Recommendation 1
Will the Minister give hope to prison communities, including staff, by acknowledging the extent to which prisoners can benefit from rehabilitative work that prepares them to return to the world outside as better members of society?
Source · IMB Annual Report
Whitemoor
AI-generated report summary HMP Whitemoor, a high-security prison, operated at a reduced capacity of 315 due to electrical upgrades, against an operational capacity of 458. Staff shortages significantly impacted purposeful activity and time out of cell, contributing to prisoner frustration and perceived stagnation in progression. Key concerns include a notable number of staff assaults, issues with illicit drugs, long waits for dental care and secure mental health beds, and frozen prisoner pay against rising canteen prices. The Board highlighted the need for funding for basic estate improvements and a review of the Dispersal System's impact on progression.
Year: 2023
Published: 6 Oct 2023
Type: Prison · Cat high security
Population: 315
Recommendations: 5
Key concerns
Positive findings
Safety statistics
| Indicator | This year | Previous |
|---|---|---|
| Self-harm incidents | 122 | — |
| ACCT cases opened | 29 | — |
| Assaults on staff | 4 | — |
Positive findings
AI-generated summaryThe Board notes improved collaboration between NHS England, the Directorate of Security, and Whitemoor in speeding up treatment for mentally ill prisoners. Recruitment and training of new staff improved, including the establishment of a local training unit. Improvements to food provision were made by raising the daily allowance and increasing catering staff. Whitemoor remained a generally settled prison, and improvements were seen in reception procedures and ACCT plan management. The Business Hub received commendation for its analysis of complaints, and the Board welcomed increased activity by Shannon Trust to help prisoners with limited reading skills. Arrangements for video links for parental consultation sessions were also positive.
Key concerns
Whitemoor remained a generally settled prison but there were four serious assaults on staff. Much of the lower-level violence and indiscipline reflected problems some newer officers had in enforcing boundaries as regimes became more open.
More needed to be done to suppress Illicit drugs.
Prisoners’ pay had remained frozen since 2016, since when prices charged for goods from the canteen had increased by 50%.
The Segregation Unit held too many men who could not or would not relocate, so that those held genuinely for their own care and protection received less care and support than would otherwise have been possible.
Access to GP and nursing services was in line with the community. Seeing the dentist remained very difficult. Mental health services were limited by staff shortages, but the main problem was the absence of psychiatry cover.
Men with mental health problems had long waits for beds in secure hospitals, usually spent in the Segregation Unit.
Time out of cell was limited. Too often prisoners lacked a predictable regime to optimise use of their time, including to contact families.
Education classes and workshops were often closed, though when they opened many prisoners lacked enthusiasm to return.
Some prisoners perceived little prospect of progressing, seeing their need in terms of formal courses. The process of first adapting to the reality of a long custodial settlement, including understanding how they got there, usually relied on guidance from key workers and offender managers who, because of lockdowns and staff shortages thy had less contact time with prisoners than was prescribed.
Will the Minister give hope to prison communities, including staff, by acknowledging the extent to which prisoners can benefit from rehabilitative work that prepares them to return to the world outside as better members of society?
Will the Prison Service reflect whether the Dispersal System remains the best way to hold prisoners in appropriate levels of security, treating all category B prisoners at Whitemoor as needing greater restrictions than their nominal peers elsewhere in the long-term prison estate, and limiting their sense of progression?
Will the Prison Service also give priority to funding works, including showers, that help meet standards of basic decency and safety?
Will the Governor further develop Whitemoor’s residential areas to allow enhanced prisoners who want to live in a peaceful, settled community to do so, enabling them to enjoy more time out of cell and to progress?
Will the Governor seek ways of increasing prisoners’ pay rates in line with public sector scales to help compensate for substantial price increases?
Recommendations
Recommendation 2
Will the Prison Service reflect whether the Dispersal System remains the best way to hold prisoners in appropriate levels of security, treating all category B prisoners at Whitemoor as needing greater restrictions than their nominal peers elsewhere in the long-term prison estate, and limiting their sense of progression?
Recommendation 3
Will the Prison Service also give priority to funding works, including showers, that help meet standards of basic decency and safety?
Recommendation 4
Will the Governor further develop Whitemoor’s residential areas to allow enhanced prisoners who want to live in a peaceful, settled community to do so, enabling them to enjoy more time out of cell and to progress?
Recommendation 5
Will the Governor seek ways of increasing prisoners’ pay rates in line with public sector scales to help compensate for substantial price increases?
Applications to the IMB
| Category | Current | Previous |
|---|---|---|
| Accommodation, including laundry, clothing, ablutions | 5 | 0 |
| Canteen, facility list, catalogues | 3 | 0 |
| Discipline, including adjudications, incentives scheme, sanctions | 14 | 0 |
| Equality | 4 | 3 |
| Finance, including pay, private monies, spends | 2 | 0 |
| Food and kitchens | 5 | 3 |
| Health, including physical, mental, social care | 14 | 3 |
| Letters, visits, telephones, public protection, restrictions | 19 | 3 |
| Miscellaneous | 16 | 0 |
| Property during transfer or in another facility | 9 | 3 |
| Property within the establishment | 5 | 2 |
| Purposeful activity, including education, work, training, time out of cell | 15 | 0 |
| Sentence management, including HDC, ROTL, parole, release dates, re-categorisation | 8 | 12 |
| Staff/prisoner concerns, including bullying | 14 | 8 |
| Transfers | 3 | 0 |
Related inspections & investigations
Safety 4
· Respect 3
· Activity 1
· Release 3
Safety 3
· Respect 2
· Activity 1
· Release 2
Jason Thaxter · Self-inflicted
Samuel Henneberry · Natural causes
Jason Birch · Self-inflicted
Other reports for Whitemoor
Population 4,581
· Self-harm 285
· Concerns
· Self-harm 409
· Concerns
Population 316
· Self-harm 151
· Concerns
Population 388
· Self-harm 188
· Concerns
Population 457
· Self-harm 286
· Concerns