Mr North — HMP Whitemoor

All assaults at HMP Whitemoor are immediately reported to the
Orderly Officer and the majority, including all serious assaults,
are then referred to the police. Prison managers are briefed on
any assaults at the daily operational meeting. The prison has
robust systems in place to ensure that incident reports, Mercury
intelligence reports and injury to prisoner forms are completed
following the incident.
Every violent incident at HMP Whitemoor, including unexplained
injuries, is the subject of a simple investigation by the custodial
manager in charge of the respective area. The reports of these
investigation are considered at the monthly Safer Custody
meeting to identify learning. Wing managers and officers attend
these meetings and provide feedback to staff in their respective
functions. A weekly check of the residential units by the Safer
Prisons Manager ensures compliance with these processes.
Where the incident is particularly serious, or where the simple
investigation identifies issues that require further exploration,
the prison Governor will commission a further investigation in
accordance with PSO 1300.
Since the incident HMPPS has issued Prison Service Instruction
(PSI) 15/2014 Investigations and learning following incidents of
serious self-harm or serious assaults, which reinforces the
requirement for prisons to conduct investigations in these
circumstances.

HMP Whitemoor conducted a review of the effectiveness of the
system for providing prisoners with access to razor blades.
HMP Whitemoor manages prisoners’ access to razor blades
according to the location of the prisoner: for example in the
segregation unit prisoners are allowed razor blades in
possession when in patrol state, and staff control the issuing of
them on a one for one basis. In other areas of the prison,
prisoners may be permitted two razors in possession at any
time. HMP Whitemoor has also introduced enhanced searching
to reduce the opportunity for bladed weapons to be carried out
of the residential wings.
At national level, HMPPS has instructed the Governors of all
closed prisons to ensure that an appropriate local risk
assessment has been conducted on the process for managing
razor blades.

HMPPS issues Prison Service Instructions setting out the key
features of operational policies. It is not possible or desirable for
staff these to include detailed guidance on the completion of related
documents, and Governors are required to ensure that staff are
aware of their responsibilities in this regard. This is achieved
through staff induction and training, for the most part delivered
locally at establishments. At national level, the Prison Officer
Entry Level Training (POELT) is provided to all new entrant
prison officers and includes material on the writing of reports and
the use of official documents including: Assessment, Care in
Custody and Teamwork (ACCT) documents, used to manage
those at risk of self-harm or suicide; adjudication forms, injury to
prisoner forms; use of force forms, Mercury intelligence reports
and corruption prevention reports, prisoner property records and
Person Escort Records (PERs).
HMP Whitemoor conducted a health check on the completion of
F213s, gym observation books, segregation unit daily diary
sheets, the recording of use of force in observation books, high
security estate pre-transfer documents and control room logs for
incidents. The completion of these documents continues to be
reviewed through internal audit procedures.
Since the incident HMPPS has issued PSI 35/2014 Records,
archiving, retention and disposal, which provides a framework
for prisons to ensure that: records are retained for the right
length of time and regularly reviewed; the destruction of records
is properly documented; and historical records are preserved
and transferred to the appropriate repository.
HMP Whitemoor now has an established document archive
system. The processes in place are reviewed as part of the
internal review procedure so the prison will identify any
shortcomings and take remedial action. .
A review of the central filing system for public correspondence
was undertaken at HMP Whitemoor to ensure that it is clear
which versions of letters are draft and which are final. No
changes were identified to the already established processes for
the business hub. However, it resulted in the arrangements for
storing archived correspondence/documentation in the
muniments store room being tightened up. New members of the
business hub team are trained in public correspondence
processes to ensure that they are aware of the importance of
distinguishing between draft and final versions of letters.
All managers have been reminded that the business hub holds
copies of the official responses to all public correspondence, and
that they should label their own files clearly to distinguish
between draft and final versions. Routine reminders continue to
be given at the morning operational meetings and at senior
management team meetings.

Since the incident, HMPPS has issued PSI 9/2014 Incident
Management, which clarifies the command structure during
serious incidents and provides guidance on resolving serious
incidents with the minimum risk of harm to staff, prisoners,
visitors and the public. National Operations Unit provides
contingency plan templates to establishments to use as a guide
for formulating local contingency plans. These templates cover
the issues identified, including scene and evidence preservation
and police referrals. Both the PSI and the contingency plan
templates are subject to continuous review, and prisons are
required to review their local contingency plans as part of the
debrief process following any serious incident.

A joint national protocol between NOMS (now HMPPS), the
police and the CPS on the handling of crimes committed in
prison was published in February 2015. It provides guidelines
for joint working between prisons, police and the CPS to ensure
that, wherever possible and appropriate, those who commit acts
of violence or commit other serious crimes in prison are
punished through the courts rather than by the internal prison
disciplinary system. An inter-departmental Crime in Prison Board
has been established to monitor the implementation of the
protocol, to set priorities for further work and to commission the
development of guidance to assist local police/prison/CPS in
prioritising and managing crime in prison.

PSO 1700 Segregation provides that a prisoner will be returned
to normal location on the basis of a decision by a segregation
board which will determine whether the prisoner can go
directly to normal location, whether there should be a phased
return to normal location or whether the prisoner should transfer
from segregation to a High Supervision Unit. Revised guidance
on the review and authorisation of segregation was issued in
September 2015 in response to the findings of a Supreme Court
Judgment. This recommendation will be considered as part of a
comprehensive review of segregation policy which commenced
in late 2017.

HMPPS, with the support of the Crime in Prison Board, is
reviewing internal policies and processes for preserving
evidence. This includes working closely with other parts of the
criminal justice system to develop better training for our staff
who are collecting evidence.

An exercise is under way to provide costings for appropriately
sized notebooks, with a view to providing them or all
establishments.

Informing the IMB is part of the contingency plan for all serious
incidents at HMP Whitemoor. The contingency plans have all
been reviewed since the incident in 2008 and continue to be
reviewed on a regular basis.

The role of Independent Monitoring Boards is to monitor the day-
to-day life in their local prison or removal centre and ensure that
proper standards of care and decency are maintained. Visiting
prisoners whilst they are temporarily resident in external
settings, such as hospitals, is not within the legislative remit of
IMBs.