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Cardiff was very overcrowded, with nearly two-thirds of the population sharing cells designed for one, however, it was clean, settled and performing better than similar prisons against most safety outcomes. The governor and her senior team were visible and positive staff-prisoner relationships underpinned the respectful culture.
Despite this, illegal drugs were a problem with nearly half of prisoners saying it was easy to get hold of them and just under a quarter of prisoners tested positive for drugs in mandatory testing. The delivery of key work was weak but time out of cell was delivered more consistently than at comparable prisons.
Points to note: Ten prisoners had taken their lives since 2019, yet the implementation of the Prisons and Probation Ombudsman’s recommendations following those deaths was poor. Oversight and planning of care for patients with long-term health conditions was weak and inconsistent.
Chelmsford was a safer and more productive place at its first full inspection since the Urgent Notification issued in 2021.
Staff had worked hard to reduce contraband getting into the estate. Subsequently, violence had reduced, the positive MDT rate was lower than at comparable jails at 15% and higher levels of prisoner attendance at education, training and work had been achieved. Sadly, self-harm had increased and poor coordination between the two providers of therapeutic support and long waiting lists prevented the delivery of much needed support for prisoners struggling with their mental health.
Points to note: Use of force was high, care and support for prisoners during their early days was poor and, whilst the OMU had made very good recent progress with work to reduce reoffending, some high-risk prisoners were released without adequate preparation. On average, 26% of sentenced prisoners had nowhere to sleep on their first night of release.
Overall, staff were compassionate, patient and worked hard to support detainee welfare. However, detainees regularly arrived at court late due to limited cell capacity and long journeys, which delayed hearing start times. Searches of detainees were rarely based on individual risk assessment, meaning many were searched repeatedly and unnecessarily. Interpretation services were not used consistently to support detainees.
Points to note: Detainees discharged from prison at court did not have important personal possessions, such as door keys, and could not easily retrieve them. Despite the inspection being announced, cell environments were poor and there was a lack of facilities for detainees with impaired mobility or disabilities.
STHFs, designed and equipped to hold people for just a few hours, held over a quarter of detainees for more than 12 hours and nearly 600 people, including six children, for more than 24 hours over the previous six months. Detainees were not allowed access to their prescribed medication and telephone contact was limited. Not all Border Force staff who had contact with children had enhanced DBS checks and there were startling inconsistences in safeguarding data provided by Border Force. For the most part, Care and Custody staff were supportive to detainees.
Points to note: The Home Office urgently needs to address the situation at Luton. The airport was unable to cope with the demands placed on it and we were particularly concerned to find that children were placed in crowded holding rooms with unrelated adults.
Whatton was generally continuing to operate effectively as a national resource for men convicted of sexual offences. The new governor had taken responsibility for improving the experiences of black prisoners, a concern raised in our previous two inspections. Behaviour management processes were overly punitive, with cellular confinement used far more than at similar establishments, and good behaviour needed to be better incentivised. Self-harm was also higher than at comparator prisons and had risen over the past two years. Many prisoners’ literacy and numeracy levels were poor and the rollout of a prison-wide reading strategy was slow. A lack of accredited programmes inhibited sentence progression, with some waiting years to fulfil that aspect of their sentence plan.
Points to note: Living conditions on B wing were poor. Cells were very cramped and the toilet was situated next to the bed without any partition. Black mould grew on poorly ventilated cell walls and prisoners had been forced to line walls with cardboard to keep warm.
I am delighted that my role as Chief Inspector of Prisons has been extended for another three years, allowing me to continue to lead my outstanding team to scrutinise independently the conditions for and treatment of detainees.
Our key priorities for 2024–25 are detailed in this business plan and will help the Inspectorate to continue to drive improvements in outcomes for detainees.
Commenting on the report HM Chief Inspector of Prisons, Charlie Taylor, said:
Prisons in England and Wales are almost full, with men and women serving increasingly long sentences often in overcrowded and squalid conditions. Reoffending rates remain high, and levels of assaults and self-harm are rising. Drugs too are an increasing problem in many jails, despite the use of technology designed to prevent their incursion.
Against this backdrop, it is more important than ever that prison leaders find ways to develop cultures that support prisoners to behave well. If we want to see less reoffending and fewer victims of crime, prisons must deliver on their purpose to protect the public by working with prisonersto help them prepare for their return to society. But we know how difficult it is for staff to do their job when they are spending too much of their time managing disruptive behaviour. We often report on prisons where behaviour is unacceptable, rules are not clear or enforced, staff lack confidence and do not feel supported by leaders, sanctions are not followed up and there is no effective system in place to motivate prisoners to behave.
Yet we know that some prisons have bucked this trend, creating cultures that encourage men and women to engage constructively with staff and make better use of their time in custody.
In this thematic report, we identify the features of these prisons in the expectation that others will learn from the example, innovation and insight that they offer. We visited eight jails during our research, as well as holding discussion groups with ex-prisoners, governors and academics.
We hope that our report inspires prison leaders to look for what is achievable within their own establishment. But there is no magic wand that can remove the pressure of rising populations, failing infrastructure and a dearth of experienced staff, and we have been calling for some time now for a serious conversation about who we send to prison, for how long and what we want to happen during their time in custody to reduce future victims of crime.
Peterborough’s population was transient and demand for resettlement help was high. The prison had released around 1,200 men in the last 12 months and in the same period had received around 700 men who had been recalled to prison for breaking the rules of their community supervision period. Around a third of those released were high risk prisoners. There was not enough housing support, with about 30% of all releases going out street homeless. Despite this high level of need, the housing adviser had not entered the prison for over a year and there had been no substantive head of reducing reoffending for nearly two years.
The early release scheme (End of Custody Supervised Licence) had added further pressure, and a number of men released under the scheme, for whom accommodation had not been found, had been recalled to prison even before their original release date had passed.
The prison was also struggling with staffing, with around a third of officers typically being unavailable for duty. Many staff said that they felt unsupported, and morale was low. Senior staff had also been deployed to support other Sodexo prisons over the last 18 months, which had contributed to the overall deterioration of the prison which inspectors had previously considered one of the better reception and resettlement prisons.
This was a worrying inspection. It is particularly disappointing that Peterborough, which has historically been one of the better resettlement prisons in the country, has suffered for its more experienced staff being taken to shore up other struggling jails run by Sodexo. But its deterioration also shows the strain that is on all of our prisons at the moment, with common themes such as drugs, staffing challenges, overcrowding and a revolving door for those caught in a cycle of reoffending. Until prisons focus on breaking that cycle by providing meaningful education, employment and other rehabilitation, our communities will continue to suffer, because where there is reoffending, there are more victims.
Inspectors found operational practices to be generally well organised, but too many Albanian detainees waited in detention for several weeks despite wanting to return voluntarily. However, efforts had been made to reduce total journey times. Leaders had acted on, and continued to act on, the staff culture and interactions with detainees were mostly respectful and positive.
Points to note
Information about vulnerability and risk was not clearly communicated to escort staff or paramedics and the opening of detainees’ medical notes without their consent breached medical confidentiality. The use of interpreters needed better oversight.
