Tens of thousands of prisoners in England and Wales at risk of cell fires

"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. 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."

"The inquest jury found there had been missed opportunities to prevent Dupree's death, and that a lack of automatic in-cell fire detection caused a delay in detecting the fire. There have been at least eight other deaths in cell fires in prisons since 2011, and the independent fire safety regulator reports that 44% of prisons in England are awaiting installation of automatic fire detectors."

"The Howard League, a penal reform charity, has threatened the government with legal action if it does not remedy the situation, saying it is legally and morally incumbent on ministers to keep people in prison safe. It has sent pre-action letters in relation to five prisons across the women's, men's and youth estate."

The Ministry of Justice has broken its commitment to make all prison cells fire-safe or remove them from use by the end of 2027, with no new deadline established. The government has known for almost twenty years that approximately 25% of prison places lack adequate fire safety measures. At least nine deaths have occurred in cell fires since 2011, with the most recent case involving Clare Dupree, whose inquest revealed missed prevention opportunities and delayed fire detection due to absent automatic fire detection systems. The Crown Premises Fire Safety Inspectorate reports that 44% of English prisons await automatic fire detector installation. The Howard League charity has threatened legal action against five prisons, arguing the government has legal and moral obligations to ensure prisoner safety.

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