Ashfield

Response
The intention is to maintain flexibility across the Approved Premises estate to accommodate all categories of offences where there is a need for a public protection placement. It is therefore not possible at this stage to give precise figures about specific categories of offenders. I [the Minister] would like to reassure the Board that all eligible cases will receive support to find accommodation prior to release and this will be delivered by commissioned rehabilitative service (CRS) suppliers based in the areas to which they will be returned. Unfortunately the situation highlighted in last year’s report is unchanged.

Response
The response was welcomed, and it has been noted that Ashfield achieved its target delivery of OBPs adopting the new criteria and guidance from HMPPS. Also, three prisoners who had been fully assessed a priority for an OBP were transferred to another prison, to ensure that they could complete the programme in accordance with their identified priority. No prisoner was released from Ashfield without completing the programmes stipulated on their sentence plan.

Response
HMPPS plans on delivering 660 additional places through the expansion of the Category D estate, 600 of which are at prisons in the South and Midlands. The expansions will be delivered through adding one or two 60-bed units at each site, based on those establishments with the highest demand. The size of each expansion was determined using site surveys and what was feasible operationally and based on land available. The expansions will not change the profile of offenders accommodated by these prisons and there will be no change to which sites currently accommodate men convicted of sexual offences. The six Category D prison sites selected for expansion/new units are as follows: HMP/YOI Standford Hill – 120 places (South) HMP Springhill – 120 places (South) HMP Leyhill – 120 places (South) HMP Ford – 120 places (South) HMP & YOI Sudbury – 120 places (Midlands) HMP/YOI Hatfield - 60 places (Yorkshire). The only prison listed that Ashfield can send prisoners to is Leyhill. So while the increase in category D capacity is welcomed, the original issue continues to be a problem, particularly as additional spaces at Leyhill will not materialise in the short term.

Response
A system for recording incentive scheme warnings by ethnicity was instituted in early 2022, but the size of the database is not yet sufficient for robust and reliable conclusions to be drawn, though preliminary analysis does not indicate any adverse ethnic bias.

Response
Accepted. There has not yet been an appreciable improvement in the time elapsed between the end of a quarterly reporting period and the scheduling of a DEAT meeting to discuss it, but the overall quality of the data presented for discussion is very comprehensive. As yet data (suitably redacted) are not shared with prisoner representatives at DEAT meetings and this may be a missed opportunity for aiding understanding and dispelling concerns, particularly among the Black, Asian and minority ethnic community.