HM Inspectorate of Prisons

Guys Marsh is a category C training and resettlement prison near Shaftesbury in Dorset. Built mainly in the 1970s and 1980s, the prison is a campus-style institution, currently with eight operational accommodation facilities. At the time of our inspection up to 487 adult men could be held. Just under a third of the prisoners were serving sentences of over four years, with a further 60 serving indeterminate sentences. Healthy establishment scores: 🔒 Safety: Poor ⚖ Respect: Poor 📚 Purposeful activity: Not sufficiently good 📅 Preparation for release: Not sufficiently good Points to note: 📄 Already-inadequate conditions deteriorating 📄 Rates of violence high and rising 📄 Drugs presenting ongoing threat 📄 Self-harm rate very high 📄 3 in 10 prisoners locked up during working day 📄 Governor focused on improving standards. Notable positive practice (NPP): ✅ The training provided to prison officers and prisoners to administer naloxone (to reverse breathing difficulties caused by overdose) was a protective factor, which the prison had used effectively. 🔍 Read the full report: https://lnkd.in/ehs4nhvj

Charlie Taylor reflects on the independent review of progress at Harmondsworth IRC: "The improvements are exceptional and leaders at Harmondsworth can be proud of what they have achieved. While much more remains to be done, leaders are fully focused on the task ahead and have laid the foundations necessary for further progress." Read more below ⬇️

Harmondsworth is an immigration removal centre (IRC). The contractor for the Home Office is Care and Custody (Mitie Group) and at the time of our independent review of progress, there were 407 detainees. At this review visit, we found that there had been an exceptional response to our negative inspection findings, resulting in good progress in 11 of our 14 areas of concern, including all the priorities that we set out at the full inspection. There was reasonable progress in one concern and insufficient progress in two, with no areas of no meaningful progress. Points to note: 📄 Substantial improvements since February 2024 📄 Staff levels doubled 📄 Neglected communal areas addressed 📄 Much-improved reception unit 📄 Drug problem being tackled by collaboration with police 📄 Self-harm reduced 📄 Improvements to activities and welfare Notable positive practice (NPP): ✅ Collaboration between the Metropolitan Police Service and Harmondsworth IRC was now at a high level, with regular meetings between senior leaders. Surveillance, searching and sharing of intelligence had resulted in several arrests and a clear message that staff corruption would not be tolerated. 🔍 Read the full report here: https://lnkd.in/esnWSsAk

HMP Nottingham is an inner-city category B reception and resettlement male prison serving the courts of Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire. The prison opened in 1890, but the original Victorian buildings were demolished in 2008. The new prison opened in February 2010. At this independent review of progress visit, we followed up eight concerns from our most recent inspection in May 2024. We judged that there was reasonable progress in four concerns and insufficient progress in four concerns. Points to note: 📄 Self-harm/violence linked to drugs, debt, gangs & mental health 📄 Improved key work and education provision 📄 Too many prisoners not in education or work 📄 Prisoners waiting too long for secure hospital transfer 📄 Activities introduced for prisoners in crisis. Notable positive practice (NPP): ✅ ‘Grab bags’ containing activities, games and reading material for prisoners in crisis and under constant supervision were a positive new initiative, designed to alleviate boredom and to encourage positive interaction with the regime and with the officer supervising them. ✅ Full-time workers and those prisoners on the enhanced level of the incentives scheme benefited from a two-hour evening association period as well as evening gym sessions, which demonstrated leaders’ ambitions to motivate positive behaviour in the constraints of a category B reception prison despite a high turnover of population. 🔍 Read the full report here: https://lnkd.in/ejDMVMJU

As we move into April, let's take a look back on what we published in February and March. Read our reports: https://lnkd.in/erc6vyDb

💛Yesterday was Mother's Day💛 In our 'Time to care' thematic 94% of women told us that seeing and speaking to their family and friends is one of the main things that helps them cope in prison, but many struggle to maintain contact. Read the report: https://lnkd.in/e8ZH7s4G

Today we published our report ‘Easier said than done: resolving prisoner requests’. It reveals how difficult it is for prisoners to get even simple things done in jail. Read the report: https://lnkd.in/eZXQz7J6 And media release: https://lnkd.in/efiTQDx9

