Asked by: Munira Wilson (Liberal Democrat - Twickenham)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many prison cell fires there were in 2024, broken down by institution.
Answered by Nicholas Dakin - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
The overwhelming majority of the cell fires were considered ‘minor’ and quickly dealt with by staff, and medical assessment is provided for anyone who may have been exposed to smoke or heat. Where it is found that a fire is the result of arson, or of recklessness, the prisoner responsible will face robust punitive action, which can include further criminal charges. All operational staff receive Respiratory Protective Equipment training. Prison officers receive it as part of their Prison Officer Entry Level Training.
The requested information is provided in the table below:
Prison | Number of fires |
HM Prison Altcourse | 39 |
HM Prison Ashfield | 0 |
HM Prison Askham Grange | 2 |
HM Prison Aylesbury | 11 |
HM Prison Bedford | 55 |
HM Prison Belmarsh | 17 |
HM Prison Berwyn | 53 |
HM Prison Birmingham | 48 |
HM Prison Brinsford | 49 |
HM Prison Bristol | 48 |
HM Prison Brixton | 19 |
HM Prison Bronzefield | 36 |
HM Prison Buckley Hall | 5 |
HM Prison Bullingdon | 72 |
HM Prison Bure | 1 |
HM Prison Cardiff | 2 |
HM Prison Channings Wood | 13 |
HM Prison Chelmsford | 16 |
HM Prison Coldingley | 4 |
HM Prison Cookham Wood | 2 |
HM Prison Dartmoor | 1 |
HM Prison Deerbolt | 23 |
HM Prison Doncaster | 45 |
HM Prison Dovegate | 73 |
HM Prison Downview | 2 |
HM Prison Drake Hall | 1 |
HM Prison Durham | 16 |
HM Prison East Sutton Park | 1 |
HM Prison Eastwood Park | 3 |
HM Prison Elmley | 30 |
HM Prison Erlestoke | 17 |
HM Prison Exeter | 13 |
HM Prison Featherstone | 3 |
HM Prison Feltham | 31 |
HM Prison Five Wells | 68 |
HM Prison Ford | 0 |
HM Prison Forest Bank | 137 |
HM Prison Fosse Way | 33 |
HM Prison Foston Hall | 7 |
HM Prison Frankland | 4 |
HM Prison Full Sutton | 22 |
HM Prison Garth | 27 |
HM Prison Gartree | 13 |
HM Prison Grendon | 1 |
HM Prison Guys Marsh | 78 |
HM Prison Hatfield | 1 |
HM Prison Haverigg | 1 |
HM Prison Hewell | 10 |
HM Prison High Down | 19 |
HM Prison Highpoint | 37 |
HM Prison Hindley | 24 |
HM Prison Hollesley Bay | 1 |
HM Prison Holme House | 41 |
HM Prison Hull | 22 |
HM Prison Humber | 67 |
HM Prison Huntercombe | 15 |
HM Prison Isis | 35 |
HM Prison Isle of Wight | 20 |
HM Prison Kirkham | 0 |
HM Prison Kirklevington Grange | 0 |
HM Prison Lancaster Farms | 6 |
HM Prison Leeds | 31 |
HM Prison Leicester | 23 |
HM Prison Lewes | 42 |
HM Prison Leyhill | 0 |
HM Prison Lincoln | 5 |
HM Prison Lindholme | 96 |
HM Prison Littlehey | 3 |
HM Prison Liverpool | 32 |
HM Prison Long Lartin | 33 |
HM Prison Lowdham Grange | 79 |
HM Prison Low Newton | 0 |
HM Prison Maidstone | 3 |
HM Prison Manchester | 53 |
HM Prison Moorland | 9 |
HM Prison Morton Hall | 4 |
HM Prison New Hall | 2 |
HM Prison Northumberland | 9 |
HM Prison North Sea Camp | 0 |
HM Prison Norwich | 57 |
HM Prison Nottingham | 20 |
HM Prison Oakwood | 42 |
HM Prison Onley | 26 |
HM Prison Parc | 65 |
HM Prison Pentonville | 28 |
HM Prison Peterborough | 40 |
HM Prison Portland | 26 |
HM Prison Prescoed | 2 |
HM Prison Preston | 12 |
HM Prison Ranby | 49 |
HM Prison Risley | 16 |
HM Prison Rochester | 24 |
HM Prison Rye Hill | 0 |
HM Prison Send | 0 |
HM Prison Spring Hill | 2 |
HM Prison Stafford | 1 |
HM Prison Standford Hill | 2 |
HM Prison Stocken | 20 |
HM Prison Stoke Heath | 6 |
HM Prison Styal | 26 |
HM Prison Sudbury | 2 |
HM Prison Swaleside | 116 |
HM Prison Swansea | 3 |
HM Prison Swinfen Hall | 19 |
HM Prison Thameside | 70 |
HM Prison The Mount | 13 |
HM Prison The Verne | 1 |
HM Prison Thorn Cross | 1 |
HM Prison Usk | 0 |
HM Prison Wakefield | 17 |
HM Prison Wandsworth | 98 |
HM Prison Warren Hill | 1 |
HM Prison Wayland | 22 |
HM Prison Wealstun | 56 |
HM Prison Werrington | 15 |
HM Prison Wetherby | 23 |
HM Prison Whatton | 0 |
HM Prison Whitemoor | 23 |
HM Prison Winchester | 23 |
