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Independent Monitoring Boards annual report

Maidstone

Report year 2023 Published 3 Aug 2023 Type Prison, category C Population 603 Responsible body HMP Maidstone 13 recommendations

Original IMB report page ↗ Ministerial response, 4 Oct 2023 ↗ 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)
HMP Maidstone, a Category C foreign national prison with a population of 603, is generally safe but faces significant challenges. Persistent delays in the Home Office immigration system cause profound uncertainty and prolonged detention for prisoners, exacerbating mental health issues. The prison struggles with severe staffing shortages across healthcare, education, and regime provision, alongside an acute lack of quality purposeful activity places. Additionally, communication barriers due to inadequate translation of official documents and the dilapidated condition of the Victorian estate remain key concerns.

Positive findings

Summary written by this site (AI-generated)
HMP Maidstone is largely considered a safe and well-run prison, with low levels of violence and good staff-prisoner relationships. The Board commends efforts in induction, diversity and inclusion, and compassionate mental health support. In-cell telephony and family visits have positively impacted prisoner contact with families. The chaplaincy team is highly commended, and the prison is making significant efforts to increase purposeful activity opportunities.

Recommendations

All 13 recommendations

Key concerns

All 7 key concerns

Recommendations 13 items · 11 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 1

Addressee: Home Office · Topic: Equality · Repeated from a previous year

Recommendation (the Board's words)
To work with the Home Office to require that prisoners sign official documentation either in their own language or in a language they understand. Many prisoners need help with translation that they are not receiving.

Source text verified

Recommendation 2

Addressee: Home Office · Topic: Resettlement · Repeated from a previous year

Recommendation (the Board's words)
To work with the Home Office to ensure that anyone who has completed their custodial sentence does not remain within HMP Maidstone. People who are detained for immigration reasons should be moved to the immigration detention estate.

Source text verified

Recommendation 3

Addressee: HMPPS · Topic: Regime · Repeated from a previous year

Recommendation (the Board's words)
Ensure that no category D prisoner, who has no bars to transfer to the open estate, is held in a category C establishment.

Source text verified

Recommendation 4

Addressee: HMPPS · Topic: Resettlement · Repeated from a previous year

Recommendation (the Board's words)
Give permission to HMP Maidstone to offer a release on temporary licence.

Source text verified

Recommendation 5

Addressee: HMPPS · Topic: Safety

Recommendation (the Board's words)
Provide funding for CCTV across the prison, and for enhanced gatehouse security.

Source text verified

Recommendation 6

Addressee: HMPPS · Topic: Resettlement · Repeated from a previous year

Recommendation (the Board's words)
Provide feedback to HMP Maidstone on the effectiveness of activities undertaken to prepare prisoners for release both in the UK and abroad.

Source text verified

Recommendation 7

Addressee: HMPPS · Topic: Purposeful Activity · Repeated from a previous year

Recommendation (the Board's words)
Provide funding to allow HMP Maidstone to increase the provision of good quality activities for all prisoners.

Source text verified

Recommendation 8

Addressee: HMPPS · Topic: Resettlement · Repeated from a previous year

Recommendation (the Board's words)
Facilitate sharing across the prison and, where relevant, the immigration detention estate, of core material produced for foreign national prisoners and detained individuals.

Source text verified

Recommendation 9

Addressee: Governor / Director · Topic: Regime

Recommendation (the Board's words)
Allow prisoners who attend rehabilitation courses to keep their places at, and pay from, training and education.

Source text verified

Recommendation 10

Addressee: Governor / Director · Topic: Fair and Humane Treatment · Repeated from a previous year

Recommendation (the Board's words)
Reintroduce governors’ wing surgeries.

Source text verified

Recommendation 11

Addressee: Governor / Director · Topic: Fair and Humane Treatment · Repeated from a previous year

Recommendation (the Board's words)
Increase the quality and quantity of key work sessions.

Source text verified

Recommendation 12

Addressee: Governor / Director · Topic: Education · Repeated from a previous year

Recommendation (the Board's words)
Improve the quality and quantity of education and training opportunities.

Source text verified

Recommendation 13

Addressee: Governor / Director · Topic: Fair and Humane Treatment · Repeated from a previous year

Recommendation (the Board's words)
Increase the privileges available to category D prisoners who remain in HMP Maidstone.

Source text verified

Key concerns 7 items

Key concerns were extracted from the report text by an AI model.

Key concern 1

Resettlement/Release · Repeated from a previous year

The uncertainty caused by the application of the immigration system. There are too many people detained in HMP Maidstone for immigration purposes once they have completed their sentence. This ongoing detention creates problems because of the uncertainty of its end date. There are also too many people held in HMP Maidstone who have passed the date when they are eligible for early removal, and who wish to return to their own country, but are unable to do so because of processing delays in the Home Office.

