Recommendation 8

Under the terms agreed HMPPS cannot terminate the new lease until after December 2033. The cost of the lease is £1.5 million a year, a slight increase on the £1.44 million it was paying when the lease expired in December 2023.14 We asked HMPPS what the total costs of keeping the empty prison running were. It explained that there are several ongoing costs in addition to the £1.5 million a year in rent, including business rates of £300,000 per year and additional security costs, which it said it was exploring how to minimise.15 In total MoJ confirmed that the fixed costs associated with running the prison are around £4 million per year, including rent, rates, utilities and security costs.16 In addition there is a requirement for the government to pay additional costs (around £68 million) on fabric improvements to the Dartmoor site over the period of the lease.17