Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the answer of 8 September 2026 to question 23284 on Prisons: Repairs and Maintenance, by when are the 3,364 prison places out of use for maintenance-related reasons due to be brought back into use.

As of 14 September 2026, 3,398 prison places were out of use. There is no single date by which all of these places will return to operational use, as they are unavailable for a variety of reasons and the work required is being managed to different timescales.

The largest category of cells where work is required (1,867 places) is associated with the Fire Safety Improvement Programme, a long-term programme of works being delivered across the prison estate. These places will be returned to use on a rolling basis as works are completed.

640 places at HMP Dartmoor are unavailable following the prison's closure owing to the presence of radon gas, and 120 places at HMP Highpoint are unavailable following a fire earlier this year. Work to assess these sites is in progress and no re-opening dates have yet been set. Approximately 220 other places are out of use for major statutory maintenance work.

Other places are temporarily unavailable for local remedial works arising from vandalism or asset failure (for example: problems with cell doors or locks). These places are typically returned to operational use within seven days.

This Government inherited a prison capacity crisis after prison places increased by just 500 places in 14 years. We are pulling every lever possible to fix that crisis and are building 14,000 new places with 3,300 already delivered.

Refurbishment and fire safety improvements are essential as without them fewer cells would be available to lock up dangerous criminals and we are working at pace to bring every available prison place online.