The future of Dartmoor Prison is still unknown, according to its governor who addressed a public meeting in Princetown yesterday (Tuesday).

Steve Mead was speaking to Dartmoor Forest Parish Council at its monthly meeting, having asked to attend to clarify the situation after the presence of dangerous levels of radon gas forced the ‘temporary’ closure of the prison this summer.

In mid-July the temporary closure was announced by the Ministry of Justice, hitting morale among staff and inmates hard. This was followed by all the prison’s 175 prisoners transferred to other prisons to avoid the potentially harmful health effects of radon while improved ventilation measures are carried out to protect inmates and staff. The cost of such work was expected to be revealed to the Ministry of Justice this month.

The presence of the odourless and colourless radon, which has been linked to lung cancer, was first discovered in 2022 after monitors were installed in 2020, the meeting was told, according to an interested party who attended the meeting.

The meeting, attended by villagers, and prison employees, heard that all decisions and discussions on the future of the prison are being conducted by an HM Prison and Probation Service leadership team – a body with no direct active roles in Dartmoor Prison itself. Neither the governor nor any of his staff are included in ongoing discussions.

The council was told that all decisions are based on what needs to be done to future-proof the building and on the financial cost of complete closure.

Villagers were told closure would mean the loss of a very ‘highly ranked’ prison, in terms of results and prisoner rehabilitation, as well as ‘devastating’ impacts on an underprivileged village. Also taken into account is the a ‘significant impact’ to the rich history of the area’ of closure. The stated outcome of the leadership team discussions are a temporary closure of the prison or permanent closure.

A Ministry of Justice spokesperson previously told this paper, in response to the evacuation of all the prisoners at the prison in July: “Our prisons are in crisis. This is the most recent illustration of why this Government was forced, in its first week, to take urgent action to release pressure on the estate. It is also why we are committed to building new prison places to lock up the most dangerous offenders and protect the public.

“Public safety will always be this Government’s priority. After close monitoring of the situation at HMP Dartmoor, the prison is being temporarily closed and around 175 offenders are being moved to elsewhere in the prison estate.”

The Ministry of Justice said that it would be taking further advice from specialists and keeping staff updated and supported.

The department added that the new Government would be ‘setting out its long-term plan for prison capacity later this year’. The move follows the transfer of prisoners at Dartmoor Prison several times at the end of last year and the beginning of this year.

Radon can be a problem on Dartmoor, as the moor is underpinned by granite, which emits a natural radioactivity. Radon is formed by the decay of uranium which occurs naturally in rocks and soil. 

Dartmoor Prison had been originally set for closure in 2019 before being granted a reprieve last year due to a shortage of prison places nationwide.

Most officers and many prisoners expressed a preference to stay as Dartmoor has been considered a safe and progressive facility delivering ‘non-return’ statistics way above the national average and offering an unusually strong community spirit in staff and prisoners, villagers heard at this week’s meeting. The governor explained the mitigation work was comprehensive and complicated which therefore, needed a relatively long closure because work was not as simple as improvements to ventilation systems.