HMP Bullingdon - a large, complex prison in Oxfordshire - faced
significant challenges, including high levels of violence, drugs
and gang problems and poor offender management and assessment of
post-release risk to the public, according to Peter Clarke, Chief
Inspector of Prisons.
However, in a report on an unannounced inspection published
today, Mr Clarke found ‘realistic’ grounds for optimism. The
governor and staff were doing their best to improve a prison
where many of the problems stemmed from severe, ongoing staff
shortages, restricting prison activities. The key message of the
report, Mr Clarke said, was “the urgent need for increased
staffing.”
Built 25 years ago, Bullingdon is a relatively modern local and
resettlement prison near Bicester in Oxfordshire, serving the
Thames Valley and holding – at the time of the inspection in
April and May - 1,109 adult and young adult prisoners. This was
only five short of its operational capacity.
About a fifth of those held were unsentenced or unconvicted,
while others represented the full range of sentences, including
nearly 200 men serving over 10 years and up to life.
HMIP last inspected Bullingdon in 2015, when it was found to be
struggling to maintain staffing levels. The 2017 report found “a
not dissimilar picture.”
Inspectors found that:
- Bullingdon was not safe enough. About a third of prisoners
felt unsafe and violence remained high, despite some early signs
that it was, at last, reducing. However, the prison was actively
addressing this challenge.
- Bullingdon was one of the few public sector prisons where
prisoners could get a full shop order within 24 hours of arrival,
an example of good practice that reduced their chances of falling
into debt and related bullying. Despite this, though, too many
prisoners felt victimised.
- There was clear evidence of a significant drug and gang
problem in the prison, with regular finds of drugs, mobile phones
and weapons. The report identified violence as a key problem,
along with staffing.
- Since the 2015 inspection, three prisoners had taken their
own lives, and there had been a significant increase in self-harm
incidents. Unlike the prison’s focus on violence reduction, work
to support those at risk of self-harm was weak.
- Like violence, use of force was much increased, but
supervision was now better than in 2015.
- Staff shortages cut the amount of time cells were unlocked
and inspectors found that during the working day 45% of prisoners
were locked in their cells.
- Despite having a significant number of higher-risk prisoners,
including high-risk sexual and violent
prisoners, the quality of
offender management was again undermined by staff shortages and
was poor. Too few prisoners had a proper assessment of their
risks or a meaningful sentence plan. Public protection
arrangements also needed to improve.
- Though resettlement work showed some improvement since 2015,
the prison’s resettlement strategy did not adequately set out the
important role of the offender management unit (OMU) in managing
higher-risk and longer-term prisoners. It also failed to promote
offender management as the central point of all action aimed at
reducing reoffending.
- Inspectors were told that there was no provision of
offence-focused work for perpetrators of domestic violence.
Peter Clarke said:
“The key message from this inspection was the urgent need for
increased staffing. It was clear to us that this was a strategic
problem that was undermining everything the prison was trying to
do. Despite this... many – not least the governor – were doing
their best to effect improvement and were proving capable in
doing so. This suggested that there was cause for continued
optimism.”
Michael Spurr, Chief Executive of HM Prison & Probation
Service, said:
“The Governor and his team are committed to improving outcomes
for prisoners at HMP Bullingdon. The prison does need more staff
and we are providing the Governor with central support to
accelerate recruitment of permanent staff. In the meantime
additional prison officers are being provided to HMP Bullingdon
from other establishments to ensure that the Governor can deliver
a structured and decent regime for prisoners on a daily basis.”
- ENDS -
Notes to editors:
- A copy of the full report, published on 6 September 2017, 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 Bullingdon is a local and resettlement prison for adults
and young adults, serving Thames Valley and
Hampshire and the courts of Oxfordshire, Berkshire and
Wiltshire.
- This unannounced inspection took place from 24 April-11 May
2017.
