Under-strain prison system to lose thousands of cells for fire safety and security improvements

Thousands of prison cells could be left empty because they are not fit for inmates to stay in.

It comes at a time when the prison estate is under extreme pressure, with the government already having to extend the prisoner early release scheme to try to free up space – with certain offenders allowed out after having served 40% of their sentence, rather than previous 50%..

Dozens of prisons across England and Wales are set to lose the use of cells while safety issues are fixed, and remedial works take place.

Capacity for thousands of prisoners in 28 different facilities could be taken out of circulation due to issues ranging from fire safety at jails like HMP Durham, Risley, and Swaleside, to broken windows threatening security at HMP Manchester.

In some prisons, Sky News understands makeshift fire standard practices are temporarily in place – including the use of domestic smoke detectors and additional staff on fire safety watch.

HMP Dartmoor, which housed around 650 inmates, remains closed after being mothballed in the summer as high levels of radon gas were detected.

A Prison service spokesperson told Sky News: “We have a rolling programme of maintenance works across the prison estate, to ensure cells are safe and secure.

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“The safety of staff and prisoners is our top priority and we will always take steps to ensure the risk of fire is managed appropriately.”

It comes as the government is pledging £2.3bn to create 14,000 new prison places by 2031 as part of their 10-year Prison Capacity Strategy.

Around 6,400 of the new prison spaces will be at new sites in Lancashire, Yorkshire, Buckinghamshire and Leicestershire.

A further 6,400 spaces will be part of new wings added to existing prison sites, plus 1,000 temporary accommodation “rapid deployment” cells and the refurbishment of a further 1,000.

The government says it is adjusting planning rules to prevent building delays by making prisons infrastructure sites of national importance to reflect their significance for public protection.

Andrea Coomber, from the Howard League for Penal Reform, said: “We cannot build our way out of this crisis.

“The billions of pounds earmarked for opening new jails would be better invested in securing an effective and responsive probation service, working to cut crime in the community.”

The Conservatives promised 20,000 new spaces by the mid-2020s.

By the time they left office, around 6,000 had been built.

Last week the National Audit Office, Whitehall’s spending watchdog, said the promised spaces would not be ready until 2031.

It warned expansion plans were “insufficient to meet projected future demand” and would leave an estimated shortage of more than 12,000 spaces by 2027, despite being billions of pounds over budget.

The Ministry of Justice’s own projections forecast the prison population could rise as high as 105,000 by March 2029.

There are currently just over 86,000 in jail in England and Wales.

Officials are relying on the upcoming sentencing review aimed at exploring the use of non-custodial sentences and alternatives to prison, in the hope of reducing demand on prison capacity.