Recommendation 16

The condition of the estate also poses a risk to future capacity. Since the government’s 2010 prisons strategy, HMPPS has indefinitely closed 4,151 cells due to dilapidation.54 Furthermore, HMPPS’s maintenance backlog has doubled from £0.9 billion to £1.8 billion between 2020 and September 2024.55 MoJ estimates it needs £2.8 billion to bring the estate into a fair condition.56 MoJ acknowledged that it is generally cheaper to maintain an existing cell than to build a new one.57 MoJ and HMPPS agreed that the funding it received for maintenance in the Spending Review, £220 million in 2024–25 and £300 million in 2025–26, is not enough to make sufficient inroads into the backlog.58 However, HMPPS clarified it would need more headroom in prisons and greater market capacity to complete more than around £300 million of maintenance works per year.59