Almost all areas at HMP/YOI Swinfen Hall had deteriorated, it was
not safe enough, and the provision of work, training and
education was poor, said Peter Clarke, Chief Inspector of
Prisons. Today he published the report of an unannounced
inspection of the young offender institution and training prison
in Staffordshire.
HMP/YOI Swinfen Hall is a category C prison for young men aged 18
to 25. Over 90% of the 600 prisoners held there were serving
sentences in excess of four years, with about 15% serving 10
years to life. At its last inspection in 2014, inspectors
reported generally satisfactory outcomes. This more recent
inspection reflected a significant deterioration in almost all
aspects of the prison’s delivery. Too few previous
recommendations had been addressed and inspectors’ assessments
across three out of four tests saw reduced scores. Swinfen Hall
was no longer safe enough. The prison’s approach to safety was
fragmented and lacked care.
Inspectors were concerned to find
that:
-
new prisoners were received without
sufficient care or attention to basics and only 61% felt safe
on their first night;
-
after a recent death in custody, an
investigation into the circumstances identified weaknesses that
had not been adequately addressed;
-
levels of violence had risen and too many
prisoners felt unsafe, and some self-isolated as a response to
feeling unsafe;
-
use of force had risen markedly but
accountability for its use was weak;
-
much of the accommodation, particularly
on the older wings, was squalid;
-
staff-prisoner relationships were not
good enough, and too many staff were permissive of poor
behaviour and had low expectations of prisoners;
-
despite being a training prison, the
quality of the regime and provision of work, learning and
skills were poor;
-
inspectors found 43% of prisoners locked
in cell during the working day; and
-
activity spaces were not well used,
training was variable, work was mundane and the qualifications
on offer were too basic.
However, inspectors were pleased to find
that:
-
work to resettle prisoners back into the
community was reasonably good, including support for care
leavers, which was better than inspectors often
see;
-
risk was being managed and public
protection work remained good;
-
the jail was not a designated
resettlement prison, although good work was being done to
support the typically 10 prisoners released each month;
and
-
some impressive interventions to address
offending behaviour were evident, and the unit to help those
with emerging characteristics of personality disorders was a
positive initiative.
Peter Clarke said:
“A new governor arrived during the week of
our inspection, presenting the opportunity to set a new direction
for the prison. The need for strong leadership is clear if
decline is to be arrested and a new vision for the prison is to
be successful. Our main recommendations address fundamental
issues across all four of our healthy prison tests. The prison
needs to be safer. Basic standards need to improve and a
coordinated and ambitious agenda for learning, work and
rehabilitation needs to be prioritised at the heart of the
prison’s purpose, rather than at the periphery as it is now. The
prison needs to rethink its approach and raise expectations among
both staff and prisoners.”
Michael Spurr, Chief Executive of the
National Offender Management Service, said:
“The deterioration in performance reflects
operational pressures impacting on Swinfen Hall and the wider
estate.
“The Governor has a clear action plan in
place to address the weaknesses identified, prioritising
improvements in safety and regime provision.
“More Prison Officers will be recruited for
Swinfen Hall this year as part of the Government’s plans to boost
staff by 2500 across the Prison Service.
“These additional resources will help the
Governor to significantly improve the performance of the
prison.”
- ENDS
-
Notes to
editors:
-
A copy of the full report, published on
14 March, 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 Swinfen Hall is a young offender
institution and category C training prison for men aged 18 to
15 years.
-
This unannounced inspection was carried
out from 24 October – 4 November 2016.
