Staff shortages and a lack of investment at HMP Bristol had led
to further decline, but there were signs that it was now starting
to move in the right direction, said Peter Clarke, Chief
Inspector of Prisons. Today he published the report of an
unannounced inspection of the local jail.
HMP Bristol, a mixture of Victorian and 20th century buildings,
was holding 543 men at the time of the inspection. The previous
inspection in 2014 found that some progress had been made after
serious concerns were raised by an inspection in 2013, but that
further improvement was required. This latest inspection found
that standards had declined and the prison was now less safe than
two years before, and the assessment for work, training and
education had sunk to the lowest possible. Despite these
findings, and the fact that many aspects of the treatment of and
conditions for prisoners were totally unacceptable, there were
some grounds for cautious optimism.
When surveyed, more than half the prisoners reported having
problems with emotional well-being or mental health. Although 70%
of the population were aged under 40, 62% of them were on some
form of medication. Over 30% entered with a drug problem. A third
of prisoners surveyed said that they felt unsafe at the time of
the inspection, which was double the figure in 2014 and much
higher than at similar prisons.
Inspectors were concerned to find that:
- violence towards staff and between prisoners was very high,
although levels had recently begun to fall;
- there had been seven self-inflicted deaths since the 2014
inspection, with five in the past 12 months;
- over half (53%) of prisoners said it was easy to get illicit
drugs in the jail;
- most residential wings were dirty and dilapidated and the
infestation of cockroaches noted at the 2014 inspection was still
present;
- the regime for prisoners had been heavily restricted for much
of the past two years, mainly due to the prison being
understaffed;
- the importance of work, training and education was not given
a high enough priority across the prison and few prisoners
attended;
- at least 50% of prisoners were locked in their cells during
the day; and
- staff shortages had affected work to prepare prisoners for
release, and offender supervisor contact with prisoners was
limited because staff were drawn away to other duties.
Inspectors were, however, pleased to find that:
- relationships between staff and prisoners were reasonably
good and over two-thirds of prisoners said that staff treated
them respectfully; and
- much good work was done to support prisoners being released,
but even with creditable efforts being made, a third were
released homeless or to temporary accommodation.
Peter Clarke said:
“At HMP Bristol, it became very clear to us that many of the poor
outcomes were directly related to chronic staff shortages and a
history of underinvestment in the prison. This had coincided with
a deluge of illicit drugs, fuelling violence, debt, self-harm and
physical and mental illness among prisoners. The lack of staff
and the poor physical environment on the wings had merely added
to the problems. Despite these enormous challenges, there were
grounds for thinking that improvement would soon be seen. More
staff were due to arrive at Bristol, and there were plans to
improve conditions in some of the units. In fact, there were
credible plans for improvement in many areas of prison life and
early indications that these plans were having an impact.
Violence had reduced in the past few months and there were signs
that new psychoactive substances were becoming less prevalent.
“However, if these and other improvements are to take hold, we
believe it is essential that the energetic and committed
leadership of HMP Bristol is allowed to build on the foundations
it has laid. All too often, we see that changes in leadership
have contributed to a lack of direction and a decline in
performance. There is no reason why, with increases in staff,
well-directed investment and consistent leadership, Bristol
should not deliver better outcomes for prisoners in the future.”
Michael Spurr, Chief Executive of HM Prison & Probation
Service, said:
“Performance at Bristol isn’t at an acceptable level and the
Governor is taking robust action to tackle the problems.
“Funding has been increased and more staff, including an
additional 29 prison officers, are being recruited.
“Work to improve safety, reduce violence and improve first night
arrangements is being prioritised.”
