HMP Humber, a large training prison in East Yorkshire, was found
by inspectors from HM Inspectorate of Prisons (HMI Prisons) to
have reacted quickly to minimise the spread of COVID-19.
A reduction in the number of prisoners sharing cells helped
control the spread and many of the 925 male prisoners were
positive about the steps taken throughout the last seven months
to keep them safe. At the time of the HMI Prisons scrutiny visit
in October and November 2020, few staff had tested positive and
no prisoners were currently positive. Social distancing was very
difficult in some parts of the prison, however.
Restrictions to the daily regime during the COVID-19 period meant
that around three quarters of prisoners – those not in purposeful
activity – spent 22.5 hours a day locked in their cells. Charlie
Taylor, HM Chief Inspector of Prisons, said: “Senior managers had
planned and taken some important steps towards recovery. However,
they were frustrated at the slow pace of recovery set out by
national guidance from HM Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS),
which gave little room for local autonomy. In addition, plans for
further recovery were in doubt following the start of a second
national lockdown in the community.
“For the majority not in an activity, they remained locked in the
cell for 22.5 hours a day, and some of those we spoke to clearly
described the detrimental impact this was having on their health
and well-being.” Inspectors noted that on Fridays, there was no
outside exercise. This resulted in long periods (at least 40
hours) between Thursday afternoon and Saturday morning when
prisoners were only out of their cells for a shower or cell clean
and very short periods to collect meals.
Incidents of violence and self-harm had fallen considerably
during the COVID-19 period. The number of times that force had
been used against prisoners had also reduced since the end of
March. Care for those at risk of self-harm was reasonable though
inspectors were surprised to find that the formal Listener scheme
– prisoners trained by the Samaritans to support other prisoners
– had not been fully functioning since the end of March.
Staff–prisoner interactions were positive and living conditions
were decent and clean. Prisoners had good access to essential
items, and the regime was, on the whole, reliably delivered. The
complaints process was a concern for inspectors, who found some
serious complaints that had not been adequately dealt with.
Social visits had restarted but would be suspended again
following the imminent further restrictions in the community.
Video calling was available, but the uptake was low. In-cell
telephones provided a huge benefit for prisoners.
Mr Taylor said: “Before the pandemic and the introduction of the
restricted regime, HMP Humber had had a clear focus on
progression and rehabilitation. For a prison of this type, where
prisoners are eager to progress, the loss of many of the
rehabilitative tools was a huge frustration. The delivery of
offending behaviour programmes had restarted, albeit only
one-to-one, and the Hope unit (a small unit aimed at supporting
indeterminate sentenced prisoners in their sentence progression)
had continued to provide some important progression work
throughout the restricted regime.
“However, contact by prison offender managers with those on their
caseload was variable. The quality of resettlement planning was
poor, with resettlement plans still being developed with little
direct engagement with the prisoner, either face-to-face or by
telephone.”
In conclusion, Mr Taylor added: “Managers, staff and prisoners
had responded well to the pandemic some seven months ago and were
still working hard to maintain an environment safe from COVID-19.
At the time of our visit, it was unclear how the new restrictions
in the community would affect the prison’s pathway to recovery,
but it is important that the prison delivers on the improvements
we identify in this report, particularly in regaining a clear
focus on rehabilitation and resettlement.”
End -
Notes to editors
1. 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.
2. Here
you can read about the development of scrutiny visits (SVs) in
response to the ongoing COVID-19 crisis. These are short
inspections which, while not as exhaustive as our full
inspections, are more in-depth than the short scrutiny visits
used in the early months of the pandemic. They include the
reintroduction of a prisoner survey.
3. HMP Humber is a large category C training prison in East
Yorkshire. It is an amalgamation of the formerly privately run
HMP Wolds and the old Everthorpe prison. At the time of the
scrutiny visit, the prison held 925 adult male prisoners, which
was a slight reduction on the population held before the
implementation of the COVID-19 restrictions.
4. On pages 11-13 of the report you can find a summary of key
concerns and recommendations, and three examples of notable
positive practice identified by inspectors.
5. This scrutiny visit took place between 27 October and 3–4
November 2020.
