HMP Chelmsford – where inspectors were deeply troubled last year by high levels of drug-fuelled violence and self-harm – has improved in key areas over the last year.

In an Independent Review of Progress (IRP) at the jail, in April 2019, inspectors found that serious violent incidents had been reduced by more than 50%, care for vulnerable prisoners was improving and living conditions were better.

However, Peter Clarke, HM Chief Inspector of Prisons, warned that the failure since 2018 to make sufficient progress in tackling drugs in HMP Chelmsford, which holds many members of organised crime gangs, risked undermining other progress.

After a full inspection in May and June 2018 Mr Clarke said he had narrowly decided not to invoke the rarely-used Urgent Notification Protocol. At that time, Mr Clarke had some confidence that the then-new governor would make progress.

IRPs are designed to test progress against key recommendations for improvement in troubled prisons. There were nine recommendations for Chelmsford. In April 2019, Mr Clarke said, “levels of violence had continued to increase since last year, but it was clear that action taken by the prison had led to a reduction in serious incidents.” There was also a clearer understanding of the causes of violence. The number of deaths through suicide and the suspected use of illicit drugs remained worrying, but there had been reasonable progress in improving the quality of care for prisoners in crisis or at risk of self-harm.

The prison had made good progress in improving living conditions, though inspectors were concerned that a planned increase in the population would return the jail to the unacceptable overcrowding seen in 2018. There had also been reasonable progress in the provision of health care.

Mr Clarke found insufficient progress in five areas:

• The rate of positive drugs tests had fallen, though it was still high, and there was a reduction in contraband thrown over the wall. “However, it was inexcusable that HM Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS) had still not equipped the prison with more up-to-date drug detection equipment. Chelmsford needed to make further reductions in the supply of drugs a priority to safeguard prisoners’ health and well-being, as well as making the prison safer by reducing violence and debts.”
• Consultation with prisoners had improved but the prison had not addressed the fundamental weaknesses in the application and complaints processes sufficiently well.
• Time out of cell, although more predictable across the prison, remained very limited.
• Despite the governor’s aspiration to provide at least one hour a day for outdoor exercise, most prisoners still only had 30 minutes, which was not enough.
• In rehabilitation and release planning, Mr Clarke said he had concerns about the delivery of the Community Rehabilitation Company (CRC) contract, and some key weakness in offender management arrangements.

Overall, Mr Clarke said:

“Last year, I clearly noted my confidence in the prison’s capacity for change and improvement, and this was well-founded. The governor continued to set a clear vision for the prison and had retained the support of those around her. We have identified good or reasonable progress in four key areas, and this report makes clear what needs to be done to make advances in the remaining weak areas. While additional regional and national resources had been used to good effect, the lack of more sophisticated drug detection equipment was indefensible, and the easy availability of drugs continued to undermine other progress made.”

– End –

Notes to editors

1. A copy of the full Independent Review of Progress report, published on 24 May 2019, 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 Chelmsford is a medium-sized local prison holding prisoners on remand and sentenced. It had an operational capacity of over 700 but at the time of this review visit the population had been reduced by about 60 to enable the refurbishments of some wings. However, this reduction was a temporary measure and we were told that HMPPS would increase the population in the very near future. HMP and YOI Chelmsford was built in the 1830s. Two new residential units were added in 1996 (E and F wings), and a third unit (G wing) was opened in 2006. The prison serves local courts and holds those who are sentenced, on remand or on trial. Adults, young adults and some foreign national prisoners are held in the prison.
4. Read the full 2018 inspection report here.
5. Independent Reviews of Progress (IRPs) are a new type of prison visit, which began in April 2019. They were developed because Ministers wanted an independent assessment of how far prisons had implemented HMI Prisons’ recommendations following particularly concerning prison inspections. IRPs are not inspections and do not result in new judgements against our healthy prison tests. Rather they judge progress being made against the key recommendations made at the previous inspection. The visits are announced and happen eight to 12 months after the original inspection. They last 2.5 days and involve a comparatively small team. Reports are published within 25 working days of the end of the visit. We conduct 15 to 20 IRPs each year. HM Chief Inspector of Prisons selects sites for IRPs based on previous healthy prison test assessments and a range of other factors. Read more about IRPs here.
6. The Urgent Notification Protocol with the Ministry of Justice, ratified in November 2017, states that if, during the inspection of prisons, young offender institutions and secure training centres, HM Chief Inspector of Prisons (HMCIP) identifies significant concerns regarding the treatment and conditions of those detained, HMCIP will write to the Secretary of State within seven calendar days of the end of the inspection, providing notification of and reasons for those concerns. The Secretary of State must then publish an action plan within 28 days.
7. This IRP visit took place between 15–17 April 2018.
8. Please contact John Steele at HM Inspectorate of Prisons on 020 3334 0357 or 07880 787452, or at john.steele@justice.gov.uk, if you would like more information. Please contact the Ministry of Justice Newsdesk for a comment on the report.