HM Prison Woodhill | 83 |
HM Prison Wormwood Scrubs | 6 |
HM Prison Wymott | 11 |
Total | 2931 |
Data source: HMPPS Fire Reporting Tool, Sphera Cloud
Asked by: Mary Kelly Foy (Labour - City of Durham)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 14 December 2023 to Question 5663 on Garth Prison: Education, how (a) many hours of teaching time were lost and (b) much money was recovered from education providers as a result of prison education classes not going ahead in HMP (i) Garth, (ii) Bristol, (iii) Pentonville and (iv) Ranby during the second quarter of the 2023-24 financial year.
Answered by Edward Argar - Shadow Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
We have introduced robust contractual levers into the current education contract which has seen a decrease in the teaching time lost through the education provider. The introduction at site level of Heads of Education, Skills and Work will increase the focus on ensure operational staff are able to ensure learners arrive in education.
The table below shows the number of planned learning hours lost in the second quarter of 2023-24 due teacher vacancy or sickness (Ed), or for operational reasons (Op), at HMP Bristol, HMP Garth, HMP Pentonville and HMP Ranby.
Learning hours lost, 1 July – 30 September 2023
HMP | Hours lost (Ed) | Hours lost (Op) |
Bristol | 263 | 134 |
Garth | 183 | 140 |
Pentonville | 53 | 507 |
Ranby | 8 | 376 |
Total | 507 | 1157 |
*These are preliminary data and have not yet been reconciled with the provider
In total, 507 hours of teaching were lost owing to a failure by the provider to deliver against the commissioned provision. £60,047 has been recovered from the providers. The cost of hours lost for operational reasons is not recoverable from the provider.
Asked by: Mary Kelly Foy (Labour - City of Durham)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 14 November 2023 to Question 1241 on Five Wells Prison: Education, how (a) many hours of teaching time were lost and (b) much money was recovered from education providers as a result of prison education classes not going ahead in HMP Five Wells in each of the last two quarters.
Answered by Edward Argar - Shadow Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
We have introduced robust contractual levers into the current education contract which has seen a decrease in the teaching time lost through the education provider. The introduction at site level of Heads of Education, Skills and Work will increase the focus on ensure operational staff are able to ensure learners arrive in education.
The table below sets out the information requested for HMP Garth, HMP Bristol, HMP Pentonville, and HMP Ranby, for the first quarter of 2023-24. The data for Quarter 2 are in the process of quality assurance and validation, and are not currently available.
The education contract for HMP Five Wells is not managed by HMPPS. The information requested in relation to HMP Five Wells is therefore not available.
Quarter 1 2023-24
Prison | Education hours lost |
Garth | 397.5 |
Bristol | 187 |
Pentonville | 496 |
Ranby | 812 |
Prison | Amount recoverable from the provider (£) |
Garth | 4,998 |
Bristol | 1,681 |
Pentonville | 10,612 |
Ranby | 17,906 |
Asked by: Mary Kelly Foy (Labour - City of Durham)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 14 November 2023 to Question 1242 on Garth Prison: Education, how (a) many hours of teaching time were lost and (b) much money was recovered from education providers as a result of prison education classes not going ahead in HMP Garth in each of the last two quarters.
Answered by Edward Argar - Shadow Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
We have introduced robust contractual levers into the current education contract which has seen a decrease in the teaching time lost through the education provider. The introduction at site level of Heads of Education, Skills and Work will increase the focus on ensure operational staff are able to ensure learners arrive in education.
