After a previous very critical inspection, HMP Oakwood had made significant improvements and were well positioned to improve still further, said Nick Hardwick, Chief Inspector of Prisons. Today he published the report of an announced inspection of the training prison near Wolverhampton.

HMP Oakwood held 1,557 adult men at the time of its inspection. The prison opened in April 2012. Inspectors were very concerned at the previous inspection in June 2013 when outcomes against all “healthy prison” tests were assessed as either not sufficiently good or poor. At the time many staff were inexperienced and lacked confidence. A new director had just taken over and had made a good analysis of what needed to be done. To drive improvements, inspectors announced that they would return more quickly than usual. This inspection 18 months later found that real attention had been paid to recommendations and while much remained to do, excellent leadership by the director and hard work by all staff had delivered significant improvement. Inspectors were confident that progress was sustainable and there were credible plans for further improvements.

Inspectors were pleased to find that:

• the prison was much calmer than before, overall levels of violence had reduced and most prisoners felt safe;
• support for prisoners with substance abuse issues was very good and a wide range of therapeutic interventions was available;
• the overall environment remained very good;
• as staff had become more experienced, relationships between staff and prisoners had much improved;
• most of the difficulties prisoners had had at the previous inspection about getting access to basic domestic items had been resolved;
• the prisoner-run Resettlement Advice Line and Prisoner Helpline (RALPH) dealt with many issues quickly and efficiently;
• equality and diversity management overall was reasonable, but prisoners from black and minority ethnic groups and Muslim prisoners were less positive than the population as a whole and more needed to be done to understand their concerns;
• health services had improved, but were affected by staffing shortages;
• most prisoners were employed full time and most had a good amount of time out of their cell;
• Ofsted found that the overall effectiveness of learning and skills had improved; and
• resettlement services had improved and now compared well with similar establishments and offender management and contact with prisoners were good.

However, inspectors were concerned to find that:

• the use of force was high and almost double that of similar prisons, and scrutiny of individual incidents was insufficient;
• there were still high levels of bullying, often related to the availability of ‘legal highs’ such as Black Mamba and associated debt; and
• there had been no self-inflicted deaths at Oakwood but the number of self-harm incidents and the number of prisoners receiving support for being at risk of suicide or self-harm was high, and the quality of care was not always adequate.

Nick Hardwick said:

“HMP Oakwood has turned the corner. There is more to do but the determined way the director and staff have made improvements following significant criticism should be acknowledged. However, the difficulties Oakwood and other new prisons experienced immediately after opening resulted in unacceptable risks and very poor outcomes for the prisoners held at that time. There are plans to open a number of large establishments in the coming years. I recommend that Ministers undertake and publish a review of the difficulties Oakwood and other new prisons experienced after they opened, and ensure that lessons learned are factored into plans for the opening of other new establishments.”

Michael Spurr, Chief Executive Officer of the National Offender Management Service, said:

“I am pleased that the Chief Inspector has highlighted the significant improvements that have taken place at Oakwood. There are challenges involved in opening any new prison and the lessons learnt are always carefully assessed to improve any future processes.

“The Director and his staff deserve real credit for their work to establish a safe and decent regime through a strong commitment to reducing violence, supporting vulnerable prisoners and providing better work, training and resettlement opportunities. There is still more work to do and the recommendations from this inspection will be used to build on the recent improvements.”

Notes to Editors:

1. Read the report.
2. HM Inspectorate of Prisons is an independent inspectorate, inspecting places of detention to report on conditions and treatment, and promote positive outcomes for those detained and the public.
3. HMP Oakwood is a category C training prison for sentenced male prisoners serving three months or more. It is run by G4S.
4. This announced inspection was carried out from 1-5 December 2014.
5. Please contact Barbara Buchanan at HMI Prisons on 020 3681 2772 if you would like more information or to request an interview.