HMP Elmley, a large men’s prison on the Isle of Sheppey in Kent, was found to have become less safe over the last four years and was assessed by inspectors as not sufficiently good across all aspects of prison life.

However, Peter Clarke, HM Chief Inspector of Prisons, said Elmley was “not without hope” as Governor and management clearly understood the weaknesses and had credible plans to address them.

At the time of the inspection in April and May 2019, Elmley held over 1,100 prisoners, with significant numbers of foreign nationals and sex offenders. The prison was last inspected in 2015.

It was pleasing, Mr Clarke said, to see some improvements to the reception and induction of new prisoners. Violence was lower than in similar prisons, though a quarter of prisoners still said they felt unsafe. The prison was urged to conduct more thorough investigations into the factors driving violence.

Nearly half of prisoners said it was easy to obtain illicit drugs in the prison and 22% tested positive during random mandatory drug tests, but there was no comprehensive drug supply reduction strategy. However, care for those in crisis or at risk of self-harm was reasonably good.

Inspectors saw too many examples of low level poor behaviour such as open vaping on wings, prisoners being inappropriately dressed, the use of bad language and play-fighting going unchallenged. “Inexperienced staff needed to be given the confidence to do so, and this required them to be supported and mentored by their more experienced colleagues,” Mr Clarke said. “However, we saw young, inexperienced staff being left alone on landings while groups of their colleagues congregated in wing offices.”

Living conditions were variable across the prison, and overall standards of cleanliness were not good enough. No fewer than 180 prisoners were allocated to working on the wings, but many were not fully or meaningfully employed or supervised.

The strategic management of rehabilitation and release planning needed more attention. Although there was some good work being carried out, including the management of multi-agency public protection arrangements (MAPPA) cases, significant improvement was needed in many other areas.

Overall, Mr Clarke said:

“While it was disappointing to find that the prison had not managed to improve since the last inspection, and that on this occasion all our judgements were ‘not sufficiently good’, the picture was not without hope. The prison had a number of credible plans to address the weaknesses, and those weaknesses were clearly acknowledged. There was also a full staff complement, so in terms of both plans and people, the prerequisites to make progress were in place. I was invited to regard Elmley as an establishment that was going through a transitional phase. There could be little doubt that this was a genuinely held aspiration, and I was given the clear impression that the senior team were fully aware of the amount of hard work and focused leadership that would be required to turn the aspiration into reality.”

– End –

Notes to editors

1. A copy of the full report, published on 20 August 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 Elmley is a large category B men’s local prison situated in the cluster of prisons on the Isle of Sheppey in Kent. At the time of this inspection it held over 1,100 prisoners and, unusually for a local prison, significant numbers of foreign nationals and sex offenders. The prison was last inspected in 2015. Elmley opened in 1992 and includes a category C unit of up to 240 prisoners built in 1997. It is the largest of the three prisons on the Isle of Sheppey.
4. Notable features from this inspection: the prison held 636 category C and 40 category D prisoners; there were 189 foreign national prisoners; 181 prisoners were sex offenders; the prison had a full complement of uniformed staff.
5. This unannounced inspection took place between 23 April and 3 May 2019.
6. 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.