Source · IMB Annual Report
Maidstone
Year: 2023
Published: 3 Aug 2023
Type: Prison · Cat C
Population: 603
Recommendations: 13
Key concerns
Positive findings
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.
Safety statistics
| Indicator | This year | Previous |
|---|---|---|
| Deaths in custody | 0 | — |
| Self-harm incidents | 86 | 143 |
| Prisoner assaults | 77 | 53 |
| Use of force | 102 | 153 |
Positive findings
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.
Key concerns
Resettlement/Release
Repeated
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.
Equality/Diversity
Repeated
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.
Mental Health
Repeated
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.
Education/Purposeful Activity
Repeated
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.
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.
Staffing
Repeated
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%.
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.
Recommendations
| # | Recommendation | Addressee | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 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. Repeated | Home Office | |
| 2 | 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. Repeated | Home Office | |
| 3 | Ensure that no category D prisoner, who has no bars to transfer to the open estate, is held in a category C establishment. Repeated | HMPPS | |
| 4 | Give permission to HMP Maidstone to offer a release on temporary licence. Repeated | HMPPS | |
| 5 | Provide funding for CCTV across the prison, and for enhanced gatehouse security. | HMPPS | |
| 6 | Provide feedback to HMP Maidstone on the effectiveness of activities undertaken to prepare prisoners for release both in the UK and abroad. Repeated | HMPPS | |
| 7 | Provide funding to allow HMP Maidstone to increase the provision of good quality activities for all prisoners. Repeated | HMPPS | |
| 8 | Facilitate sharing across the prison and, where relevant, the immigration detention estate, of core material produced for foreign national prisoners and detained individuals. Repeated | HMPPS | |
| 9 | Allow prisoners who attend rehabilitation courses to keep their places at, and pay from, training and education. | Governor / Director | |
| 10 | Reintroduce governors’ wing surgeries. Repeated | Governor / Director | |
| 11 | Increase the quality and quantity of key work sessions. Repeated | Governor / Director | |
| 12 | Improve the quality and quantity of education and training opportunities. Repeated | Governor / Director | |
| 13 | Increase the privileges available to category D prisoners who remain in HMP Maidstone. Repeated | Governor / Director |
Applications to the IMB
| Category | Current | Previous |
|---|---|---|
| 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 |
Related inspections & investigations
20 Nov 2023
HMIP · IRP
Other reports for Maidstone
Report details
- Establishment
- Maidstone
- Type
- Prison · Cat C
- Report year
- 2023
- Published
- 3 August 2023
- Responsible body
- HMP Maidstone
- Recommendations
- 13
- MoJ rating (2024/25)
- 3 — Good
Population
| Population | 603 |
| Operational capacity | 613 |
| Time out of cell | 6.5h/day |
Service providers
Advice
Citizens 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 support
Kinetic
Dental services
Kent Community Health NHS Foundation Trust
Learning and skills provider
Weston College
Literacy
The Shannon Trust
Maintenance and repair
Gov Facilities Services Ltd.
Mental healthcare services (in-reach)
Oxleas
On-wing education activities
Rocketeer Group
Primary healthcare services
Oxleas NHS Foundation Trust
Psychological services
Bradley Therapy Services
Singing activities
Beating 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)