HMI Prisons - HMP & YOI Doncaster: Overcrowding and troubling number of deaths, but respectful treatment and improved release work

HMP & YOI Doncaster in South Yorkshire, which holds around 1,100 men, was found to be badly over-crowed with worrying levels of violence, self-harm and self-inflicted deaths.

However, it was also found by inspectors to have benefitted from consistent leadership. Doncaster was assessed, in a new report published by HM Inspectorate of Prisons, as reasonably good in the “healthy prison test” for respect. Its rehabilitation and release planning was also reasonably good in a prison with a complex population of short-stay prisoners and where one-quarter of the population had been convicted of sexual offences.

Peter Clarke, HM Chief Inspector of Prisons, said: “We were very concerned by the increased levels of self-harm, and by the fact that there had been five self-inflicted deaths in the year leading up to the inspection. Tragically there was another shortly after the inspection.” Not all recommendations from the Prisons and Probation Ombudsman, which investigates prison deaths, were regularly reviewed, nor was action taken to ensure that they were embedded in operational practice. 

“The number of prisoners subject to assessment and care procedures because of the perceived risk they posed to themselves was in danger of becoming so great as to be unmanageable,” Mr Clarke added. There was no Listeners scheme in place (Listeners are prisoners trained by the Samaritans to provide confidential emotional support).

A recent downward trend in assaults was welcome, but levels were still higher than at the previous inspection (in 2017) and higher than at comparable prisons. Sixty-one per cent of prisoners said it was easy to get hold of drugs. “This is a very high figure, but at the same time it was reassuring to see that the positive mandatory drug testing rate had fallen to around 16%. The prison had put many sensible measures in place and I hope these will have an impact on this serious problem,” Mr Clarke commented.

Doncaster, which opened in 1994, was badly overcrowded. Around 700 prisoners were held doubled up in cells that were designed to hold only one person. Mr Clarke said: “I saw many cells holding two people that were simply not fit to do so, on grounds of both size and simple decency. It will not be good enough, in response to this situation, for HM Prison and Probation Services (HMPPS) to fall back upon their usual explanation that a senior manager has certified that a certain number of prisoners (in this case 1,145) could in their view be held in decent conditions in this establishment.” 

What followed from that, Mr Clarke added, was that “in the view of HMPPS conditions such as those at Doncaster are described as ‘crowded’ but not ‘overcrowded’, and that there is therefore little or no overcrowding across the prison estate.”

The overcrowded conditions for many were compounded by the fact that there was not enough for them to do, and too many were locked up for too long. “Inspectors saw many men – in a population with around a third aged under 25 - with little meaningful to do.”

Mr Clarke added: “This dangerous combination of ready availability of drugs, lack of any meaningful way to pass the time and overcrowding will obviously give rise to tensions and frustration, particularly with such a young population. As such, it was hardly surprising that at times staff struggled to maintain control.”

However, inspectors also found reasonable access to basic kit, in-cell phones and kiosks for making applications, together with improved healthcare, acceptable food and good work to maintain contact with families. Though they raised concerns about some aspects of public protection, in general inspectors found a great deal of good work in resettlement and planning for release. They were pleased that weaknesses identified in 2017 in work with se offenders were addressed.

Overall, Mr Clarke said:

“Doncaster is a busy and complex prison with a transient population, many of whom pose significant risks to the public, to each other and, all too often, to themselves. The leadership and staff have

worked extremely hard and their determination to succeed and generate a safe and decent environment is clear for all to see. Despite the problems we found during this inspection, there is

good reason to hope that the establishment should be able to maintain and indeed improve its performance in the future.”

• End - 

Notes to editors

1. The full report, published on 30 January 2020, can be found on the HM Inspectorate of Prisons website at: www.justiceinspectorates.gov.uk/hmiprisons/inspections

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 & YOI Doncaster is a local category B and resettlement prison. Built by the Prison Service on the site of a former power station on an island in Doncaster town centre, the prison opened in June 1994.

4. HM Inspectorate of Prisons assesses adult prisons against four ‘healthy prison tests’: safety, respect, purposeful activity and rehabilitation and release planning. There are four assessments: good (4), reasonably good (3), not sufficiently good (2) and poor (1).  In 2017, Doncaster scored 2-3-2-2. In 2019, it scored 2-3-2-3.

5. Notable features from this inspection: about 30% of the population was under the age of 25; 63% of prisoners had stayed at the prison for six months or less; about a quarter of the population was convicted of sexual offences; 52% of prisoners had been assessed as presenting a high risk of harm; about 700 prisoners lived in overcrowded conditions; there had been five self-inflicted deaths in the past year and a further suspected self-inflicted death shortly after the inspection; and about 114 prisoners were released each month.

6. This unannounced inspection took place between 9 and 20 September 2019.