Key concern 2

Equality/Diversity · Repeated from a previous year

Communication issues as some prisoners do not speak English, even though prison staff work hard to minimise language barriers. For example, prisoners are required to sign Home Office documentation related to their removal from the UK, available only in English, which they may not wholly or partly understand. This is unfair and an avoidable source of stress and anxiety.

Key concern 3

Mental Health · Repeated from a previous year

Mental health problems that exist in all prisons are made worse because of the additional complications of being a foreign national in a British prison and the stress caused by the way immigration issues are handled. But a shortage of resources, particularly for early intervention programmes, limits what they can do and can mean that expensive responses are needed, because cheaper preventive action was not taken earlier.

Key concern 4

Education/Purposeful Activity · Repeated from a previous year

There are not enough places for prisoners to take up either education or training opportunities and many of the opportunities that do exist are of a poor quality. All the industries suffer from the poor state of the buildings in which they are housed, limiting external commercial operators and the provision of meaningful training.

Key concern 5

Overcrowding

The increasing numbers in the prison. As more and more cells are turned into double occupancy, there is a potential for safety to reduce. Lack of adequate CCTV coverage remains both a safety and a security issue.

Key concern 6

Staffing · Repeated from a previous year

Staffing shortages and vacancies across various departments, including healthcare (vacant psychiatrist post, psychology team under pressure), education (vacancies), and general regime provision (weekend unlock, visits). Key work compliance rates remain low, below 50%.

Source wording under review

Key concern 7

Estate/Conditions

Much of HMP Maidstone is more than 200 years old and therefore needs updating and refurbishment; some cells are damp and have damaged windows. The prison depends upon Gov Facilities Services Limited (GFSL) to maintain creaking and overburdened systems of heating, power, and water, leading to frequent issues.

Safety statistics

Incidents during the reporting year.

IndicatorThis yearPrevious
Deaths in custody0not recorded
Self-harm incidents86143
Prisoner assaults7753
Use of force102153

Population

Population603
Operational capacity613
Time out of cell6.5h/day

Applications to the IMB

CategoryCurrentPrevious
Accommodation, including laundry, clothing, ablutions 9 8
Canteen, facility list, catalogue(s) 18 5
Discipline, including adjudications, incentives scheme, sanctions 19 14
Equality 6 6
Finance, including pay, private monies, spends 22 13
Food and kitchens 10 4
Health, including physical, mental, social care 23 53
Letters, visits, telephones, public protection restrictions 50 31
Miscellaneous, including complaints system 34 54
Property during transfer or in another establishment or location 36 57
Property within this establishment 45 48
Purposeful activity, including education, work, training, library, regime, time out of cell 7 25
Sentence management, including HDC, release on temporary licence, parole, release dates, recategorisation 76 95
Staff/prisoner concerns, including bullying 28 33
Transfers 5 7

Report details

Establishment
Maidstone
Type
Prison, category C
Report year
2023
Published
3 August 2023
Responsible body
HMP Maidstone
Recommendations
13
MoJ rating (2025/26)
3, Good

Service providers

ServiceProvider
AdviceCitizens Advice
Children's visits, family days, parenting courses (since October)Prison Advice and Care Trust (Pact)
Children's visits, family days, parenting courses (until October)Spurgeons
Community Council supportKinetic
Dental servicesKent Community Health NHS Foundation Trust
Learning and skills providerWeston College
LiteracyThe Shannon Trust
Maintenance and repairGov Facilities Services Ltd.
Mental healthcare services (in-reach)Oxleas
On-wing education activitiesRocketeer Group
Primary healthcare servicesOxleas NHS Foundation Trust
Psychological servicesBradley Therapy Services
Singing activitiesBeating Time
Substance misuse programmes (until March 2022)The Forward Trust
Substance misuse treatment provider (since April 2022)Change Grow Live (CGL)
Workshop contracts (Prison Industries)Public Sector Prison Industries (PSPI)

Related inspections and investigations

HMIP inspection, 1 Dec 2025

Unannounced · Safety 3 · Respect 3 · Activity 2 · Release 2

HMIP inspection, 20 Nov 2023

IRP

HMIP inspection, 3 Oct 2022

Unannounced

HMIP inspection, 15 Oct 2018

Unannounced

Filmon Brhane

PPO fatal incident · 12 Jun 2023 · Self-inflicted

Other reports for Maidstone

2026

Published 6 Oct 2026 · Population 550 · Self-harm 42 · Key concerns recorded

2025

Published 3 Dec 2025

2024

Published 27 Feb 2025 · Population 599 · Self-harm 84 · Key concerns recorded

2022

Published 2 Aug 2022 · Population 545 · Self-harm 143 · Key concerns recorded

2021

Published 13 Jul 2021 · Population 545 · Self-harm 219 · Key concerns recorded

2020

Published 29 May 2020 · Population 600 · Self-harm 154 · Key concerns recorded