Parliamentary Search

Written question asked by Mary Glindon (Labour) on Wednesday, 2 October 2019, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Monday, 7 October 2019. It was answered by Lucy Frazer (Conservative) on Tuesday, 8 October 2019 on behalf of the Ministry of Justice.

Prisons: Fires

Question

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what estimate he has made of the cost to the public purse of fire events in prisons in each of the last five years.

Answer

The cost of fires in public sector prisons from 2016 - 2019 is shown below. Information for previous years is unavailable due to a change in reporting system.

Year

Cost

2016

£89,853

2017

£593,646

2018

£450,936

2019

£489,639

These figures comprise the total cost of Respiratory Protective Equipment used in such scenarios, refurbishments, as well as any other miscellaneous costs relating to fire fines.

The costs have been collated from the central HM Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS) fire and investigation reporting tool and are only available for the public sector prison estate. Costings for privately managed prison (PMP) are not collected by HMPPS..

We will never compromise on the safety of those in our care, and staff are trained to respond to emergency situations in a timely, appropriate manner. This Government is taking unprecedented action to improve safety in custody. This includes recruiting an additional 4,366 (full time equivalent) prison officers between October 2016 and June 2019, surpassing our original target of 2,500. We are also investing an extra £70 million to improve safety, security and decency.

Secondary information

Type
Written question
Reference
293575
Session
2017-19
Subjects
Costs Fires Prisons
Contains statistics
Yes
Link
View this Written question on www.parliament.uk