\n<\/p>\n
The government has reneged on a pledge to make all prison cells fire-safe or take them out of use by the end of next year, meaning tens of thousands of prisoners in England and Wales will remain at risk.<\/p>\n
The Ministry of Justice has admitted it has known for almost two decades that about a quarter of prison places are unsafe, putting the people housed in affected cells at risk.<\/p>\n
Successive governments had pledged to remedy the situation by the end of 2027, but that commitment has now been dropped and the government has not set a new date.<\/p>\n
Earlier this week, the Guardian reported on the inquest of Clare Dupree, a woman with severe mental illness who died in a fire in her cell at HMP Eastwood.<\/p>\n
The inquest jury found there had been \u201cmissed opportunities\u201d to prevent Dupree\u2019s death, and that a \u201clack of automatic in-cell fire detection caused a delay in detecting the fire\u201d.<\/p>\n
There have been at least eight other deaths in cell fires in prisons since 2011, and the independent fire safety regulator, the Crown Premises Fire Safety Inspectorate (CPFSI), reports that 44% of prisons in England are awaiting installation of automatic fire detectors (AFDs).<\/p>\n
The Howard League, a penal reform charity, has threatened the government with legal action if it does not remedy the situation, saying it \u201cis legally and morally incumbent\u201d on ministers to keep people in prison safe.<\/p>\n
It has sent pre-action letters in relation to five prisons across the women\u2019s, men\u2019s and youth estate: Swaleside, Eastwood Park, Norwich, Wetherby and Wandsworth.<\/p>\n
In correspondence between the Howard League and the Ministry of Justice on 16 January, the MoJ\u2019s lawyers said it had \u201cbeen apparent for some time\u201d that prison cells required in-cell AFDs to mitigate fire risk, and that \u201cthe lack of such AFD in cells poses a significant fire safety risk that needs to be addressed\u201d.<\/p>\n
The lawyers added the MoJ \u201caccepts that there are cells at each of the five prisons that are not currently equipped with in-cell AFD\u201d.<\/p>\n
In an letter from His Majesty\u2019s Prison and Probation Service to the CPFSI on 19 January, HMPPS said it would \u201cnot be possible\u201d for the department to fulfil its previous commitment to \u201cmake all cells across the prison estate fully fire-safety compliant by the end of 2027\u201d.<\/p>\n
It said: \u201cThe department does not intend to set out a new date by which the works needed for compliance will be completed.\u201d<\/p>\n
HMPPS cited limited prison capacity for the delay, adding that taking \u201cremaining non-compliant cells out of use\u201d for in-cell AFD installations would \u201cinevitably \u2013 and significantly \u2013 breach critical capacity, resulting in the collapse of the proper functioning of the prison and wider criminal justice system with attendant intolerable risk to public safety\u201d.<\/p>\n
Gemma Abbott, legal director at the Howard League, said: \u201cWhen the state holds people in custody, it is incumbent on it, legally and morally, to ensure that they are safe.<\/p>\n
\u201cContinuing to keep tens of thousands of people in cells that are a fire risk, having known about the problem for almost two decades, is shameful. Failing even to install automatic fire detection in Clare Dupree\u2019s cell, more than three years after the fire that claimed her life, is an insult to her memory.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe government seems unwilling to come to terms with, or be honest about, the scale of the problem. It was only after the Howard League threatened litigation that the Ministry of Justice admitted its latest position to the regulator.<\/p>\n
\u201cPrisons are under enormous pressure, but this is no excuse for inaction. Overcrowding is a problem of politicians\u2019 own making, and projections indicate that the prison population will continue to rise. How can ministers waste billions on building new jails when lives depend on them fixing the prisons we already have?\u201d<\/p>\n
An HMPPS spokesperson said: \u201cWe take the safety of our prisons extremely seriously, and we are carrying out our plans to meet fire safety standards as fast as possible across the estate.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn the meantime, we have put measures in place to keep people safe, with every cell either linked to an automatic fire detection system or using a smoke detector.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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