Dartmoor Prison’s future could hinge on spending review

Reopening Dartmoor Prison could depend on the government wanting to spend money on it when Westminster finances are reviewed later this year.

A final batch of 175 inmates was moved to other prisons last summer after high levels of radon, a radioactive gas found in rocks, were detected at the Napoleonic-era jail. Radon is common in Devon and Cornwall.

Around 400 prisoners were transferred earlier in 2024. Some were just returning when the decision was made to close the prison temporarily for all inmates.

It is not known how long or short "temporarily" means.

Local politicians have expressed uncertainty about whether the prison will reopen, and now it seems those concerns could rest on whether the prison is seen as a priority when the government looks at its spending plans this summer.

A Prison Service spokesperson told the Local Democracy Reporting Service: “Funding for any works identified to address radon at the site will be determined through the upcoming spending review.”

At the same time, the country is short of prison cells. The government reduced the time many fixed-term prisoners must serve in custody from 50 per cent to 40 per cent of their sentences to ease pressure. This policy will be reviewed in March next year.

Even though no prisoners are in Dartmoor right now, the Prison Service spokesperson said no staff have been made redundant and that it is “working tirelessly to ensure staff are supported and safely placed in alternative roles.”

A small number of staff remain to oversee the jail. The spokesperson added that the Prison Service is working with staff and unions during the closure.

“After close monitoring of the situation at HMP Dartmoor, we took the decision to temporarily close the site,” the spokesperson said. “We continue to take advice from specialists to explore how it can be reopened as quickly as possible.”

Peak radon levels detected at the prison in 2020 and 2023 were 10 times the recommended workplace limits, according to a response to a Freedom of Information request from the BBC.

The colourless, odourless radioactive gas is formed by decaying uranium found in rocks and soils. Levels may be higher in areas rich in granite, such as Dartmoor, according to the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA).

Exposure to radon causes about 1,100 lung cancer deaths in the UK every year, according to a 2023 report by the UKHSA.

The Ministry of Justice signed a new 25-year lease on the prison in 2023, and it is understood that it must honour at least 10 years of that lease. The land is owned by the Duchy of Cornwall.

Dartmoor Prison Museum’s website states the first prisoners arrived on 22 May 1809, and the prison was full by the end of the year. It soon became overcrowded and remained so for the intervening centuries.

Designed to hold 640 prisoners, 682 were housed there in October 2023.

Right now, that number is zero.