Recommendation 1
Recommendation (the Board's words)When will urgent action take place to enable boys in Cookham Wood to receive a humane regime?
Source text verified
Independent Monitoring Boards annual report
Cookham Wood
Report year 2023
Published 15 Feb 2024
Type Prison, category YOI
Population 80
Responsible body HMP Cookham Wood
13 recommendations
Original IMB report page ↗ Ministerial response, 19 Mar 2024 ↗ imb.org.uk ↗
The summary and positive findings below were written from the report by an AI model. The Board's own wording is in the report linked above.
Summary
Summary written by this site (AI-generated)HMYOI Cookham Wood faced significant challenges, including an inhumane regime with consistently low time out of cell, severe staffing shortages, and poor education provision, leading to an 'Urgent Notification' by HMIP. Despite these issues, the healthcare services were commended, and the resettlement team achieved national recognition for their work. Key concerns persist regarding the length of time boys spend on remand, the regime for older young adults, and the impact of staff attrition on overall conditions.
Positive findings
Summary written by this site (AI-generated)The IMB strongly agreed with the CQC findings that Cookham Wood's health services were well led, resourced, and caring. Officers were observed putting themselves in harm’s way to protect boys, with many examples of skilled de-escalation. The Substance Misuse team’s preventative work was considered exemplary, focusing on education and counselling. The Resettlement Team received national recognition for ground-breaking initiatives, including increasing ROTL opportunities and improving liaison with adult prisons. Board members found quarterly family days heart-warming and Cookham Wood excellent at arranging private compassionate visits.
Recommendations
- Recommendation 1Addressed to Ministry of Justice
- Recommendation 2Addressed to Ministry of Justice
- Recommendation 3Addressed to Ministry of Justice
Key concerns
- Key concern 1Regime/Time Out of Cell
- Key concern 2Regime/Time Out of Cell
- Key concern 3Regime/Time Out of Cell
Recommendations 13 items · 5 repeated
Recommendations were extracted from the report by AI, and responses and their status from the ministerial response by AI. Each recommendation shows whether its wording has been checked against the report.
Recommendation 2
Recommendation (the Board's words)When will urgent action take place to reduce court backlogs and thus the length of time children spend on remand before sentencing?
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Recommendation 3
Recommendation (the Board's words)When will this group be offered an appropriate regime?
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Recommendation 4
Recommendation (the Board's words)When will local authorities improve their communications regarding accommodation to the boys in Cookham Wood?
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Recommendation 5
Recommendation (the Board's words)What urgent plans does the YCS have to recruit, train and retain more youth estate officers? What outside support will be provided (e.g. detached duty officers) if Cookham’s officer numbers become dangerously low?
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Recommendation 6
Recommendation (the Board's words)When will the YCS be able to ensure that boys held in Cookham Wood are offered a humane regime?
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Recommendation 7
Recommendation (the Board's words)When will the education provision at Cookham Wood be improved – both in the quantity of teachers available and the number and range of subjects provided (including vocational subjects) – to make sure it delivers an appropriate and consistent range of learning opportunities, differentiated to meet boys’ individual needs?
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Recommendation 8
Recommendation (the Board's words)What will the YCS do - and when - to get this much-needed and vital refurbishment back on track?
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Recommendation 9
Recommendation (the Board's words)What urgent steps will Cookham Wood take to ensure a stable and predictable regime for the boys, with improved time out of cell and minimal last-minute changes and cancellations?
Source text verified
Recommendation 10
Recommendation (the Board's words)What steps will be taken to manage and reduce the separation of boys, and to monitor, review and reduce Keep Apart restrictions?
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Recommendation 11
Recommendation (the Board's words)Will there be more opportunities for officers to develop their relationships with the boys and to strengthen landing communities? Will personal officer support for the boys be increased and monitored?
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Recommendation 12
Recommendation (the Board's words)Will emotional self-management and problem-solving courses for individuals and groups of boys (e.g. “A-Z”; “Feeling It”; and “JETS” intervention programmes) be re-introduced as part of sentence and remand plans?
Source text verified
Recommendation 13
Recommendation (the Board's words)When will boys held in Cookham Wood be routinely offered a humane regime?
Source text verified
Key concerns 11 items
Key concerns were extracted from the report text by an AI model.
Key concern 1
Throughout this year, as last year, the IMB was seriously concerned about the small amounts of time out of cell that boys were offered daily. These were consistently and significantly below acceptable levels – indeed, inhumane, in the IMB’s view.
Key concern 2
The IMB judges the length of time that boys have been held on remand to be totally unfair, and in many cases inhumane (over a year held on remand is not uncommon).
Key concern 3
There has been a marked increase in the number of 18-year-olds held at Cookham Wood for up to a year (potentially until their 19th birthday) to ease pressure on the adult estate. Cookham Wood does not have a separate programme and regime for adults – and thus their regime is inadequate.
Key concern 4
Securing accommodation for boys unable to return to their parents on release remains a challenge. It is very important to the boys that their accommodation is arranged and confirmed in a timely way (at the very least, two weeks prior to their release).
Key concern 5
The attrition rate for officers at Cookham Wood has been very high.
Key concern 6
Education delivery at Cookham Wood has been very poor.
Key concern 7
Progress on the landing refurbishment has been slow, with only two landings refurbished and one chained shut for months, awaiting Government Facility Services Ltd (GFSL) to start the work. The Board is particularly concerned about the length of time eight cells on the Cedar resettlement unit have been out of action, pending major repairs.
Key concern 8
What urgent steps will Cookham Wood take to ensure a stable and predictable regime for the boys, with improved time out of cell and minimal last-minute changes and cancellations?
Key concern 9
What steps will be taken to manage and reduce the separation of boys, and to monitor, review and reduce Keep Apart restrictions?
Key concern 10
Will there be more opportunities for officers to develop their relationships with the boys and to strengthen landing communities? Will personal officer support for the boys be increased and monitored?
Key concern 11
Will emotional self-management and problem-solving courses for individuals and groups of boys (e.g. “A-Z”; “Feeling It”; and “JETS” intervention programmes) be re-introduced as part of sentence and remand plans?
Population
| Population | 80 |
| Operational capacity | 120 |
| Time out of cell | 5.5h/day |
Applications to the IMB
| Category | Current | Previous |
|---|---|---|
| Accommodation (including transfers) | 45 | 38 |
| Activities and work | 17 | 12 |
| Bullying/Harassment | 10 | 12 |
| Discrimination | 0 | 0 |
| Education | 11 | 10 |
| Family Contact | 10 | 10 |
| Food | 5 | 3 |
| Healthcare (incl. mental health) | 20 | 18 |
| Immigration | 0 | 0 |
| IPP | 0 | 0 |
| Legal (including parole) | 4 | 6 |
| Money/Earning/Debts | 1 | 2 |
| Other | 15 | 18 |
| Personal officer | 8 | 7 |
| Property | 15 | 12 |
| Punishments and adjudications | 12 | 15 |
| Release | 18 | 20 |
| Safety (inc. self-harm) | 5 | 4 |
| Staff behaviour/treatment by staff | 23 | 25 |
| Welfare | 10 | 8 |
Report details
- Establishment
- Cookham Wood
- Type
- Prison, category YOI
- Report year
- 2023
- Published
- 15 February 2024
- Responsible body
- HMP Cookham Wood
- Recommendations
- 13
- MoJ rating (2025/26)
- 3, Good
Service providers
| Service | Provider |
|---|---|
| Facility services | Gov Facility Services Ltd (GFSL) |
| Library | Medway Council |