HMP Coldingley offered good work, training, education and resettlement opportunities for the men it held, said Peter Clarke, Chief Inspector of Prisons. Some of the older wings, however, were in urgent need of refurbishment, he added. Today he published the report of an unannounced inspection of the training and resettlement prison in Surrey.

HMP Coldingley held just over 500 men, nearly all of whom were serving long sentences. The prison aimed to provide opportunities for men to develop work-based and educational skills and had a well-founded reputation for delivering a full regime of work, training and education. At its last inspection in April 2013, inspectors found that the prison was safe and delivering reasonably good work, training, education and resettlement provision, though there were concerns about other aspects. At this more recent inspection, more men said they felt unsafe, which inspectors considered reflected an increase in the use of illegal drugs.

Inspectors were pleased to find that:

• staff-prisoner relationships were reasonably strong and health care provision was good;
• time out of cell was better than inspectors usually see;
• there had been no self-inflicted deaths since the last inspection, levels of self-harm were low and care for vulnerable men was generally good;
• Ofsted rated learning and skills provision as good overall, all men could be purposefully engaged in work, training or education and the outcomes were generally good;
• the quality of work to resettle prisoners back into the community was generally good, particularly for higher risk men; and
• there was a good range of offending behaviour courses, as well as generally good contact with offender supervisors and a high number of men moved to open prisons each month.

However, inspectors were concerned to find that:

• in a survey, over half of men reported that it was easy to get drugs in the jail and the need for a comprehensive drug strategy should be a priority;
• while levels of violence overall were not high, some incidents had been serious, including a homicide, and prison managers had been slow to respond to some of the challenges;
• night sanitation arrangements were fundamentally disrespectful and the fabric of the older wings (A to D) was decrepit; and
• work around equality and diversity was under-developed and in particular there was a need to analyse and understand negative perceptions of black, Asian and minority ethnic prisoners.

Peter Clarke said:

“Coldingley was performing at its best when providing a progressive, reliable and rehabilitative regime which focused on providing men who had already served many years of long sentences with some excellent opportunities to make progress through the system. While the prison remained generally safe, we considered that its leaders needed to ensure the challenges being faced around illegal drug use and associated debt were better managed. Our biggest criticism of Coldingley related to the environment on the older wings, which remained very poor. It was simply not possible to judge that the conditions on those units were acceptable for a 21^st-century prison. Nevertheless, Coldingley was a prison that offered prisoners hope and the reality of progression, which is a significant achievement that we do not underestimate.”

Michael Spurr, Chief Executive of HM Prison and Probation Service, said:

“I’m pleased that the Chief Inspector has acknowledged the good work being done by the Governor and her staff at Coldingley.

“Relationships are a strength and the structured regime offering good quality education, work and activity provides prisoners with the skills they need to turn their lives around.

“Prisoners in the older units are held in single cells with access to toilets at night provided through an electronically controlled unlocking system.  Cleanliness on these units wasn’t acceptable at the time of the inspection but this has been addressed and a wider refurbishment programme is underway to improve conditions. This will be completed by the end of the year.”

– ENDS –

Notes to editors:

1.  A copy of the full report, published on 5 July 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 Coldingley is a category C training and resettlement prison for adult males, holding mostly long-term, including life-sentenced, prisoners. In 2016 Coldingley became an early adopter of prison reform.
4. This unannounced inspection was carried out from 20 February – 3 March 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.