No reprieve for prison as closure plan remains
DESPITE claims last year by the prisons minister at the time that Victorian-era prisons were still needed, the Prison Service has confirmed Dartmoor Prison is still set to be closed in 2023.
In October, 2019, the then prisons minister Lucy Frazer told a Parliamentary committee that Victorianera prisons were still required.
She told MPs: “If the numbers... stay the same, we need to be prepared to house people who come to prison and that will mean we need to keep our Victorian prisons in operation.”
Her announcement was welcomed in Princetown, where the prison is an important part of the local economy.
“If this is true, it is positive news,” said Mark Renders, a member of West Devon Borough and Dartmoor Forest Parish councils, and Dartmoor National Park Authority.
This appeared to run counter to the insistence by the Ministry of Justice, who in 2013 said the prison was too old and too costly to run sustainably and that the 200-year-old category C facility was set to close in 2023.
In January, 2019, the Independent Monitoring Board (IMB) expressed concerns over the state of Dartmoor in its annual report, with the board saying the “continued lack of capital investment” in buildings at Dartmoor had “hampered development”.
In 2018, it was reported how HMP Dartmoor was struggling with staff shortages and an increase in the use of the psychoactive substance Spice.
In addition, and more tellingly, was the revelation by the IMB that “almost one third” of the prison’s population had “a declared disability” and another third “considered elderly”. The Board praised the installation of “grab rails” and “raised toilet seats” but recognised how wheelchairs could not be taken into cells due to narrow doorways.
The Category C prison is owned by the Duchy of Cornwall – along with 67,460 acres of Dartmoor – but is operated by Her Majesty’s Prison Service.
It is understood that, if it is finally closed, the building and land would effectively be returned to the Duchy to do with as it pleases.
It was originally built in 1806 to house Napoleonic-era prisoners of war and can accommodate 640 men in single rooms across six wings.
The Prison Service this month reconfirmed the plans to see the building closed for business in just three years time.
Ask by the Western Morning News whether anything had changed, a
Prison Service spokesperson said: “The 2023 planned closure of HMP Dartmoor was announced in 2013 and this remains the case.
“We continue to discuss plans with the Duchy of Cornwall on whether there is a viable role for Dartmoor in our prison estate, which we keep under constant review.”
Mark Fairhurst, the national chair of the Prison Officers’ Association, acknowledged in July this year that the prison’s days were numbered. He said: “The 2023 planned closure of HMP Dartmoor was announced in 2013 and this remains the plan, although HMPPS and Government are in discussion with the Duchy of Cornwall on whether there is a viable role for Dartmoor in the future.”
Various suggestions have been made for the future use of the prison building, including a war-gaming venue, a giant nightclub, a hotel or a back-packers’ hostel.