Recommendation 1
Will the Minister confirm again that the funding bid received by Gartree to address the unacceptable state of the showers will remain available to the establishment, as work has still not commenced?
Source · IMB Annual Report
Gartree
AI-generated report summary HMP Gartree experienced an increase in assaults and self-harm incidents during the reporting year, alongside nine deaths in custody. The Board raised significant concerns about the lack of progress on essential infrastructure improvements, the quality and availability of purposeful activity, and delays in mental health transfers. Positive developments included improvements in the complaints system and effective detection of illicit items, but staffing retention and the lack of data to assure healthcare equivalence remain challenges.
Year: 2022
Published: 10 May 2023
Type: Prison · Cat B
Population: 593
Recommendations: 12
Key concerns
Positive findings
Safety statistics
| Indicator | This year | Previous |
|---|---|---|
| Deaths in custody | 9 | 3 |
| Self-harm incidents | 242 | 223 |
| ACCT cases opened | 134 | 183 |
| Prisoner assaults | 58 | 39 |
| Assaults on staff | 53 | 43 |
| Use of force | 228 | 234 |
Positive findings
AI-generated summaryThe Board welcomed the extensive work to return Gartree to a normal regime after Covid-19, and acknowledged the support from the Governor and SMT. Positive steps include effective detection of illicit items, a reduction in social isolation, and improved physical environment in reception. Significant improvements were made in the complaints system, and the Board commended the SAPU staff for their professional and compassionate approach. Efforts to de-escalate violent situations and the achievement of employing 500 prisoners were also noted positively.
Key concerns
During the past year, there has been a total of 53 assaults by prisoners on staff, a worrying increase of ten on the previous year (see table 1 below). There has also been an increase in the number of prisoner-on-prisoner assaults, up by 19 from the previous year (see table 1 below). Violent incidents increased from 82 to 111 in this reporting period. The increase is concerning yet maybe not surprising, given that the Covid lockdown restrictions were lifted, providing more opportunity for contact between prisoners. However, with at least one wing out of operation (due to the fire safety works being undertaken), the roll count is significantly lower, so such an increase is of concern.
Continued influx of drugs and other illegal items, and an increasing number of drone sightings and finds, with security initiatives for scanning all persons entering the establishment remaining incomplete.
Debt and violence persist, with some prisoners reporting feeling victimised or vulnerable to attack, leading to self-isolation and/or self-harm.
Source wording under review
Increase in recorded incidents of self-harm from 223 in 2021 to 242 in 2022, with a particular increase in self-harm by ligature/hanging.
Nine deaths in custody, with previous recommendations made by the Prisons and Probation Ombudsman (PPO) regarding end-of-life care and escorts to hospital being repeated.
Source wording under review
Concern about prisoners housed in the Separation and Progression Unit (SAPU) for extended periods, and increased difficulty in moving prisoners awaiting transfer to secure mental health units.
Source wording under review
15 The Board remains dismayed at the non-existent progress on improvements to the fabric and infrastructure and to showers and some other areas. Despite the Minister stating that showers in wings A and C would be completed by January 2023 (letter from Stuart Andrew MP, Minister of State for Justice, sent to IMB Chair on 16 July 2022) the Board can confirm that at the time of writing this report (January 2023) work has not yet started, let alone been completed.
The Board believes that the prisoners’ health and wellbeing needs may be being met. However, information has been requested on a number of occasions (for this and previous reports) to evidence the statement that is widely used that services and treatment being provided by NHFT are equivalent to those in the wider community. Despite support from the Governor no information has been received. Therefore, the Board declines to express any view on the health and wellbeing of the prisoners in this annual report in relation to NHS commissioned services, as it lacks the factual data/information, rather than anecdotal comment, to show whether outcomes as outlined in various commissioning documents are being achieved.
Concern about the amount and quality of purposeful activity, wider training, and employment opportunities truly available to prisoners.
Slow movement of prisoners to Category C and Category D prisons, a virtual moratorium on progression for these individuals, and a lack of offending behaviour programmes unless prisoners are near their release date.
