instruction to its staff makes clear “a  fire occurring anywhere within custodial premises could have serious consequences in terms of life, safety, business continuity and security”.

And many do occur. Latest Home Office data show that in the last financial year, Fire and Rescue Services attended 1,892 incidents in prisons and young offender units in England-an 82% increase on 2022-3.

Trends are broadly consistent with figures released by the Justice Ministry showing that including prisons in Wales, the number of fires in cells rose from 1,410 in 2022 to 2,287 in 2023- up 62%.

While there were only three fire related fatalities in prisons between 2016-17 and 2022-3 (the latest period for which data is available), there were 887 non-fatal casualties over the seven year period. This category comprises a range of cases needing precautionary checks as well as hospital admissions.

Of concern is the fact that the Home Office data show that in more than four out of five incidents attended by Fire Services last year, there was no safety system in place- such as sprinklers or misting.

The Prison Service has embarked on a much needed Fire Safety Improvement Programme to increase detection and fire suppression measures in its establishments. The aim is to bring all prison accommodation up to modern fire safety standards by the end of 2027, a commitment made to the Crown Premises Fire Safety Inspectorate (CPFSI) who enforce the standards in government buildings.

The last HMPPS annual report said 4,000 places were brought up to par in 2022-3, leaving 26,000 to work on. In March this year, 23,500 still lacked automatic fire detection suggesting only 2,500 cells were upgraded in 2023-4.  At that rate of progress, HMPPS will struggle to complete the work by 2030 let alone 2027.

Troublingly, the latest HMPPS annual report also said that “prison capacity pressures have restricted our ability to take places out of use for refurbishment and compliance works”. Pressed by MPs on the Justice Committee, then Prisons Minister Ed Argar denied in March this year that any essential works necessary to address critical risks to life had been paused. But there has been slippage.

The Independent Monitoring Board at HMP Leicester said in their report on the year to January 2024 that “the project to complete the fire safety and other alarm systems has been further delayed and is still not complete after three and a half years”.  The delays may not of course have been to prevent loss of capacity. At HMP Lewes, there were problems relating to “the age of the building and the state of the electrical system, with cost and compatibility issues.” But its not inconceivable that the desperate need for cell space has led to some improvement work being postponed.

So what should the new government do to manage fire risks in prison more effectively?

First and most important is to ensure that the funds are available to maintain the programme of fire safety work to meet the 2027 deadline if at all possible.

Second, they should take a look at the adequacy of the CPFSI, which has a staff of 15 to enforce standards in 16,000 government buildings. The fact that it has only just published its annual report for 2022-23  suggests it may be struggling.

Third, given that prisons pose by far the highest risk among public buildings, should HM Inspectorate of Prisons (HMIP) look at fire safety issues during their visits to places of detention?. Their report on HMP Chelmsford published in May 2024 fails to mention that the prison was subject to an enforcement notice which was in force at the time of their inspection visit in February, according to the CPFSI register at least.

Three other public prisons and two private ones also had notices in force in February 2024 when the register was last updated. 

Fire safety is something which Ofsted look at in their inspections of Secure Childrens Homes, criticising the obstruction of a fire exit route in one. Why shouldn’t HMIP?

There are practical steps which the prison service and individual prisons should take to reduce risks. Argar promised before the election that an ignition-free Safer Vape Pen will replace the existing product, which is apparently the source of approximately 80 per cent of fires set in prisons. 

But there are structural measures needed as well. The Grenfell report recommends the government bring responsibility for the functions relating to fire safety currently exercised by the Housing Department, the Home Office and the Department for Business and Trade into one department under a single Secretary of State.

Clearer lines of accountability and scrutiny are needed to promote fire safety in prison too.