A decision by the MoJ to sign a decade-long lease for a prison where elevated levels of a toxic gas had been detected is projected to burden the public purse in excess of £100 million, a official spending oversight committee has concluded.
A Deal Signed ''Rashly'
The 2022 deal to rent HMP Dartmoor was finalised "in a state of alarm" by senior civil servants who were aiming to secure prison places, the panel said.
This medium-security prison, which accommodated many individuals convicted of sexual offences, was evacuated in 2024 after radon levels up to 10 times the recommended limit were found in certain locations. The authorities has since confirmed it was cognisant that "elevated readings" of the gas were discovered in 2020.
Radon, a colourless and odourless radioactive gas, is responsible for about 1,100 lung cancer deaths in the UK annually, according to public health agencies.
Failure to Negotiate a 'Favorable Agreement'
A report issued by the committee stated that representatives from the prison service were unable to negotiate "a good deal" and executed the lease in 2022 before conducting subsequent radon surveys.
"Under the contract terms, the department cannot end the lease until at least December 2033. In total, the prison service is currently paying around £4 million per year for an empty prison. This encompasses lease payments, business rates and security costs," the report noted.
"Furthermore, the government must pay further costs – around £68 million – on fabric improvements to the Dartmoor site over the term of the lease," the report stated.
An Absolute Disgrace ''At Every Level'
The committee's Tory chair labelled the Ministry of Justice's stewardship of HMP Dartmoor as "a complete failure, from top to bottom".
He commented: "We heard assertions that the leasing of this unusable building, understood for years by the prison service to be riddled with radon gas with all the health risks that entailed, was reasonable, driven by the need for prison places."
"The panel rejects this justification outright. Dartmoor appears to the committee [to be] a prime example of a government agency seeking a answer, any solution, under intense pressure," he continued.
"Officials must now reply to us on what it has understood from this disastrous episode."
Closure and Transfer of Inmates
The move to close the jail, forcing the movement of 682 inmates, followed years of monitoring and attempts to reduce the radon levels. Prison officers at the prison began measuring levels in 2010, but the last prisoners and staff were not moved out until July 2024.
Questions have since been asked about whether the prison service could have taken action earlier.
In a official statement in July last year, the MoJ confirmed: "Elevated radon readings were first detected at Dartmoor in 2020." Other information suggest that radon gas levels higher than the recommended limit were also recorded as far back as 2007.
Lawsuits and Ongoing Probe
Over 500 ex- prisoners and prison officers are bringing legal claims against the government, claiming their safety was put at risk.
An inquiry into radon levels at the prison launched by the Health and Safety Executive in 2023 is still in progress.
The head of the Prison Officers Association welcomed the committee's findings. "It is shocking that such a debacle has not led to sanctions for the high-ranking individuals that not only placed everyone within Dartmoor prison at risk but also wasted millions of pounds of public money," he stated.
Justification of the Decision
Speaking to MPs in October, the MoJ's top civil servant justified the decision to enter into the 10-year Dartmoor lease in 2022.
"At the moment, the prison system was at risk of running out of prison capacity, and Dartmoor supplied over 600 places," she said. "A reasonable and practical decision was made in March, when the full picture that we have now was not available, that it was essential, given the issues the government were dealing with, to sign the lease and keep Dartmoor open."
A Ministry of Justice representative stated: "This action was taken in 2022. This government inherited a crisis in our prisons system, where prisons were on the brink of failure, risking a complete collapse in public order."
