Last month Justice Secretary Alex Chalk told MPs that
“One of the last things that a Prisons Minister or Lord Chancellor worth their
salt thinks about as they go to bed is fire. It is important that we do what we
can on that to bear down on it, quite apart from the fact that there is a
statutory requirement on us”.
Latest
figures show that Fire and Rescue Services attended 1,012 incidents in English
prisons in the last financial year up 20% on 2021/22. 21 incidents were also
recorded in what are referred to as Young Offender Units, up from 11 the year
before.
The Home Office data is detailed but not as informative as
it could be about the seriousness of the incidents. For example, there were 92
fatalities/casualties recorded in the prison data but the category is wide
covering “those with injuries requiring hospital attention, those requiring
first aid at the scene and those given advice to have precautionary checks
(whether they then take that advice or not)”.
In 250 cases there was no fire damage, and in 414 damage was
limited to the item first ignited. In 312 incidents fire spread was limited to
the room of origin. Yet, in more than 400 incidents more than four vehicles
attended suggesting a high level of concern on the part of firefighters.
It goes without saying that in responding to reports of fire
it is better to be safe than sorry. The Prison service is undertaking a wide
range of much needed work to improve fire safety. The Home Office data reports that
in three quarters of prison incidents an alarm was present and raised the alarm. But in the remaining cases an alarm was absent, or
present and did not raise the alarm or operate. While expert work is needed to
fully understand what this means, we do know that in April the Crown
Premises Fire Safety Inspectorate reported that three prisons- two private and one public- had
enforcement notices in force, meaning necessary safety improvements of some sort were
outstanding.
Fires have claimed many lives in detention facilities around
the world and its encouraging to see Chalk take the problem seriously. It is
more troubling to read that his cabinet colleague the deputy Prime Minister
considers concerns
about fire risks in asylum seeker accommodation to be politically motivated.