HMP Isle of Wight managed its complex population well, but needed to do more to reduce the risks some prisoners posed, said Nick Hardwick, Chief Inspector of Prisons. Today he published the report of an unannounced inspection of the training prison.

The prisons on the Isle of Wight have undergone substantial change over the years. For a long time there were three adjacent prisons: HMP Parkhurst, HMP Albany and HMP Camp Hill. In 2009 the three prisons merged to become HMP Isle of Wight, holding a mix of sex offenders and mainstream prisoners. In 2013 the old Camp Hill site closed. HMP Isle of Wight now holds just over 1,000 men, almost all of whom are sex offenders. Most were serving long sentences for serious offences and many were elderly and sometimes frail. The mix of physically and mentally vulnerable men and serious offenders that the prison held made the task of reducing the risk of reoffending while holding the men safely an unusually complex one.

Inspectors were pleased to find that:

• reception arrangements were generally good;
• security was proportionate overall;
• the care of men at risk of suicide and self-harm was generally good;
• there was little evidence of illegal drug use and substance misuse services were good;
• the external areas of the prison and most cells were in good condition;
• the ‘night san’ system, where prisoners used a call bell system at night to use the toilet, worked efficiently and prisoners generally said they preferred it to an unscreened toilet in their cells;
• relationships between prisoners and staff were good;
• prisoners with palliative and end of life needs received excellent care;
• most prisoners had a good amount of time out of their cells and there were enough activity places; and
• public protection arrangements were generally sound.

However, inspectors were concerned to find that:

• there were few violent incidents but more prisoners said they had been victimised by other prisoners and staff than in comparable prisons, and prisoners reported unusually high levels of violent and sexual assaults;
• not all staff were sufficiently aware of the risks that some men posed;
• although the management of equality issues was good overall, the prison was unable to adequately meet the needs of all the men with disabilities and these needs were likely to become greater;
• offender management was not sufficiently central to the work of the prison – there was a large backlog of risk assessments (OASys) and offender supervisors had too little contact with prisoners they were responsible for; and
• processes to address the behaviour of men who denied their offences were not sufficiently effective.

Nick Hardwick said:

“HMP Isle of Wight held a complex sex offender population, most of whom had been convicted of serious offences but who were now themselves often vulnerable because of age or disability. For the most part the prison dealt with this complex task professionally, but further work was required to develop a more sophisticated approach to managing and reducing the risks these men posed, both within the prison and, importantly, when they were eventually released.”

 

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 Isle of Wight is a category B male training prison predominantly for sex offenders. It also has a small local remand function.
4. This unannounced inspection was carried out from 26-27 May, 8-12 June 2015.
5. Please contact Jane Parsons at HMI Prisons press office on 020 3681 2775 or 07880 787452 if you would like more information.