Labour’s prison plans in doubt after building giant goes bust

Work to repair hundreds of prison cells has come to a halt after the collapse of the construction company ISG, a Telegraph investigation has found.

About 4,000 jail spaces are out of commission across the ageing prison estate in England and Wales, including an entire jail on Dartmoor.

ISG was carrying out building and repair work on 2,000 out-of-commission cells before it collapsed.

It comes as the Government tries to tackle the prisons crisis, releasing more than 3,000 prisoners early to avoid running out of space this summer.

HMP Dartmoor, built in 1809 to house Napoleonic prisoners of war, was emptied of all 640 prisoners and mothballed after high levels of radon gas were detected.

It was one of 27 jails identified by The Telegraph where ISG was involved in construction work.

It was also involved in work to upgrade security and tackle drug smuggling at the failing Manchester prison, where inmates burned holes in their windows for drones to supply cannabis and mobile phones.

It is believed contractors are struggling to replace the broken windows at the 156-year-old Victorian jail.

A report published in October by HM Inspectorate of Prisons warned that the prison was “plagued by drones delivering illicit items”, owing to a failing CCTV system and delays installing more secure cell windows.

ISG had also been contracted to bring back into use some of the 600 prison places at Birmingham and Liverpool which are not fit to be occupied.

A multimillion-pound expansion programme ISG had begun to create 780 new places at three “open” prisons and build 180 cells at HMP Guys Marsh in Dorset is also now in doubt.

The repair and refurbishment work by ISG has been halted because Civil Service rules dictate that it must be re-tendered and cannot automatically be taken up by existing sub-contractors.

“Contractors’ tools have been locked away,” said a prison source, adding that efforts to find alternative firms were “proving really tricky”.

The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) said that ISG was one of five contractors employed on the maintenance work at the 27 prisons but insisted that it accounted for a “small proportion” of the overall repair and maintenance programme.

It denied claims by prison sources that MoJ officials feared a £500 million “black hole” because of the collapse of ISG.

It is the highest profile bankruptcy since government contractor Carillion went into administration in 2018, raising questions over businesses the UK relies on to maintain its infrastructure.

In a nationwide survey published in October, HM Inspectorate of Prisons criticised several “filthy” prisons that had become infested with damp, rats and insects.

Even electronic perimeter CCTV and security systems at high-security jails are not fully operational, according to prison governor leaders.

‘We are working to minimise impact’

Forty-two per cent of the country’s 119 prisons were rated of “concern” or “serious concern” during the year ending March 2024, up from 37 per cent the previous year, according to the justice ministry.

Sources said the MoJ had planned for such a collapse. “Many of the affected projects are in their early stages so we are confident that alternative contractors can be swiftly found to replace ISG,” said one source.

An MoJ spokesman said: “We are currently working through our contingency plans to minimise the impact on the prison estate of the firm going into administration.

“This includes already starting discussions with a range of alternative constructors to ensure affected projects are swiftly resumed.”