However, the Board remains very concerned about the prisoners at Gartree serving indeterminate sentences for public protection (IPPs). Whilst the Board acknowledges the work being undertaken at Gartree itself, 25 of the 42 IPP prisoners at Gartree are within the complex cohort, and little significant progress is being made nationally.
Ongoing loss of experienced officers, challenges in staff recruitment and retention, and slow progress in implementing the key worker scheme.
Source wording under review
6 What additional support will be offered to Gartree to ensure that assessments and sentence plans for all prisoners are up to date, and what actions is the Prison Service taking to ensure that when new prisoners are received at Gartree they arrive with the necessary up to date assessment/paperwork?
Recommendations
Recommendation 2
Could the Minister confirm again that investment to address the seriously deteriorating infrastructure of Gartree will continue, regardless of any options under consideration for a new prison to be built within the locality, and that Gartree will not suffer in any way should a new prison be built?
Recommendation 3
Does the Minister believe that sufficient work has been undertaken in the past 12 months so that the whole of Gartree will no longer be described as ‘dark, dingy and in need of repair’ (report on a scrutiny visit to HMP Gartree by HM Chief Inspector of Prisons, 22 and 29-30 September 2020). Similar words were used by representatives of the MoJ to describe Gartree during the Gartree Prison Appeal Inquiry Planning appeal: Land to the South of HMP Gartree held during October 2022.
Recommendation 4
Therefore, can the Minister confirm to the Board that all services being provided to Gartree by outside organisations (e.g. healthcare, maintenance and education) are achieving all quality and performance targets for the services they have been commissioned to provide?
Recommendation 5
Can the Prison Service confirm what additional support Gartree will receive to increase the number of offending behaviour programmes in order to enable prisoners to complete courses required to assist in their progression?
Recommendation 6
What additional support will be offered to Gartree to ensure that assessments and sentence plans for all prisoners are up to date, and what actions is the Prison Service taking to ensure that when new prisoners are received at Gartree they arrive with the necessary up to date assessment/paperwork?
Recommendation 7
Can the Prison Service confirm again that Gartree will receive sufficient ongoing budget and capital funding in order both that prisoners can live, and staff can work, within a safe, secure, and decent environment? The Board continues to note that other prisons have received substantial investment to improve their infrastructure. Could the Prison Service explain to the Board why Gartree has not received this level of investment?
Recommendation 8
Can the Prison Service confirm what are the attraction, recruitment, and retention plan for prison officers to ensure that staffing levels at Gartree do not suffer because of the new private sector prisons due to open in close proximity to Gartree, which may appear to offer more attractive employment?
Recommendation 9
Can the Prison Service confirm to the Board that the new property framework for prisoners’ property is meeting the objective(s) of the new framework, or share any data that is available to show that improvements have been made and the new framework is on target to achieve its objectives?
Recommendation 10
Therefore, can the Prison Service confirm to the Board that the integrated health services at Gartree are achieving the outcomes expressed in various commissioning documents, and that the healthcare is equivalent to the local wider community (i.e. the Market Harborough district)?
Recommendation 11
Will the Governor work with the education department to reduce the frequency of prisoners leaving their classrooms to partake in other activities such as the gym?
Recommendation 12
Will the Governor continue to work with the Board to improve communication with the Board and in relation to the necessary notifications to the Board in order for the Board to carry out its duties?
Related inspections & investigations
Safety 3
· Respect 3
· Activity 2
· Release 3
Nicholas Halling · Natural causes
Anthony Aldoescu · Other non-natural
Ahmedreza Fathi · State Custody related deaths; Suicide (from 2015); Hospital Death (Clinical Procedures and medical management) related deaths
Other reports for Gartree
Population 664
· Self-harm 457
· Concerns
Population 558
· Self-harm 288
· Concerns
· Self-harm 266
· Concerns
· Self-harm 223
· Concerns
Population 636
· Self-harm 350
· Concerns