Wandsworth Prison had to order 1,500 coats and 1,000 blankets for its prisoners because of heating failures that are still not fixed, its watchdog says.
That was last November. With this November days away, the Ministry of Justice says new boilers have been fitted on six wings and repairs to pumps, valves and pipes are under way. It did not say whether the whole system will be replaced, which the prison’s Independent Monitoring Board says is the only way to stop the failures.
The Wandsworth Prison Improvement Campaign, a local group set up in 2024 that has pressed the government on the prison ever since, says new boilers will change little while “the heating pipes that run through the old thick walls are on their very last legs”.
The same pipes cause the opposite problem in summer. Heating and hot water at the prison run through one system, with pipes in the cell walls, and in August last year cells passed 40C. The campaign says the prison was very hot again this summer, especially on the top landings.
Putney.news understands the pipes played a part in the death of one of the three men who died at the prison within eight days in March. The ombudsman is still investigating.
In August 2024 the government promised £100m to improve the prison over five years. The announcement named cell windows, showers and fire safety. It did not mention heating.
A year later, £37.6m had been committed, to windows, fire safety, showers, a new chapel roof and a rebuilt recycling centre. Heating was not on that list either. The £100m has since been called a “fantasy number”.
In June the head of the prison service, James McEwen, told a House of Lords committee that £17m had been spent. The campaign says most of that went on a healthcare centre that was already being built before the pledge was made.
The watchdog’s annual report, published last week, says HMP Wandsworth has kept up its recovery from the low point of 2023, and that the prison service and the inspectorate no longer regard it as “of concern”. Assaults on staff fell by 37% and the use of force by 25%. Incidents of self-harm fell by 27%, though more men were involved in them.
It also finds that “the prisoners were still housed in unsafe, overcrowded, unsanitary and squalid conditions”, and that the Victorian buildings leave them in “inhumane living conditions”.
We went through the watchdog’s report, the House of Lords evidence and the government’s own spending list.
Members can read how the heating failed last winter and what the prison service told the House of Lords about the £100m. They can also see why the new healthcare centre’s dental suite could not be used.
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What members get from this story
- What the prison service first told the Lords about the £100m, and how it corrected itself
- Why a local campaign reckons only about £5m of new money has been spent
- A third of officers missing on an average day, and men locked up for up to 22 hours
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We put six questions to the Ministry of Justice on Tuesday, including whether a full replacement of the heating is funded and scheduled, whether any of the £100m will pay for it, how much of the £100m has been spent and on what, and how many heating or hot water outages have been reported since June last year.
It did not answer those questions. A Ministry of Justice spokesperson said: “Significant improvements have been made to heating and hot water at HMP Wandsworth, with boiler replacements completed and further upgrades underway.
“This report recognises other significant progress at the prison, but we know there is more to do. That’s why we are investing hundreds of millions in prison and probation service maintenance to improve conditions and keep prisons safe and secure.”
The ministry added that new boilers had been fitted on A, B, F, G, H and K wings and in the gym and kitchen, and that work on pumps, valves and pipes would continue this financial year. It said a review of prisons led by the former Home Secretary Amber Rudd is under way.
Last year’s report found persistent failures despite a year of reform. This one records a recovery, and a winter of coats and blankets.
Worried about someone in HMP Wandsworth?
- Men in the prison can ask to see a member of the Independent Monitoring Board through the board’s applications process. Prison staff should help them make contact.
- Family and friends with concerns about someone inside should contact the prison directly, the IMB says.
- If you have worked at HMP Wandsworth, or spent last winter there, and want to tell us what it was like, email news@putney.news.
- If you have been affected by any of the issues in this story, Samaritans can be contacted free, day or night, on 116 123.
