Building New Prisons and Making Existing Ones Safe

 

Just before Easter, Prisons Minister Ed Argar gave the Justice committee an update on the prison building programme.  He reported that of 20,000 planned new places, 5,856 are in use. Well over half are in the two new prisons Five Wells and Fosse Way, the remainder at 37 existing locations mostly achieved through refurbishment, emergency temporary accommodation and rapid deployment cells with 204 empty cells brought into use in three private jails.  

Argar assured MPs that the MoJ is on track to have a total of 10,000 places available at the end of 2025, thanks to a third new prison (HMP Millsike), new houseblocks at two current sites and “hundreds more rapid deployment cells”.

That leaves 10,000 more places to create.  Half are intended to be in three further new prisons. Outline planning permission has been obtained for two with a planning inquiry into the third re-opening last week. Road safety is a sticking point   with the hearing due to conclude, after a break, at the end of this month.

The final 5,000 places will be built “through a range of projects” including a new houseblock at Fosse Way and an expansion of open prisons. Argar’s boss Alex Chalk has promised Parliament an annual statement on prison capacity so there may be a chance for MPs to interrogate the plans if and when that happens before the election.

In the meantime, Argar reassured the Justice Committee that as far as the current prison estate is concerned, the surge in demand for space has not resulted in any essential works necessary to address critical risks to life being paused. In particular work to bring 23,500 prison places into line with modern fire safety standards remains on course to be completed by the end of 2027.   HMPPS has previously reported that capacity pressures have restricted their ability to take places out of use for refurbishment and compliance works, so Argar’s statement is welcome.

Additional fire safety issues in specific prisons have recently become known. The latest entries in the register published by the Crown Premises Fire Safety Inspectorate show enforcement notices were issued at Eastwood Park and Holme House at the end of last year along with an alterations notice at Swaleside which means that there are or could be high safety risks in the Kent prison. This is of particular concern given a prisoner died there from smoke inhalation in 2019.   

The register shows a notice issued in 2022 has not yet been complied with at Chelmsford and two made in 2021 are still in force at privately run Oakwood and Northumberland. 

There is certainly no cause for complacency.