Taxpayers foot £420,000 bill for eco-boiler to keep sex offenders warm

A prison in Dorset is spending hundreds of thousands of pounds on a net zero-friendly boiler to keep sex offenders warm during woodwork classes. HMP The Verne, near Weymouth, has announced a £420,000 contract for a biomass boiler that will be installed in the prison’s woodwork workshop. The Category C prison is used to house male sex offenders, and was previously home to Paul Gadd, more widely known by his stage name Gary Glitter . Prisoners have access to the workshop for rehabilitation classes, in which they construct and assemble wooden furniture for use elsewhere on the prison estate. Some inmates also take part in community projects, such as restoring park benches. The 600 prisoners have access to a football pitch, carp pond and private farm, and are given keys to their own cells. HMP The Verne has previously been criticised for offering a “holiday camp” to some of the country’s most notorious sex offenders. A notice published on the Government’s official website for public-sector contracts earlier this month advertised for the “supply and installation of a new biomass boiler system in the woodwork workshop at HMP The Verne”. The notice said that the Ministry of Justice was willing to spend £420,000 on the system. A traditional gas boiler would likely be far cheaper. Biomass boilers are powered by wood chips, logs, straw or plant matter, and typically cost up to seven times more than gas boilers. It comes after Louise Haigh, the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, said the Government would scrap procurement rules that require government bodies to consider net zero targets when spending public money. Ms Haigh told the Financial Times last month that procurement had “tried to tick too many boxes”, and pledged to focus “ruthlessly” on job creation. The decision to buy a biomass boiler was criticised by Reform UK and the Conservatives, who said the Government’s “net zero obsession” was driving up costs in public procurement. Nick Timothy , the shadow justice secretary, said: “Every corner of Government now bends to Labour’s costly net zero obsession, and the Ministry of Justice is no exception. “The Government could not find the money to keep sex offenders behind bars, yet Labour have somehow found £420,000 down the back of the sofa for a fashionable green heater. “Keeping the public safe should always come before expensive green box-ticking exercises.” Robert Jenrick , Reform’s economy spokesman, said: “The Government manages to find ever-more ludicrous ways to waste taxpayer’s money. This farce should be cancelled immediately. “Reform has already identified £80 billion of waste in government spending and there is plenty more to come.” A Ministry of Justice spokesman said: “This Government inherited prisons neglected for years with ageing and crumbling infrastructure and is now delivering the modernisation they urgently need. “By replacing outdated boiler facilities and carrying out vital infrastructure upgrades, we are improving prison conditions, delivering value for money for taxpayers and ensuring the estate is fit for the future.”