HMP Holme House, near Stockton on Tees, had a “very serious”
drugs problem, with nearly 60% of prisoners saying it was easy to
get hold of drugs, according to a report on an unannounced
inspection by HM Inspectorate of Prisons.
Peter Clarke, HM Chief Inspector of Prisons, said a quarter of
prisoners had acquired a drug problem in the jail, a local prison
holding nearly 1,200 adult men. Spice, the synthetic cannabis,
was a particular problem.
“The prison was not as safe as it had been and at the heart of
our concerns was a very serious problem with drugs,” Mr Clarke
said.
“The threat to the well-being of individuals was manifest and
rarely have we seen so many serious and repeated incidents of
prisoners under the influence of clearly harmful
substances. Despite this, the prison did not have an
integrated or effective supply reduction strategy in place.
Stopping drugs from entering the prison was the prison’s main
priority in our view.” Despite the high caseloads, though,
support for drug and alcohol-addicted prisoners was “very good.”
HMP Holme House was inspected in July 2017, at a time of
significant change. It was part of a group of prisons designated
as “reform prisons” and it was intended that Holme House would
lose its local prison function and become a category C training
prison. The full impact of changes was emerging but had yet to be
fully realised.
Holme House was last inspected in late 2013 and inspectors found
a significant deterioration in outcomes across most assessments.
The prison was not as safe as it had been and at the heart of
concerns was the very serious problem with drugs. “Mandatory
testing suggested a positive rate within the prison of 10.45%,
which was bad enough, but this rose to nearer 36% when synthetic
cannabinoids or new psychoactive substances (NPS) were included.
Nearly 60% of prisoners thought it was easy to get drugs in the
prison,” Mr Clarke said.
Violence had risen since 2013 but some good work had been done to
try to reduce it, though this needed to progress with greater
urgency. Inspectors were concerned that there had been six
self-inflicted deaths since 2013 but not all the recommendations
made following the Prisons and Probation Ombudsman’s (PPO)
investigations had been implemented effectively.
Holme House, a modern prison, had relatively clean internal
communal areas, though too many cells were poorly equipped and
often in an unhygienic condition, or were overcrowded. Many
prisoners had difficulty in accessing the basics of daily living
- including bedding, clean clothes and cleaning materials -
although the recent introduction of in-cell telephones was a step
forward in supporting family ties.
Most prisoners felt respected by staff but relationships were
often strained and consultation was limited. The identification
of and support offered to minority groups were reasonable
overall, but there was evidence of worse outcomes for black and
minority ethnic prisoners. This needed to be understood and
addressed.
Fully employed prisoners could expect to be out of their cells
for about 9.5 hours a day, but time out of cell was much worse
for those without employment, with 35% of prisoners locked in
their cells during the day. Regular regime restrictions, in large
part due to staff dealing with incidents, were causing
significant disruption.
Peter Clarke said:
“Holme House is an ambitious and aspirational prison with plans
to deliver a significant programme of change. Our commentary in
no way seeks to undermine those ambitions, but there was a
significant gap between aspiration and the day-to-day reality.
This inspection was disappointing and demonstrated a need for
greater attention to the basic requirements of safety, decency
and prisoner rehabilitation.”
- ENDS -
Notes to editors
- A copy
of the full report, published on 5 December 2017, 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
Holme House is a purpose-built category B prison, which opened in
May 1992. It expanded in the late 1990s with the building of two
further houseblocks, providing 235 additional places. Two new
workshops opened in 1997 and an additional houseblock with 224
places opened in 2010, along with two further regimes buildings
providing activity places for around 200 prisoners. In June 2016
it was announced that HMP Holme House would be one of the four
reform prisons. The “reform prisons” change agenda brought with
it the potential for greater devolved powers for the governor and
new ways of working. It also placed the establishment in a
cluster with neighbouring prisons.
- This
unannounced inspection took place between 3-4 and 10-13 July
2017.
