Documents obtained by the Howard League for Penal Reform have identified more than 60 prisons in England and Wales still awaiting vital fire safety improvements

According to Freedom of Information Act request responses received by the Howard League, the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) has known for almost two decades that tens of thousands of prison cells do not comply with fire safety standards, particularly due to the absence of automatic fire detection (AFD) systems.

With around a quarter of cells still lacking AFD, despite it being a legal requirement, successive governments had committed to remedying the situation by the end of 2027, or removing non-compliant cells from use. However, that commitment has now been withdrawn, with no new deadline set. The disclosures raise renewed concerns about the pace of remediation work across an overcrowded prison estate and the continued occupation of cells that do not meet legal fire safety standards.

The responses show that in autumn 2025, more than 40 prisons were still waiting specifically for the installation of in-cell AFD. These included HMP Eastwood Park, where Clare Dupree was fatally injured in a cell fire in December 2022. In March 2025, an inquest jury at Avon Coroner’s Court concluded there had been “missed opportunities” to prevent her death and that a “lack of automatic in-cell fire detection caused a delay in detecting the fire”. More than three years later, AFD has yet to be installed in her cell.

The Howard League has also revealed that prisons such as Stocken, Swaleside, Risley, Wealstun, Chelmsford, and Holme House remain on waiting lists for fire safety works, despite previous fatalities over the last 15 years. The charity said the MoJ’s internal “fire safety improvement list”, which sets out priorities and timescales, has not been disclosed, making it difficult to assess risk across the estate.

Regulatory concern is reflected in enforcement action by the Crown Premises Fire Safety Inspectorate (CPFSI). Between November 2023 and October 2025, 16 prisons received Crown Enforcement Notices for significant failures to comply with fire safety legislation. Six of these prisons, including Eastwood Park, Swaleside and Wetherby, went on to receive ‘Step Away’ notices, issued when enforcement notices are not complied with and criminal prosecution would otherwise be pursued.

Andrea Coomber KC (Hon.), Chief Executive of the Howard League for Penal Reform, said: “The long-running detention of tens of thousands of people in fire-risk cells, and the government’s U-turn on a deadline to solve this, amount to a national scandal.” She added: “We know that at least 11 people have died in cell fires since the government accepted its responsibility to install automatic fire detection equipment. How many more lives will be lost?”

The CPFSI has repeatedly warned that fire risk in prisons is heightened because occupants cannot self-evacuate. A 2007 MoJ study found that a prisoner is expected to die within eight minutes of ignition of an in-cell fire. As noted by a coroner in a Prevention of Future Deaths report following the 2019 death of Christian Hinkley at HMP Swaleside, “there is no reasonable prospect of local Fire & Rescue Service firefighters attending the cell with breathing apparatus and firefighting equipment within that timescale”.

In response to the Howard League’s concerns, an MoJ spokesperson told Inside Time: “We take the safety of our prisons extremely seriously, and we are carrying out our plans to meet fire safety standards across the estate as fast as possible.” They added that “every cell without in cell AFD has a battery-powered smoke detector” and highlighted significant ongoing investment in fire safety improvement works.

However, with overcrowding cited as the reason for missing the 2027 deadline, the continued use of non-compliant cells remains a critical fire safety concern for those living and working across the prison estate.

In a letter to Andy Slaughter MP, Chair of the Justice Committee, Coomber wrote that the Howard League “remain in legal correspondence with the government about its failure to comply with fire safety legislation in prisons across the country. “