Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many and what proportion of prison cells are currently not in use due to (a) disrepair and (b) poor estate conditions in each prison in England and Wales.

Prison capacity is taken out of use both temporarily and on a longer-term basis for a number of reasons, including deterioration in the standard and condition of the accommodation. Accommodation is also taken out of use for essential maintenance and refurbishment.

There are c.1650 places currently out of use to enable this work, down from 2550 in October 2022. This equates to 2% of all available prison places. Due to current pressure on prison capacity, all non-essential maintenance has been stopped to ensure that all cells that can be used are used. Only essential maintenance that is required to meet statutory obligations (e.g. fire safety standards) or keep accommodation in use is being undertaken. We have put in place short-term measures to expand useable capacity across the estate by an extra c.2,300 places since September 2022 while ensuring our prisons remain safe for staff and for prisoners.