Recommendation 16

HM Government Deferred

We accept this recommendation. Initial training for new Prison Officers working in women’s prisons has been enhanced to include consideration of the needs of women in custody, including the impact of trauma. Since January 2021, all new Prison Officers are expected to attend this training as part of their initial prison officer training. There is no mandatory refresher training of initial prison officer training, however we also provide one-week Women’s Estate Specific Training (WEST) for prison officers who join the Women’s Directorate from elsewhere in the estate, or who were unable to attend Women’s specific initial prison officer training. Local Becoming Trauma Informed (BTI) training was also routinely delivered to all staff in women’s prisons prior to Covid restrictions with the expectation of 80% of prison staff being trained. Staff training was suspended for most of the period of Covid restrictions and accordingly training records are unfortunately out of date. This training has now recommenced following Covid restrictions being lifted, along with a significant backlog of other critical safety training that prisons must prioritise, including First Aid and Fire Safety. We cannot currently set prisons targets for BTI completion this financial year, however this will be re-assessed at the start of 2022/23 by the Director for Women, who will also monitor training levels. There is currently no mandated BTI refresher training, however research is underway which explores the perceptions of the impact of the training from the perspectives of both prisoners and staff who have completed it. Evidence from this research will inform future training strategies.