Bill for repairs at crumbling jails spirals 'out of control'

The prison estate is in a dire condition after years of neglect, but the cost of outsourcing basic upgrades is 'eye-watering'

- AMY-CLARE MARTIN

Taxpayers are footing the bill for “eye-watering” and grossly inflated repair costs at prisons across the country as the government scrambles to keep overcrowded jails running after decades of neglect, The Independent can reveal.

Private contracting costs for basic upgrades are “out of control”, the Prison Officers’ Association (POA) has warned, describing the situation as a “public disgrace” that is failing to deliver value for money.

Meanwhile, prison conditions are worse than ever, with a soaring maintenance backlog approaching £2bn, having doubled from 2020 to 2024. Some prisons are so dire that in 2023, a German court refused to extradite a criminal to Britain due to fears over inhumane conditions.

A quarter of prisoners in England and Wales are locked in jails which are not fire safe, while hundreds are held in cells without toilets and forced to defecate in buckets and bags if there aren’t enough staff to let them out to use the toilet overnight.

Labour MP Kim Johnson said: “The taxpayer has been paying twice over: first for underinvestment and bad contracts, then for the premium of reactive maintenance and emergency measures.”

It is feared hundreds of millions have been spent on exorbitant private sector contracts dished out by the Ministry of Justice (MoJ), whose procurement has been slammed as “reactive and expensive” by the public spending watchdog.

An investigation by The Independent has uncovered tens of millions worth of spiralling costs for simple repairs and evidence of a sector in chaos, including:

• A project to upgrade 50 showers at HMP Wandsworth, estimated to cost £13m. The MoJ later said the price came out lower than forecast at £7.8m (£6.5m plus VAT), the equivalent of £156,000 per shower