Much of the focus on prison reform in recent months has been
on managing burgeoning demand for places. The newly formed Justice
Select Committee started their examination of Prisons Minister Lord Timpson
this week by asking how long the space freed up by the SDS 40 early release
scheme might last.
The answer it seems is next Autumn or maybe a bit longer.
That’s hoped to be enough time to create longer term sustainability in the
system by putting in place whatever legislative changes are recommended by the David
Gauke Sentencing Review.
But is that realistic? Even if Gauke manages to report in
the Spring, his proposals are likely to be controversial. Getting them on to
the statute book and then implemented could easily take another year.
The MoJ handily has a couple of further demand reduction
measures up its sleeve- a change to the process of recalling released prisoners
to jail in April and extending to a year the period of release on a Home
Detention Curfew for eligible prisoners, from June. So they may muddle through.
But what about the supply of new prison places?
MPs heard that the new all electric Millsike Prison
in North Yorkshire is on track to open in April, (although like all new prisons
will surely need time to reach its full capacity of 1500). A new houseblock at
Rye Hill in Warwickshire will also be ready early next year which should add 450
additional places. Timpson also said that HMP Dartmoor - closed in the Summer because
of high levels of Radon- will re-open when safe, making more than 600 places available.
Prison Service Chief Amy Rees told the Committee that planning
permission had now been granted for 17,000 of the 20,000 proposed new prison places.
(The outstanding decision on the one remaining new build prison near Wymott and
Garth in Lancashire is
due to be made by mid-December).
Planning delays have added between 18 months and 3 years to
the original timelines according to Ms Rees. In future, planning for prisons
will be treated as Crown
development with urgent procedures for reaching decisions and more in the
way of permitted development on existing sites.
On the downside, Timpson revealed that 100 projects in
courts and prisons were affected when construction company ISG filed for
administration in September. 79 will require re-procurement.
He also acknowledged the significant shortcomings in the
physical condition of the existing estate although did not put a financial cost
on the backlog of maintenance. It was £1
billion in 2021.
What we do know is that there are still 23,000 cells which
require fire safety upgrades. According to my calculations, the necessary work has
been progressing at the rate
of about 3,000 cells a year- far too few to meet the commitment to complete
the work by 2027. The latest HMPPS
Annual report, published last week but curiously unmentioned in the Select Committee,
says reaching the target is “finely balanced in terms of the future headroom position
and we are likely to require additional places out of use in future years to
achieve this aim.”
More broadly, inspection and monitoring reports have drawn
repeated attention to often shocking failings in infrastructure. These aren’t limited
to the 25 odd prisons dating from the Victorian era. The HMPPS Annual Report revealed
that in May 2024, eight sites were confirmed as containing RAAC.
HMPPS have undertaken a comprehensive survey of conditions
in the prisons. I was pleased to hear Ms Rees tell the committee that the
report of the survey would be published shortly particularly as the MoJ had
refused my FOI request to see it.
But then according to the HMPPS Annual Report, the Final Report
of the Survey was published in June 2024. It hasn’t. I have asked the
Justice Committee to try to clarify the position.