The availability of new psychoactive substances was threatening to undermine recent progress at Moorland, said Peter Clarke, Chief Inspector of Prisons. Today he published the report of an unannounced inspection of the South Yorkshire resettlement prison.

HMP/YOI Moorland holds around 1,000 prisoners, of whom around 250 are foreign national offenders and 340 are sex offenders. The prison is in the process of adapting to its new role as a resettlement prison for the area. The recent history of the prison has been one of uncertainty and disruption and at one point the prison had been earmarked for privatisation.

Inspectors were concerned to find that:

• the threat posed to the stability of the prison by new psychoactive substances (NPS) is severe and despite some positive initiatives, the situation appears to be deteriorating and needs to be addressed;
• forty-eight per cent of prisoners now say it is easy to get drugs at Moorland compared to 28% at the last inspection;
• the number of violent incidents, fights and assaults had increased since the last inspection in 2012 and levels were also higher than at similar prisons;
• almost one in five prisoners surveyed said they felt unsafe at the time of the inspection;
• staff often struggled with the many demands made of them and, while most contacts with prisoners were polite, they were also mostly brief and often superficial;
• work on diversity continued to be weak and had been undermined by chronic understaffing in the area; and
• the overall strategic approach to resettlement lacked focus and too much of the work of the offender management unit was process-driven.

However, inspectors were pleased to find that:

• care for prisoners at risk of suicide or self-harm was generally good;
• there had been substantial improvements in the management and availability of work, training and education, with places for 87% of the population; and
• the prison had successfully introduced a sex offender treatment programme in response to being re-roled as a national resource for holding sex offenders.

Peter Clarke said:

“There are real opportunities at Moorland to make progress, but the issues of NPS and inefficiencies in routine transactions that have such a negative impact on prisoners’ experiences need to be addressed. In particular, there is a real opportunity to make progress in embracing the prison’s new role as a resettlement prison, and in delivering treatment programmes for sex offenders. We saw evidence that many staff wanted to build constructive relationships with prisoners and to address the challenges facing Moorland. It will be the task of a focused and visible leadership team to inspire the staff to grasp the opportunities provided by the new roles that Moorland has assumed.”

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

“I am pleased that the inspector has highlighted the real progress being made at Moorland in purposeful activity as well as successfully introducing and managing sex offenders. The prison is currently going through a challenging time of transitioning to its new role as a resettlement prison and is working to ensure prisoners are prepared for release.

“We are not complacent about safety and there is clearly more work to do to address levels of violence and tackle increasing availability of NPS at the prison. The Governor and staff have put measures in place to reduce the rise in drugs and I am confident the team will continue to build on the firm foundations in place to take this work forward.”

 

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/YOI Moorland is a category C adult and young adult men’s resettlement national resource, also holding adult male foreign national prisoners and a national resource for adult male sex offenders.
4. This unannounced inspection was carried out from 1-12 February 2016.
5. Please contact Jane Parsons at HMI Prisons press office on 020 3681 2775 or 07880 787452 if you would like more information.