Regime/Time Out of Cell
The Board remain concerned about the length of time that prisoners were on remand and awaiting court appearances.
Mental Health
Repeated
Mental health provision continued to cause concern to the Board. The Board appreciated that arrangements are being made for HMP Swansea to receive its own Mental Health Service but progress has been slow.
Resettlement/Release
The Board is concerned about the level of Home Office support for immigration detainees and in particular the delays in movement of overseas prisoners after the completion of their sentence
Resettlement/Release
Repeated
The Board continues to be concerned around prisoners leaving custody without accommodation in future. The good work being undertaken in preparing prisoners for release and with employment on release has the potential to be undone by the lack of suitable accommodation.
Overcrowding
Repeated
The Board has been concerned with the number of times where prisoners from ‘out of area’ are being received into HMP Swansea, whether from transfer from other Welsh prisons or from prisons in England.
Segregation
Repeated
Informing the Board about Care & Separation Unit (CSU) admissions and Good Order or Discipline (GOOD) reviews in line with the Memorandum of Understanding has been inconsistent... its previous report also highlighted this issue.
Equality/Diversity
The Board would wish to see ['thebigword'] interpretation service being used by a broader range of officers e.g. key workers to ensure speakers of other languages can communicate and understand effectively.
Estate/Conditions
A decision was taken by the MOJ to place cell refurbishment under their project management arm. By the end of this reporting period no progress had been made by the MOJ in appointing a project manager and none of the allocated budget spent. This decision has effectively brought cell refurbishment to a halt between May 2022 – October 2022 which is extremely concerning.
Equality/Diversity
There continues to be poor disability access throughout the prison. Clearly, one compliant cell with a prison population of over 400 is not sufficient.
Regime/Time Out of Cell
It is still regrettable and unacceptable that men eat all their meals in mostly shared cells of (6ft x 9ft) with a toilet in situ.
Segregation
it is unclear what quality assurance and oversight is built into the process of holding men on GOOD due to positive body scans.
Staffing
At the beginning of 2022 HMP Swansea learning and skills were carrying a large number of staffing vacancies, 5 out of a total of 9 teaching staff plus administration staff. This had a significant impact on the delivery of classes.