Recommendation 1
The Board is concerned at the lack of sufficient staff, which is the biggest destabilising factor in the prison. We hope to see increased funding to help recruit and retain frontline operational staff.
Source · IMB Annual Report
Berwyn
AI-generated report summary HMP Berwyn continues to be a safe establishment, though it faces significant challenges from staffing shortages, which impact regime delivery, purposeful activity, and key work. The Board notes improvements in resettlement outcomes and a reduction in serious assaults, alongside robust use of force data collection. Key concerns remain the long waiting times for dental care and mental health transfers, as well as the poor timeliness in responding to prisoner complaints.
Year: 2022
Published: 5 Sep 2022
Type: Prison · Cat Category C, Remand, Reception, Resettlement, Train
Recommendations: 4
Key concerns
Positive findings
Safety statistics
| Indicator | This year | Previous |
|---|---|---|
| Deaths in custody | 2 | — |
| Self-harm incidents | 1,638 | 1,431 |
| ACCT cases opened | 850 | 958 |
| Prisoner assaults | 405 | 301 |
| Assaults on staff | 242 | — |
| Use of force | 1,538 | 1,326 |
Positive findings
AI-generated summaryThe Board considers HMP Berwyn a safe establishment with generally courteous staff-prisoner relationships and good quality accommodation. Healthcare provision is comparable to the community, and the new resettlement hub and related initiatives have shown positive results in reducing homelessness upon release and increasing employment. Improvements in staff recruitment, reduced serious assaults, robust use of force data collection, and a decrease in drug throwovers are also positive. The CSU is particularly well-run with empathetic staff.
Key concerns
Lack of sufficient staff, which is the biggest destabilising factor in the prison.
Staffing shortages regularly impact the establishment, causing restricted regimes and impacting upon important initiatives such as key work.
Workshops were not fully operational in this reporting period.
As the prison population ages, the Board would like to see training for staff on recognising and dealing with dementia and other age-related needs.
Therefore, the services offered may not be adequate, with the wait times for dental care, for instance, operating at 12 months.
There are long waiting times for transfer to secure mental health facilities due to a lack of beds in receiving establishments.
Only 46% of all complaints in 2021 received responses within the nationally prescribed target time.
Reduced operational capacity for transfers to other prisons continues to be an area of concern, impacted by Covid-19 related reductions in operational staffing.
Recommendations
Recommendation 2
The Board is concerned that the establishment is regularly impacted by staffing shortages, causing restricted regimes and impacting upon important initiatives such as key work.
Recommendation 3
The Board is concerned that workshops were not fully operational in this reporting period.
Recommendation 4
As the prison population ages, the Board would like to see training for staff on recognising and dealing with dementia and other age-related needs.
Applications to the IMB
| Category | Current | Previous |
|---|---|---|
| Accommodation, including laundry, clothing, ablutions | 54 | 40 |
| Canteen, facility list, catalogue(s) | 6 | 11 |
| Discipline, including adjudications, IEP, sanctions | 28 | 37 |
| Equality | 10 | 11 |
| Finance, including pay, private monies, spends | 19 | 16 |
| Food and kitchens | 5 | 13 |
| Health, including physical, mental, social care | 110 | 135 |
| Letters, visits, telephones, public protection restrictions | 48 | 72 |
| Miscellaneous, including complaints system | 97 | 98 |
| Property during transfer or in another establishment or location | 28 | 9 |
| Property within this establishment | 60 | 40 |
| Purposeful activity, including education, work, training, library, regime, time out of cell | 22 | 34 |
| Sentence management, including HDC, release on temporary licence, parole, release dates, recategorisation | 96 | 81 |
| Staff/prisoner concerns, including bullying | 72 | 86 |
| Transfers | 34 | 22 |
Related inspections & investigations
Safety 2
· Respect 3
· Activity 2
· Release 3
Michael Quinn · Natural causes
James Howarth · Other non-natural
Matthew Singh Prevention of future deaths report · State Custody related deaths | Wales prevention of future deaths reports (2019 onwards)
Luke Jones · Alcohol, drug and medication related deaths; State Custody related deaths; Wales prevention of future deaths reports (2019 onwards)
Other reports for Berwyn
· Concerns
· Self-harm 1,689
· Concerns
Population 2,000
· Self-harm 1,320
· Concerns
Population 1,823
· Self-harm 941
· Concerns
Population 1,725
· Self-harm 1,431
· Concerns
· Self-harm 1,006
· Concerns