The table below sets out the information requested for HMP Garth, HMP Bristol, HMP Pentonville, and HMP Ranby, for the first quarter of 2023-24. The data for Quarter 2 are in the process of quality assurance and validation, and are not currently available.
The education contract for HMP Five Wells is not managed by HMPPS. The information requested in relation to HMP Five Wells is therefore not available.
Quarter 1 2023-24
Prison | Education hours lost |
Garth | 397.5 |
Bristol | 187 |
Pentonville | 496 |
Ranby | 812 |
Prison | Amount recoverable from the provider (£) |
Garth | 4,998 |
Bristol | 1,681 |
Pentonville | 10,612 |
Ranby | 17,906 |
Asked by: Mary Kelly Foy (Labour - City of Durham)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 14 November 2023 to Question 1241 on Five Wells Prison: Education, how many staff of (a) HMPPS and (b) his Department's staff work on recovering money from education providers; and to what budget the money recovered is credited.
Answered by Edward Argar - Shadow Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
We have introduced robust contractual levers into the current education contract which has seen a decrease in the teaching time lost through the education provider. The introduction at site level of Heads of Education, Skills and Work will increase the focus on ensure operational staff are able to ensure learners arrive in education.
The table below sets out the information requested for HMP Garth, HMP Bristol, HMP Pentonville, and HMP Ranby, for the first quarter of 2023-24. The data for Quarter 2 are in the process of quality assurance and validation, and are not currently available.
The education contract for HMP Five Wells is not managed by HMPPS. The information requested in relation to HMP Five Wells is therefore not available.
Quarter 1 2023-24
Prison | Education hours lost |
Garth | 397.5 |
Bristol | 187 |
Pentonville | 496 |
Ranby | 812 |
Prison | Amount recoverable from the provider (£) |
Garth | 4,998 |
Bristol | 1,681 |
Pentonville | 10,612 |
Ranby | 17,906 |
Asked by: Mary Kelly Foy (Labour - City of Durham)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 14 November 2023 to Question 1244 on Pentonville Prison: Education, how (a) many hours of teaching time were lost and (b) much money was recovered from education providers as a result of prison education classes not going ahead in HMP Pentonville in each of the last two quarters.
Answered by Edward Argar - Shadow Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
We have introduced robust contractual levers into the current education contract which has seen a decrease in the teaching time lost through the education provider. The introduction at site level of Heads of Education, Skills and Work will increase the focus on ensure operational staff are able to ensure learners arrive in education.
The table below sets out the information requested for HMP Garth, HMP Bristol, HMP Pentonville, and HMP Ranby, for the first quarter of 2023-24. The data for Quarter 2 are in the process of quality assurance and validation, and are not currently available.
The education contract for HMP Five Wells is not managed by HMPPS. The information requested in relation to HMP Five Wells is therefore not available.
Quarter 1 2023-24
Prison | Education hours lost |
Garth | 397.5 |
Bristol | 187 |
Pentonville | 496 |
Ranby | 812 |
Prison | Amount recoverable from the provider (£) |
Garth | 4,998 |
Bristol | 1,681 |
Pentonville | 10,612 |
Ranby | 17,906 |
Asked by: Mary Kelly Foy (Labour - City of Durham)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 14 November 2023 to Question 1243 on Bristol Prison: Education, how (a) many hours of teaching time were lost and (b) much money was recovered from education providers as a result of prison education classes not going ahead in HMP Bristol in each of the last two quarters.
Answered by Edward Argar - Shadow Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
We have introduced robust contractual levers into the current education contract which has seen a decrease in the teaching time lost through the education provider. The introduction at site level of Heads of Education, Skills and Work will increase the focus on ensure operational staff are able to ensure learners arrive in education.
The table below sets out the information requested for HMP Garth, HMP Bristol, HMP Pentonville, and HMP Ranby, for the first quarter of 2023-24. The data for Quarter 2 are in the process of quality assurance and validation, and are not currently available.
The education contract for HMP Five Wells is not managed by HMPPS. The information requested in relation to HMP Five Wells is therefore not available.
Quarter 1 2023-24
Prison | Education hours lost |
Garth | 397.5 |
Bristol | 187 |
Pentonville | 496 |
Ranby | 812 |
Prison | Amount recoverable from the provider (£) |
Garth | 4,998 |
Bristol | 1,681 |
Pentonville | 10,612 |
Ranby | 17,906 |
Asked by: Mary Kelly Foy (Labour - City of Durham)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 14 November 2023 to Question 1245 on Ranby Prison: Education, how (a) many hours of teaching time were lost and (b) much money was recovered from education providers as a result of prison education classes not going ahead in HMP Ranby in each of the last two quarters.
