HMP Huntercombe was a safe and decent prison with work, training and education available for prisoners, said Peter Clarke, Chief Inspector of Prisons.  However, it needed to do more to address prisoners’ offending attitudes and behaviour, prior to them being deported from the UK or released into the community. Today he published the report of an unannounced inspection of the foreign national prison in Oxfordshire.

HMP Huntercombe was previously a young offender institution but for the past five years, it has been a category C prison for 480 adult men, and one of two facilities in the country whose sole purpose is to hold convicted foreign nationals. At its last inspection in 2012, inspectors reported on a good institution. This more recent inspection found this remained largely the case, but without a specific function to resettle prisoners back into the community, the prison’s purpose was limited to holding men before they were deported or moved on.

Inspectors were pleased to find that:

• Huntercombe remained safe, with low levels of violence and, despite the prevalence of self-harm, men in crisis were reasonably well cared for;
• security was proportionate, force was rarely used and the use of segregation was low;
• accommodation was clean and properly maintained, though some cells were overcrowded;
• staff were confident in their roles and proactive and supportive;
• work to promote equality was improving;
• most prisoners had a predictable amount of time out of their cells;
• all education and work places were used well and allocated fairly;
• the quality of learning, skills and work activities was assessed as ‘good’ by Ofsted; and
• public protection arrangements were reasonable.

However, inspectors were concerned to find that:

• the role of offender management was unclear and little work was done to reduce the risk of reoffending;
• there was no community rehabilitation company to work on resettlement; and
• there was a general lack of translated material or use of translation services to assist prisoners.

Peter Clarke said:

“The key challenge faced by HMP Huntercombe was how to assist prisoners before they were deported or released, as resettlement services were lacking. This important strategic issue aside, the managers and staff at Huntercombe should be praised for maintaining a safe, decent and purposeful institution which, in the main, treated its prisoners with respect.”
Michael Spurr, Chief Executive of HM Prison & Probation Service, said:

“The staff at HMP Huntercombe deserve credit for this positive report, which recognises the prison is delivering a safe and decent environment for its offenders.

“Given that the prison only holds foreign nationals, staff face considerable challenges in supporting their resettlement abroad. We will review arrangements to improve services where we can.”

– ENDS –

Notes to editors:

1. A copy of the full report, published on 27 June 2017, can be found here.
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 Huntercombe is a category C foreign national prison.
4. This unannounced inspection was carried out from 6-17 February 2017.
5.  Please contact Jane Parsons at HM Inspectorate of Prisons press office on 020 3681 2775 or 07880 787452 if you would like more information.