HMP & YOI Downview, home to more than 300 women, was found to
be a fundamentally safe jail whose progress in recent years made
HM Inspectorate of Prisons confident that it would address its
areas of weakness.
Most of the women in Downview, a closed female prison in Sutton
in Surrey, were serving sentences of over four years at the time
of the unannounced inspection in July and August 2017. It had
closed shortly after the previous inspection in 2013 but reopened
in May 2016.
Peter Clarke, HM Chief Inspector of Prisons, said the inspection
found it had made good progress since reopening. “One of its
strengths was the high profile the governor and his senior
management team maintained across the prison. Many women were
positive about how visible, approachable and genuinely interested
they were in helping them make positive changes to their lives.”
Mr Clarke added: “This was a fundamentally safe prison. Many
indicators of safety, including the number of violent incidents,
the frequency of use of force, the use of segregation and the
number of (disciplinary) adjudications were all lower than at
other women’s prisons. Fewer women than at other prisons also
told us that they had felt unsafe there at some point.”
Though it was estimated that in October 2017 around 40% of staff
would be newly trained officers – presenting “some real
challenges” - much work had been undertaken to support their
development and ensure consistency. In many cases, Mr Clarke
said, this was working. Work with vulnerable women and those at
risk of self-harm or suicide was progressing well.
A principal concern of inspectors was about equality and
diversity work, which had been neglected. The report noted:
“Fewer black and minority ethnic and Muslim women than white
prisoners said staff treated them with respect and more felt they
had been victimised, threatened and intimidated by staff than
their white counterparts. The lack of consultation with these
groups left the prison poorly placed to explain the negative
responses.” Mr Clarke said more needed to be done to monitor
whether the prison’s regime was having a different impact on
these groups compared with others.
Women serving long sentences required access to real employment
opportunities and good progress had been made. Links with the
London College of Fashion workshop and the Max Spielmann
photographic workshop were good for those women who participated,
inspectors found, but numbers were still low and too many women
were not sufficiently occupied.
Peter Clarke said:
“Overall this was a good prison that had made very positive
progress in a relatively short space of time since it had
reopened. The governor and his team recognised that there was
still much that needed to be done. However, much of what had been
done to date was of a good standard, which augured well for the
future.”
Michael Spurr, Chief Executive of HM Prison and Probation
Service, said:
“We are pleased that the Inspectorate has recognised Downview as
a safe and well-run prison, which has made good progress since it
reopened last year. Work is already underway to improve
equalities at the prison, with additional staff hired to increase
the activities available. I confident that the commitment of the
Governor and his staff to making Downview a place of safety and
reform will ensure the positive improvements continue, as they
work to implement the rest of recommendations in the report.”
- ENDS –
Notes to editors
- A copy of the full report, published on 13 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 & YOI Downview, a closed prison for women based in
Sutton, Surrey, had been converted from the former nurses’ home
of Banstead Hospital. The prison opened in 1989 as a category C
men’s prison. In September 2001, Downview became a closed prison
for adult women and in December 2004 a six-bed juvenile unit
opened for young female offenders, aged 15 to 18. In October
2013, Downview closed for refurbishment and was expected to
reopen as a category C men’s prison. However, following the
decision to close HMP Holloway and an increase in the female
prison population, Downview reopened as a women’s prison in May
2016.
- Though Downview is also classed as a Young Offender
Institution (YOI), and has some beds potentially for
15-18-years-olds, there were no girls in the jail at the time of
the inspection.
- This unannounced inspection took place between 31 July
and 3 August 2017.