Answered by Edward Argar - Shadow Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
We have introduced robust contractual levers into the current education contract which has seen a decrease in the teaching time lost through the education provider. The introduction at site level of Heads of Education, Skills and Work will increase the focus on ensure operational staff are able to ensure learners arrive in education.
The table below sets out the information requested for HMP Garth, HMP Bristol, HMP Pentonville, and HMP Ranby, for the first quarter of 2023-24. The data for Quarter 2 are in the process of quality assurance and validation, and are not currently available.
The education contract for HMP Five Wells is not managed by HMPPS. The information requested in relation to HMP Five Wells is therefore not available.
Quarter 1 2023-24
Prison | Education hours lost |
Garth | 397.5 |
Bristol | 187 |
Pentonville | 496 |
Ranby | 812 |
Prison | Amount recoverable from the provider (£) |
Garth | 4,998 |
Bristol | 1,681 |
Pentonville | 10,612 |
Ranby | 17,906 |
Asked by: Mary Kelly Foy (Labour - City of Durham)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to the Answer of 19 October 2023 to Question 202800 on Prisons: Education, how many and what proportion of prison education classes in HMP Five Wells did not go ahead due to a lack of (a) teachers and (b) prison officers in each of the last two quarters.
Answered by Edward Argar - Shadow Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
The information collected on performance against the education contract does not include the number of classes cancelled. The table below shows the number and proportion of planned learner places lost in each of the first two quarters of 2023-24 at HMP Five Wells, HMP Garth, HMP Bristol, HMP Pentonville and HMP Ranby owing to a lack of teachers (Ed), or for operational reasons (Op). Operational reasons include, but are not limited to, staffing shortages.
Our improved Prisoner Education Service with specialist staff, tougher targets and increased focus on employment will be more effective at cutting crime and keeping the public safe. We have created a new Head of Education Skills and Work roles in every prison, working hand in glove with the Governor to provide tailored education plans to meet the needs of their jail.
Prison | Places lost (Ed) Q1 | Places lost (Op) Q1 | Places lost (Ed) Q1 (%) | Places lost (Op) Q1 (%) | Places lost (Ed) Q2 | Places lost (Op) Q2 | Places lost (Ed) Q2 (%) | Places lost (Op) Q2 (%) |
Bristol | 8 | 258 | 1 | 22 | 20 | 552 | 1 | 36 |
Garth | 130 | 96 | 8 | 6 | 24 | 368 | 2 | 26 |
Five Wells | 84 | 374 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Pentonville | 238 | 673 | 15 | 42 | 56 | 723 | 1 | 13 |
Ranby | 0 | 365 | 0 | 16 | 0 | 45 | 0 | 2 |
Asked by: Mary Kelly Foy (Labour - City of Durham)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to the Answer of 19 October 2023 to Question 202800 on Prisons: Education, how many and what proportion of prison education classes in HMP Pentonville did not go ahead due to a lack of (a) teachers and (b) prison officers in the last two quarters.
Answered by Edward Argar - Shadow Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
The information collected on performance against the education contract does not include the number of classes cancelled. The table below shows the number and proportion of planned learner places lost in each of the first two quarters of 2023-24 at HMP Five Wells, HMP Garth, HMP Bristol, HMP Pentonville and HMP Ranby owing to a lack of teachers (Ed), or for operational reasons (Op). Operational reasons include, but are not limited to, staffing shortages.
Our improved Prisoner Education Service with specialist staff, tougher targets and increased focus on employment will be more effective at cutting crime and keeping the public safe. We have created a new Head of Education Skills and Work roles in every prison, working hand in glove with the Governor to provide tailored education plans to meet the needs of their jail.
Prison | Places lost (Ed) Q1 | Places lost (Op) Q1 | Places lost (Ed) Q1 (%) | Places lost (Op) Q1 (%) | Places lost (Ed) Q2 | Places lost (Op) Q2 | Places lost (Ed) Q2 (%) | Places lost (Op) Q2 (%) |
Bristol | 8 | 258 | 1 | 22 | 20 | 552 | 1 | 36 |
Garth | 130 | 96 | 8 | 6 | 24 | 368 | 2 | 26 |
Five Wells | 84 | 374 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Pentonville | 238 | 673 | 15 | 42 | 56 | 723 | 1 | 13 |
Ranby | 0 | 365 | 0 | 16 | 0 | 45 | 0 | 2 |