‘Catastrophic’ MoJ leasing of jail with toxic gas set to cost more than £100m | Prisons and probation
The Ministry of Justice’s “disastrous” decision to sign a 10-year lease for a prison where high levels of toxic gas were detected is expected to cost UK taxpayers more than £100 million, Parliament’s spending watchdog has concluded.
The 2022 deal to lease HMP Dartmoor from the Duchy of Cornwall was signed “in a blind panic” by senior civil servants seeking to secure prison places, the public accounts committee said.
The category C prison, which holds many sex offenders, was closed in 2024 after radon levels of up to 10 times the recommended limit were recorded in some areas. The government later admitted it was aware of “high readings” on the gas in 2020.
Radon, a colorless and odorless radioactive gas, causes around 1,100 lung cancer deaths in the UK each year, according to the Health Safety Agency.
A report published by the committee said officials from HM Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS) failed to negotiate a “good deal” and signed the deal in 2022 before carrying out further radon testing.
“Under the terms of the contract, the department cannot terminate the lease until at least December 2033. Overall, HMPPS is currently paying around £4 million a year for an unusable prison. This includes rent, running fees and security costs.
“In addition, the government is required to pay additional costs of approximately £68 million over the life of the lease for fabric improvements at the Dartmoor site,” the report said.
The committee asked civil servants questions about the deal last year. Geoffrey Clifton-Brown, Conservative chairman of the all-party committee, said the Ministry of Justice’s handling of HMP Dartmoor was “an absolute disgrace from top to bottom”.
“For years we have heard claims by HMPPS that it makes sense to rent this building, which has become unusable due to being choked with radon gas and all the health risks that entails, due to the need for prison places.
“Our committee clearly rejects this excuse. Dartmoor appears to the committee.” [to be] A perfect example of a department reaching for a solution, any solution, under blind panic and pressure.
“The government must now respond with what it has learned from this catastrophic failure.”
The decision to close the prison, which relocated 682 inmates, came after years of monitoring and efforts to reduce radon levels. Prison staff began monitoring levels in 2010 but the last of the 640 prisoners and 159 staff were not released until July 2024.
Questions have since been asked about whether HMPPS could have acted sooner.
In a written response to parliament in July last year, the Ministry of Justice said: “High radon readings were first found on Dartmoor in 2020.” BBC reported It was also determined in 2007 that radon gas levels were above the recommended limit in October.
More than 500 former prisoners and prison officers are bringing legal claims against the government, claiming their health was put at risk.
The Duchy of Cornwall, which provides private income to Prince William, owns HMP Dartmoor and leases it to the Ministry of Justice.
The Health and Safety Executive investigation into radon levels in the prison, which started in 2023, is ongoing.
Mark Fairhurst, national chairman of the Prison Officers’ Association, welcomed the report. “It is disgusting that such failure does not have consequences for senior decision-makers, which not only puts everyone in Dartmoor prison at risk but also wastes millions of pounds of tax revenue,” he said.
Appearing before MPs in October, the Ministry of Justice’s permanent secretary, Jo Farrar, defended the decision to sign a 10-year Dartmoor lease in 2022.
“At the time the prison system was at risk of running out of prison places and Dartmoor provided over 600 places,” he said. “In March, a sensible and pragmatic decision was taken that, given all the information we currently have and the issues facing the government, it was necessary to sign the lease and keep Dartmoor open.”
A Ministry of Justice spokesman said: “This decision was taken in 2022. This government has inherited a crisis in our prison system, with prisons on the verge of collapse and law and order in danger of a complete collapse.”
