Source · Select Committees · Public Accounts Committee
Recommendation 22
22
Accepted
HMPPS maintains safety 'red lines' during overcrowding, acknowledging continued challenges
Conclusion
We asked HMPPS what it was doing to keep prisoners safe in the context of prisons being so overcrowded.75 It explained that it had introduced three “red lines” which it had stuck to rigidly. These included: keeping at least 1,500 cells that require fire maintenance out of use so that it could continue with remediation work; only crowding cells where operational assessments had considered factors such as whether staffing and ancillary services will allow it to do so safely; and ensuring that cells were only in use if they were staffed to at least 75%.76 HMPPS explained that it was always trying to improve safety metrics, for example, by implementing airport–style security 69 Q 88 70 Q 68 71 C&AG’s Report, para 2.2 72 Q 68 73 PEC007 74 Ministry of Justice, Safety in Custody Statistics: quarterly update to September 2024 75 Q 66 76 Qq 66,69 15 to stop people bringing contraband into prisons, and helping staff or prisoners who are struggling. But it acknowledged that this was challenging even before it was running the estate at 99% occupancy.77
Government Response Summary
HMPPS recognises the challenges that capacity pressures have on providing a safe environment. They have evaluated the impact of prisoners living in overcrowded prison cell conditions and monitor safety data and prison performance.
Government Response
Accepted
HM Government
Accepted
5.6 The government agrees with the Committee’s recommendation. Recommendation implemented: April 2025 5.7 HMPPS recognises the challenges that capacity pressures have on providing a safe environment and can make it harder to effectively manage prisons. There is no single cause of self-harm or violence in prison and there are a range of interacting imported and situational factors that contribute including crowding. 5.8 The MoJ has evaluated the impact of prisoners living in overcrowded prison cell conditions with the analysis showing that they were c.20% more likely to be involved in an assault. The analysis shows that crowding does not directly impact self-harm rates, although there is some evidence that crowding may impact drivers of self-harm, including the mental wellbeing of prisoners. Self-harm is extremely complex and there are a range of clinical, custodial, historical and sociodemographic factors that increase self-harm risks and therefore, a single factor such as crowding is unlikely to be the only reason. 5.9 As outlined in the Prison Estate Expansion: Evaluation Strategy – GOV.UK , the plan is to assess the impact of different types of prison builds on prison safety, focusing on indicators such as self-harm and assaults. The expansion programme covers a range of build types, including new prisons, new houseblocks of varying sizes on existing prison sites, refurbishments, and rapid deployment cells. 5.10 HMPPS regularly monitors monthly self-harm and violence data, and the Prison Performance Tool Dashboard is used on a quarterly basis to monitor overall prison performance. One area considered is safety, with both quantitative and qualitative measures included.