Dozens of prisons found deficient in their control of asbestos

Prisoners and workers are potentially at risk from inadequate asbestos management in dozens of prisons across the United Kingdom, Confront can reveal.

Under the Freedom of Information Act, Confront obtained a summary of asbestos management audits conducted in 112 British prisons and young offenders institutes overseen by HM Prison Service.

Asbestos, widely used in thousands of products in the 20th century, was fully banned in the UK in 1999. When asbestos fibres are airborne, they can cause terminal illnesses. These include mesothelioma, lung cancer, and asbestosis. Since 2004, prisons, schools, and hospitals, among others, have had to comply with regulations known as the ‘duty to manage’ the legacy asbestos in their buildings.

Yet some prisons have been found by these audits to be non-compliant with rules designed to keep prisoners and staff safe from asbestos exposure.

‘Deficient’

In total, 15 prisons and young offender institutes were awarded a grade of ‘deficient’ in their compliance with statutory regulations for managing asbestos, according to the last audit they underwent.

Those classified as ‘deficient’ were:

• HMP Buckley Hall
• HMP Bullingdon
• HMP Bure
• HMP Chelmsford
• HMP Foston Hall
• HMP Gartree
• HMP Grendon
• HMP Huntercombe
• IRC Morton Hall
• HMP Lincoln
• HMP Long Lartin
• HMP Moorland
• HMP Springhill
• HMP Wymott
• HM YOI Deerbolt

This grade was awarded to any facility with lower than 70% compliance with the regulations. Further details were not included in the document. Three prisons – Long Lartin, Chelmsford, and Springhill, all scored 0% for statutory compliance. Blantyre House, which closed in 2016 and whose future is unclear, was also graded as deficient.

A further 17 prisons were deemed to have ‘less than satisfactory levels of compliance with critical baselines.’ This grade was awarded to:

• HMP Bedford
• HMP Belmarsh
• HMP Drake Hall
• HMP Eastwood Park
• HMP Featherstone
• HMP High Point
• HMP Hull
• HMP Lewes
• HMP Leyhill
• HMP Lindholme
• HMP Norwich
• HMP Pentonville
• HMP Portland
• HMP Ranby
• HMP The Mount

A second category looked at the overall control of asbestos, and not just the statutory requirements, against 19 total baselines. Here, a total of 31 prisons and young offenders institutes were deemed ‘deficient’.

Some prisons which received a grade of ‘satisfactory’ or ‘well-controlled’ for their compliance with the statutory regulations, received a deficient grade for the overall control of asbestos. These were: HMP Dartmoor, HMP Erlestoke, HMP Frankland, HMP Full Sutton, HMP North Sea Camp, HMP Nottingham, Stirling House, HMP The Verne, HMP Wandsworth, HMP Wakefield, and HMP Wayland.

Of the 112 facilities audited, only nine prisons were fully compliant with all 19 baselines for overall asbestos management control.

The most recent spate of asbestos audits was completed in 2020/21, though the Ministry of Justice (MOJ) is currently conducting a new wave of surveys. During 2020/21, seven facilities were unable to be inspected due to the COVID-19 pandemic and were last audited in 2018. The audit only covers prisons and young offender’s institutes operated by the MOJ. Those operated by private companies weren’t included.

A majority were ‘deficient’ in 2018

The situation was worse in 2018. Then, 78 facilities were deemed ‘deficient’ against statutory requirements. The ‘duty to manage’ asbestos has been in force since 2004. It usually takes decades for asbestos-related diseases to develop after asbestos exposure.

Confront also requested how many people have laid claims against HMPSS for asbestos exposure since 2010. We were told, “The information that you have asked for… is not held centrally, and we believe that the cost of examining multiple database records to extract the available data from 2010 would exceed the appropriate limit. Consequently, we are not obliged to comply with your request.”

We also asked the MOJ why so many prisons had failed to fully manage their asbestos for so long, and why not all are compliant now. As of publication, they have not responded to this question.

A HMPPS spokesperson told Confront, “The safety of all who work in our prisons is paramount, which us is why we’re investing £500 million into prison and probation maintenance to improve conditions.

“We’re also conducting comprehensive surveys across all sites to ensure any asbestos-containing materials are identified and managed in compliance with health and safety regulations.”

Asbestos-related diseases kill over 5,000 people in the UK a year.

Major asbestos companies and the government were aware that even brief exposures to certain types of asbestos could cause cancer by the mid-1960s. While five types of asbestos were banned in 1985, it took until 1999 to implement a complete ban on all asbestos.

A Department for Work & Pensions committee in 2022 recommended that the government introduce a national asbestos register and a 40-year plan to phase out asbestos in public and commercial buildings. The government of the day declined the committee’s suggestions.