Forest Bank, a category B reception prison holding a population that increasingly consists of remanded or unsentenced prisoners, has made progress under an experienced and capable director since our 2022 inspection. The north-west of England has been at the centre of the ongoing prison population crisis and Forest Bank has borne the brunt of much of this challenge. Although some work had begun, there was more leaders needed to do to make provision for the remand and unsentenced population that made up 55% of the jail, many of whom spent long periods at the prison, languishing in small, overcrowded cells. Healthy establishment scores: 🔒 Safety: Not sufficiently good ⚖ Respect: Reasonably good 📚 Purposeful activity: Not sufficiently good 📅 Preparation for release: Reasonably good Points to note: 📄 Most prisoners got reasonably good time out of cell 📄 Not enough was done for the 55% of prisoners who were unsentenced or on remand 📄 Levels of self-harm and prisoner assaults were too high 📄 Unacceptable delays in getting prisoners to hospital Notable positive practice (NPP): ✅ The Alert, Intervene, Monitor (AIM) electronic tool identified prisoners who appeared to be withdrawing from the prison regime and might be vulnerable. The prison then provided these men with additional support, including key work and welfare checks. ✅ A new resettlement hub brought a range of services together in one unit. This allowed easier access for prisoners and made signposting more efficient for partner agencies. 🔍 Read the full report and further examples of NPP here: https://lnkd.in/egr3x6RC

Deerbolt is a category C training prison for up to 474 adult men. Dating mostly from the 1970s, the prison is a campus style institution with 9 accommodation units and several purpose-built facilities for the intended provision of work and education. Historically, Deerbolt had specialised as a prison for young adults, but this function changed when the upper age limit was removed three years ago. Despite that, about a third of the population was under 25 and this age group accounted for 45 of the 59 life sentence or long-term prisoners held. Healthy establishment scores: 🔒 Safety: Not sufficiently good ⚖ Respect: Not sufficiently good 📚 Purposeful activity: Poor 📅 Preparation for release: Reasonably good Points to note: 📄 High rates of assault and self-harm 📄 High number of medical emergencies caused by substance misuse 📄 Too many men locked up during the working day 📄 Too few health staff, clinics often cancelled, patients not taken to appointments, and medicines issued late Notable positive practice (NPP): ✅ A group of ‘Building Positive Relationships’ peer mentors was active on several wings. They introduced their peers to ‘community days’ for those not receiving visits, helped to restore contact with families and linked prisoners to volunteer visitors. ✅ The safety club was a positive initiative which provided a supportive environment for those in crisis. It ensured regular time out of cell and meaningful engagement between prisoners and the safety team. 🔍 Read the full report and further examples of NPP here: https://lnkd.in/exBmxMbH

Styal is a multifunctional prison and young offender institution taking women from courts in northern England and much of Wales. At the time of our inspection, 422 women were held either in the large houses – from a former orphanage, dating from the early 1900s – or in the newer but more traditional cellular accommodation of Waite Unit. Up to 25 women could be held in open conditions in a unit just outside the prison perimeter. Healthy establishment scores: 🔒 Safety: Not sufficiently good ⚖ Respect: Reasonably good 📚 Purposeful activity: Not sufficiently good 📅 Preparation for release: Good Points to note: 📄 Positive drug tests highest in women's estate and rate of self-harm second highest 📄 Too few officers supervising too many houses 📄 PACT doing good work to help women maintain family ties 📄 Innovative activity sessions and workshops were on offer. Notable positive practice (NPP): ✅  Leaders worked with the Women’s Estate Psychology Services (WEPS) team to identify incidents where good de-escalation techniques had avoided the need to use physical force. They shared this learning with staff and there had been a reduction in the amount of times force was used. ✅ Women due to live at the local probation-approved premises (AP) on release were shown a video of the accommodation to help them understand what to expect and could also have a video call with the staff to help plan for their stay. ✅ The young adult hub provided additional support to a group of women who had been shown to be more at risk of self-harm. 🔍 Read the full report and further examples of NPP here: https://lnkd.in/eHkpmRrn