U.K., Nov. 5 -- UK Parliament issued the following news:

In its report, Fire Safety in Prisons , published today, the Justice and Home Affairs Committee warned of the high-risk of fire associated with prisons. They called for greater transparency and action by HM Prisons and Probations Services (HMPPS), stronger oversight of HMPPS by inspectorate bodies, and a review of Crown Immunity of prisons.

Report: Fire Safety in Prisons (HTML)

Report: Fire Safety in Prisons (PDF)

Inquiry: Fire Safety in Prisons

Justice and Home Affairs Committee

The report

In 2024/25 alone there were 2,932 recorded fires in prison. Despite this, His Majesty's Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS) announced in March that it would no longer be able to meet a long-standing commitment to ensure all cells in England had Automatic Fire Detection (AFD) by the end of 2027, blaming underinvestment by the previous Government, the collapse of a contractor, and lack of prison capacity. This is far from the first time that AFD works have been delayed and timelines have slipped. The committee argues that considering the level of overcrowding in prisons, it is simply not credible that HMPPS could not reasonably predict capacity constraints. Either HMPPS knew and did not act, or chose to bury their heads in the sand until such time as disclosure was unavoidable.

The committee has called on the Government to publish plans to introduce AFD and updates at least annually, so that both the plans and progress can be effectively scrutinised.

The committee praises preventative measures taken by HMPPS such as the Safer Vape Pen project, which introduces vape pens in prisons with built in safety features to prevent fire setting, leading to a significant reduction in fires started. It encourages the Government to improve preventative work through sharing best practices and supporting their implementation. However, until the root causes such as overcrowding, poor mental health support, and lack of purposeful activity, are effectively addressed, HMPPS will find that it is fighting a losing battle and fires will continue to be a problem.

As Crown Premises, publicly run prisons benefit from Crown Immunity, which means they cannot be subject to criminal prosecution, with some significant exceptions. Fire safety is not one of those exceptions. Alongside this, the regulator, the Crown Premises Fire Safety Inspectorate (CPFSI), is expected to inspect fire safety in all prisons, as well as in other Crown Premises, but has just 11 staff members, and limited enforcement powers. The committee recommends strengthening the CPFSI's powers, boosting their resources, and reviewing the application of Crown Immunity to prisons regarding fire safety, which poses a barrier to fire safety improvement on the prison estate.

Chair's comments

Lord Foster of Bath , Chair of the House of Lords Justice and Home Affairs Committee said:

"HMPPS have demonstrated a lack of transparency regarding progress on fire safety in prisons. It is deeply disappointing that that it has required Freedom of Information requests and litigation from external partners such as the Howard League to secure information on progress to introduce AFD in particular, and fire safety improvement works more generally. The argument from HMPPS that it would be "unwise" to predict when works will be completed suggests either a lack of candour, a lack of competence, or both.

"The fire at HMP Highpoint shows how effectively HMPPS staff and the emergency services can respond to a potentially very serious fire. However, we are alarmed at the discrepancy between what senior leaders at HMPPS are telling us versus prison officers and governors regarding fire drills and training. We fear that without a resolution to the prison staffing crisis, and rigorous, dedicated fire safety training, the response at HMP Highpoint risks becoming the exception rather than the norm.

"We believe that stronger oversight is essential, as in several cases senior HMPPS officials seemed complacent regarding fire safety in prison. They assured us that progress was being made on introducing fire safety equipment, despite long and repeated delays to this taking place. They were not aware of prevention practices being developed in prisons, and appeared to have no plans for how to identify and disseminate good practice. They were unaware of concerns raised by the regulator regarding their fire safety policies, and appeared to misunderstand the powers the regulator held. Problems cannot be promptly addressed and change delivered if there is no drive amongst leaders to do it. The committee saw in HMPPS officials a recognition of the problem, but not the restless determination required to swiftly rectify the problem.

"We hope that the Government will take our recommendations seriously, in order to save lives, and we look forward to receiving a response."

Further information

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