Poor decisions in extending prison lease, MPs say

"A 4m-a-year lease for a prison that has been empty for 18 months has been a "needless waste of taxpayers' money", a report from MPs found. The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) said the lease for HMP Dartmoor was signed by HM Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS) in March 2022 despite it being known the site had high levels of radon gas two years earlier."

"PAC said it did not accept HMPPS' excuse that the lease needed to be signed due to a prison capacity crisis. In its report, PAC said the lease - which cannot be terminated until at least 2033 - was signed without further comprehensive radon testing being carried out. The report said a reduction to the annual rent or safeguards to mitigate the financial risks of increased radon levels were not negotiated and "poor commercial decisions" were made when the lease was signed."

"PAC said improvement costs until the lease ends would cost 68m and neither the MoJ or HMPPS had clear plans for the prison's future. It added MoJ and HMPPS were now less than certain reopening the site represented best value for money. Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown, PAC's chairman, said the issue was an "absolute disgrace, from top to bottom". "Dartmoor appears to the Committee a perfect example of a department reaching for a solution, any solution, in a blind panic and under pressure," he added."

The HM Prison and Probation Service signed a £4m-a-year lease for HMP Dartmoor in March 2022 despite knowledge of high radon levels from two years earlier. The prison, in Princetown, Devon, remained unused and was closed in July 2024 when government tests found radon up to ten times the safe limit. The Public Accounts Committee judged the lease a needless waste of taxpayers' money, criticised poor commercial decisions, lack of further radon testing, and failure to negotiate rent reductions or safeguards. Estimated improvement costs to the lease end total £68m, with no clear Ministry of Justice or HMPPS plan and uncertainty over reopening's value.

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