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:
- A copy of the full report, published on 27 June, can be found
on the HM Inspectorate of Prisons website at: www.justiceinspectorates.gov.uk/hmiprisons
- 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.
- HMP Huntercombe is a category C foreign national
prison.
- This unannounced inspection was carried out from 6-17
February 2017.
