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 21st-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:
- A copy of the full report, published on 5 July, 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 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.
- This unannounced inspection was carried out from 20 February
- 3 March 2017.
