Documents obtained by the Howard League for Penal Reform through a Freedom of Information (FOI) request highlight significant delays in delivering essential fire safety improvements across prisons in England and Wales. This includes seven establishments where fatal fires have occurred.

The Howard League has stated: “The Ministry of Justice has known for almost 20 years that tens of thousands of people in prison are forced to occupy cells that do not meet lawful fire safety standards. Faced with a capacity crisis so acute that more than half of prisons are overcrowded, the Government has reneged on a commitment to make all cells fire-safe by the end of 2027 or take them out of use. No new deadline has been set.”

As of late last year, more than 60 prisons were awaiting works to improve fire safety measures. These include Stocken, Eastwood Park, Swaleside, Risley, Wealstun, Chelmsford and Holme House, all of which have experienced fatal fire incidents within the past 15 years.

Over 40 prisons were also awaiting the installation of in-cell automatic fire detection systems, which are critical for the prompt identification of fire incidents and a timely staff response. Eastwood Park is among these, where a fire in December 2022 resulted in the death of Clare Dupree.

An inquest at Avon Coroner’s Court found "missed opportunities" to prevent the incident and concluded that the "lack of automatic in-cell fire detection" delayed identification of the fire. More than three years on, such systems have yet to be installed in the cell where the incident occurred.

Freedom of Information findings

The Ministry of Justice provided data in alphabetical format, limiting the ability to assess risk or prioritisation across the prison estate.

The Howard League has requested further details, including the number of affected cells and timelines for remedial works, but this information has not been provided. The organisation has indicated it will pursue legal action if greater transparency is not achieved.

Pre-action letters were sent in October to Eastwood Park, Norwich, Swaleside, Wandsworth and Wetherby. Works have yet to begin in four of these prisons, including Eastwood Park and Swaleside.

Following the potential for legal challenge, the Government informed the Crown Premises Fire Safety Inspectorate that it no longer intends to withdraw non-compliant cells from use by the end of 2027.

Chaos in the system

Andrea Coomber KC (Hon), CEO of the Howard League for Penal Reform, stated: “From chronic overcrowding and rising violence to record levels of self-harm and people being released by mistake, chaos in the prison system is rarely out of the headlines. Until now, fire safety has largely remained under the radar, but the long-running detention of tens of thousands of people in fire-risk cells, and the Government’s U-turn on a deadline to solve this issue, amounts to a national scandal.”

Coomber added: “After almost two decades of inaction by the Ministry of Justice, worried families are having to listen to yet more broken promises. We know that at least eleven people have died in cell fires since the Government accepted its responsibility to install automatic fire detection equipment. How many more lives will be lost?”

Enforcement activity

FOI requests to the Crown Premises Fire Safety Inspectorate identified enforcement activity between November 2023 and October last year.

During this period, 16 prisons received Crown Enforcement Notices, issued where there is a significant failure to comply with fire safety legislation.

A further six prisons received ‘Step Away’ notices, indicating continued non-compliance and circumstances where prosecution would normally be considered, were it not for Crown immunity.

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