Read the report: HMP Erlestoke

Inspectors who visited HMP Erlestoke, a men’s prison in Wiltshire, in August 2021 found that it had failed to address problems of safety, poor living conditions and a lack of meaningful activity which had been identified in previous inspections.

Charlie Taylor, HM Chief Inspector of Prisons, said the prison – holding just over 440 adult men, most serving long sentences – “held a challenging but generally stable population but had many advantages, not least its clarity of purpose and a group of prisoners who knew they would need to engage fully with their sentence objectives and the regime of the prison if they were to progress.”

In this context, Mr Taylor added:

“… our findings at Erlestoke in 2021 were disappointing. When we last inspected in 2017, we assessed outcomes for prisoners as not sufficiently good against our healthy prison tests of safety, purposeful activity and rehabilitation and release planning. Only in the healthy prison area of respect were outcomes reasonably good.”

Findings in a COVID-period scrutiny visit in 2020 were so concerning that Mr Taylor’s predecessor raised his concerns directly with the Secretary of State for Justice. The scrutiny visit identified a deterioration in safety, poor living conditions and a lack of purposeful relationships between staff and prisoners.

Mr Taylor said:

“At this [2021, full] inspection we found little improvement, and respect had deteriorated to the extent that it too was now not sufficiently good. The prison had undoubtedly been impacted by COVID-19 outbreaks in addition to the general restrictions imposed by the pandemic, but it was clear that prisoners were becoming increasingly frustrated at what they perceived to be a growing divergence between their experience and the general easing of restrictions in the community.”

Inspectors made a number of troubling findings, including:

• Assaults on staff were double the rate for similar prisons and were rising
• Use of force by staff had increased significantly since 2017, but there was insufficient oversight and accountability
• Forty-seven per cent of prisoners said it was easy to get alcohol and 45% said the same of illicit drugs. Fourteen per cent said they had developed a drug habit in the prison and there had been frequent medical emergencies resulting from the suspected use of psychoactive substances and other unknown substances
• Almost 25% of staff had less than one year’s experience and 14% of staff had resigned in the last 12 months
• Inspectors were “overwhelmed by black and Asian prisoners complaining about inequitable, racist or discriminatory treatment”.
• Loud music played on some wings could be heard outside the prison
• There was a “significant rat infestation”, including evidence of rat faeces at the entry to the governor’s office.

Mr Taylor added:

“Leaders were not visible, oversight arrangements lacked rigour and priorities were not communicated… Staff, many of whom were inexperienced, said their well-being was not supported, and that morale was low.

“The end of the pandemic offers Erlestoke an opportunity to review and reinvent its approach and culture. Like all prisons it faces challenges, but the establishment also has some advantages. While Erlestoke is not the worst prison we have inspected it should be performing better. With effective leadership and a more engaged staff group, who maintain standards and have higher expectations of prisoners, it could quickly improve.”

– End –

Notes to editors

1. Read the HMP Erlestoke report, published on 7 December 2021.
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 Erlestoke was built on the former grounds of Erlestoke manor house. The site was taken over by the then Prison Commissioners in 1960 for use as a detention centre. In 1977 it became a young prisoners’ centre and was converted to a category C adult male training prison in 1988. Life-sentenced prisoners were first received in the 1990s. Since 2018, it has held young offenders in closed conditions and adult category C males.
4. This inspection took place between 16 and 27 August 2021.
5. Please contact John Steele at john.steele@justice.gov.uk or on 07880 787452 if you would like more information.