The Howard League for Penal Reform has responded to Her Majesty’s
Inspectorate of Prisons’ report on Exeter prison, published today
(Wednesday 1 February).
Inspectors visited Exeter in August last year and found a prison
in decline, due in part to staff shortages. The overcrowded
prison is designed to accommodate 326 men but, at the time of the
inspection, it was holding 490.
Ten people had died through suicide since the prison was
previously inspected in 2013, including three who took their own
lives in the two months before inspectors arrived. An eleventh
prisoner lost his life through suicide shortly after the
inspection.
There were insufficient staff to run the prison properly.
Inspectors were told that the prison was suffering a shortfall of
13 prison officers. On the penultimate day of the inspection,
only 29 officers were on duty.
Levels of violence were far higher than at other local prisons.
There had been 96 assaults – 30 on staff and 66 on prisoners –
and 173 recorded incidents of self-injury in the six months prior
to the inspection. More than half of the prisoners surveyed by
inspectors said that they had felt unsafe during their time at
the prison.
Too many prisoners were unable to attend education or activities
because of staff shortages. Almost half of prisoners were locked
up during the working day, and some spent as many as 22 hours a
day inside their cells.
Many cells were poorly furnished, with graffiti and missing
windows. Showers were dirty. Healthcare required improvement, and
there were not enough social care staff to meet prisoners’ needs.
About one in four prisoners were released without somewhere
sustainable to live.
Andrew Neilson, Director of Campaigns at the Howard
League for Penal Reform, said: “This a terrible
report, which once again highlights the systemic issues
afflicting prisons across the country. It is particularly
concerning that Exeter has seen many prisoners taking their own
lives, and that inspectors have little confidence conditions will
improve. People’s lives are literally at stake.
“The government has made welcome statements about addressing the
problems behind bars but we need to go further. Too many people
are currently cut adrift into violent and dangerous institutions,
where they are swept away into deeper currents of crime.
“Only reducing pressure on the prison population and removing the
worst of overcrowding will secure a safer system that can work
for everyone.”
