Source · IMB Annual Report
Sudbury
Year: 2022
Published: 1 Dec 2022
Type: Prison · Cat Open, Category D, YOI
Recommendations: 10
Key concerns
Positive findings
HMP/YOI Sudbury is an open Category D resettlement prison. The Board noted positive improvements in staff-prisoner relationships, healthcare provision, and the availability of work and vocational training opportunities. However, significant concerns remain regarding the extremely outdated accommodation, persistent staff shortages impacting various services, and issues with prisoner property transfers. The report also highlights long dental waiting times and the lack of psychologist services.
Safety statistics
| Indicator | This year | Previous |
|---|---|---|
| Deaths in custody | 2 | — |
| Self-harm incidents | 4 | — |
| ACCT cases opened | 21 | 24 |
| Prisoner assaults | 5 | 9 |
| Assaults on staff | 6 | 4 |
| Drug finds | 189 | — |
Positive findings
HMP/YOI Sudbury has demonstrated positive improvements in several areas, including enhanced safety by allocating new arrivals to suitable accommodation, maintaining low self-harm incidents and assaults, and receiving commendation for its Safer Custody team. Staff-prisoner relationships have significantly improved, with staff being more accessible, and the single pod accommodation has been popular. Healthcare is well-staffed, well-run, and receives positive feedback from prisoners. Additionally, the library is well-resourced and imaginatively run, and the prison excels in providing paid work and vocational training opportunities, with external placements nearing pre-pandemic levels.
Key concerns
Staffing
Lack of funding for necessary staffing levels to ensure safety and effectiveness in Open Prisons.
Estate/Conditions
Repeated
Urgent need for renewal of Sudbury's extremely outdated and temporarily constructed prisoner accommodation, with no clear timeframe for the production of a renewal strategy or delivery of improvements.
Other
Repeated
High number of incidents of prisoners’ property going missing during transfers between establishments, indicating a need for improved systems.
Staffing
Lack of human resources to effectively deliver procedures and systems within the prison, including insufficient staffing levels in the probation service.
Estate/Conditions
Repeated
The poor quality of dormitory accommodation at Sudbury is deficient in many ways, an issue the IMB has been reporting on since 2018, requiring secure resources for improvements.
Healthcare
Ensuring the prison can meet the physical and mental health needs of an increased population at Sudbury.
Substance Misuse
Supporting additional prisoners with substance misuse needs and preventing the ingress of these substances as the prison population increases.
Estate/Conditions
Lack of an ongoing schedule of projects to improve prisoner accommodation and an unclear timeframe for upgrading power supply to dormitories for fridges and additional microwaves.
Education/Purposeful Activity
Ensuring prisoner education, especially in functional skills, delivers improved levels of achievement.
Healthcare
Approximately a 20-week waiting time for dental appointments.
Education/Purposeful Activity
Lack of IT provision to support teaching and learning, with computer facilities out of use for an excessive length of time.
Education/Purposeful Activity
No provision for supporting learners whose first language is not English (ESOL).
Mental Health
No access to psychologist services within the healthcare department.
Education/Purposeful Activity
Limited progression onto Level 2 English and Maths courses, and low retention of learners.
Education/Purposeful Activity
Problems with mislaid certificates and unrecorded attainment from private prisons, leading to prisoners repeating courses.
Resettlement/Release
Some men have parole board targets which cannot be met through the course provision at Sudbury, sometimes resulting in return to closed conditions.
Recommendations
| # | Recommendation | Addressee | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | What plans are in place to ensure funding will support the necessary staffing levels to provide safety and effectiveness in Open Prisons given their crucial role in the rehabilitation process and the vision outlined in the Prisons Strategy White Paper? | Other | |
| 2 | There is reference in the White Paper to improving the existing prison estate via the creation of a new strategy for maintenance and renewal of prisons. Such renewal is urgently needed at Sudbury where prisoner accommodation is extremely outdated and of a quality intended only to sustain buildings temporarily. What is the likely timeframe for the production of this renewal strategy and the delivery of necessary improvements? Repeated | Other | |
| 3 | What plans are in place to ensure that the systems for the transfer of prisoners’ property are improved to reduce the high number of incidents of property going missing when prisoners are moved between establishments? Repeated | HMPPS | |
| 4 | Many issues raised with the IMB indicate a lack of human resources to effectively deliver the procedures and systems in place within the prison. How can the service address issues of staffing levels – including within the probation service? | HMPPS | |
| 5 | The quality of prisoner accommodation at Sudbury is deficient in many ways and the IMB has been reporting on the poor quality of dormitory accommodation since 2018. Whilst the prison itself has managed to make some improvement to kitchen/shower/toilet facilities it remains an issue for prisoners. What plans does the service have to secure necessary resources for improvements? Repeated | HMPPS | |
| 6 | Are plans in place to drive improvement in the levels of achievement in functional skills across the closed estate in order to enable Open Prisons to be more successful in delivering their resettlement objectives? | HMPPS | |
| 7 | What plans are in place to ensure that the prison can meet the physical and mental health needs of the increased population at Sudbury? | Governor / Director | |
| 8 | As the population of the prison continues to increase inevitably some of the additional prisoners received will have addiction issues. How does the prison plan to support these additional prisoners with their substance misuse needs? What plans are in place to prevent the ingress of these substances? | Governor / Director | |
| 9 | Does the prison have an ongoing schedule of projects to improve the quality of prisoner accommodation? What is the likely timeframe for the upgrading of power supply to dormitories to support the provision of fridges and additional microwaves? | Governor / Director | |
| 10 | How can the prison ensure that prisoner education, especially in relation to improving functional skills, delivers improved levels of prisoner achievement? | Governor / Director |
Applications to the IMB
| Category | Current | Previous |
|---|---|---|
| Accommodation (including transfers) | 31 | 38 |
| Communications | 17 | 26 |
| Discipline (Adjudications) | 1 | 0 |
| Equality & Diversity | 1 | 0 |
| Food | 0 | 0 |
| Healthcare | 0 | 0 |
| Legal | 1 | 0 |
| Other | 4 | 7 |
| Property | 27 | 13 |
| Regime (including education/work/activity) | 6 | 6 |
| Request for transfer | 3 | 3 |
| Staffing | 1 | 0 |
| Visits | 1 | 1 |
Related inspections & investigations
Other reports for Sudbury
Report details
- Establishment
- Sudbury
- Type
- Prison · Cat Open, Category D, YOI
- Report year
- 2022
- Published
- 1 December 2022
- Responsible body
- HMP Sudbury
- Recommendations
- 10
- MoJ rating (2024/25)
- 3 — Good
Population
| CNA (designed for) | 601 |
Service providers
Education
PeoplePlus
Escort
GEOAmey
Healthcare
Practice Plus Group
Library
Suffolk Libraries
Maintenance
GEOAmey
Substance misuse treatment
NHS Inclusion