Source · IMB Annual Report
Isle of Wight
Year: 2021
Published: 18 Oct 2022
Type: Prison · Cat B male training prison
Population: 991
Recommendations: 10
Key concerns
Positive findings
HMP Isle of Wight operated under a continued restricted regime in 2021 due to Covid-19, impacting daily life and increasing tensions. While the Board praised staff efforts and noted positive developments in healthcare, equality, and complaint handling, significant concerns persisted regarding the dilapidated laundry, unhygienic meal services, and underfunded estate repairs. Staffing shortfalls in mental health and probation services critically hampered prisoner support and progression, alongside challenges posed by the delayed transfer of Category C prisoners.
Safety statistics
| Indicator | This year | Previous |
|---|---|---|
| Deaths in custody | 13 | — |
| Self-harm incidents | 1,309 | 731 |
| Prisoner assaults | 59 | 41 |
| Assaults on staff | 56 | 68 |
| Use of force | 220 | — |
Positive findings
The IMB highlighted the positive approach of prisoners and tirelessly working staff during difficult periods. Significant actions were taken to support prisoners during confinement, including distraction packs and excellent communication. Healthcare provision was excellent, with positive feedback from prisoners and strong links developed with the primary care trust. The prison successfully made cell searches representative of the population and reintroduced key worker sessions. Improvements to Albany house units, including CCTV installation, were welcomed. The professionalism of SARU staff and their focus on positive working practices were commended. New initiatives like pronoun badges for staff and prisoners were well-received. The complaints department maintained high timeliness, completing 95.8% of 2,236 complaints on time. Communication between healthcare and families was excellent, and the collaborative approach to drug misuse was effective. Education innovation continued with bespoke learning packages, and a £2 bonus for English/Maths course completion was introduced. An IAG advisor helps prisoners identify education pathways, and the development of digital learning plans for tracking progress is underway.
Key concerns
Estate/Conditions
Repeated
The laundry at HMP Isle of Wight urgently requires significant upgrading to make it fit for purpose.
Resettlement/Release
The transfer of category C prisoners to HMP Isle of Wight must be carefully managed, with consideration given to the length of sentence remaining and the increased distance from home that most prisoners will experience.
Education/Purposeful Activity
All prisoners should have the opportunity to participate in education whilst in the establishment. The resumption of face-to-face learning is a key part of this, but also the provision of initial assessments, personal learning plans and provision of the full range of courses provided before the pandemic.
Estate/Conditions
Ongoing faults with the fire alarm system affecting several areas of the Parkhurst site were regularly reported.
Estate/Conditions
Repeated
A bid to replace the roof of house unit 18 at Parkhurst was submitted in January 2018 but was rejected. Another bid was submitted in August 2020, as the slate roof is end of life, but no funding was secured for this work to be completed so far.
Estate/Conditions
Repeated
In Albany, the roof in the tailors workshop and the chapel had remedial works carried out in November 2020, but the roofs still suffered from leaks. A bid was submitted in August 2020 to carry out major repairs but this has so far not been funded.
Food/Catering
Observations and reports of meal services during 2021 continued to show concerns that were not fully addressed by the prison. The Board witnessed specific concerns around the servery including: Servery workers do not all have food safety and hygiene training or certification. Food temperatures are not taken and recorded accurately. Unhygienic practices in the handling of food are frequently evident. The correct wearing of hair coverings and beard nets is not always followed.
Equality/Diversity
2021 was another challenging year for equalities with protected characteristic forums not commencing until May and then being spasmodic. This was due to Covid and the inability to mix cohorts. Similarly, there were a reduced number of inclusion events, which are forums for staff and prisoners to discuss various equality and diversity topics.
Equality/Diversity
Repeated
It was difficult to get use of force reports for BAME prisoners audited by BAME staff, due to lack of BAME discipline staff.
Mental Health
The mental health department was without a head of department from September and the department was understaffed; recruitment is an issue. This had a detrimental effect on the ability to provide full and timely service provision.
Healthcare
Safeguarding was identified as an area that needed to be developed. Healthcare was seeking support from outside agencies to improve provision.
Staffing
Probation officer staffing levels were at 46% of the required number and were likely to fall further in the next six months. As a result, many prisoners did not receive crucial one-to one-interventions from their POM and making little progress with their sentence plan.
Resettlement/Release
At the end of 2021 there were around 400 category C prisoners, many of whom should have transferred to a category C resettlement establishment to prepare for possible release and undertake work in readiness for their release. Some prisoners had little prospect of a transfer to another establishment and understandably felt upset and angry that they could not move.
Recommendations
| # | Recommendation | Addressee | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | All prisoners without an initial assessment are approached again, encouraged to take these assessments and to engage with courses. Any refusal is well documented with date/reasons why etc. | Governor / Director | |
| 2 | All prisoners are offered rapid LDD screening, irrespective of whether they have a self-declared LDD, and all those requiring follow up have in-depth LDD screening. | Governor / Director | |
| 3 | Increase the number of prisoners with LDDs receiving support from the education department with their functional skills and restart the work of the Shannon Trust as soon as possible to assist prisoners with poor literacy skills. | Governor / Director | |
| 4 | Ensure that all prisoners in IOW have a digital personal learning plan on Curious which is reassessed regularly to ensure that all are given the opportunities to progress. | Governor / Director | |
| 5 | Increase the number of remand prisoners supported on courses or with CV writing. | Governor / Director | |
| 6 | Return to full classroom teaching as soon as regime restrictions allow. | Governor / Director | |
| 7 | Investigate the potential development of blended learning, with a combination of in-cell work, tutorial support and classroom provision, which could therefore free up classroom space to clear any waiting lists, allowing more prisoners to benefit from education. | Governor / Director | |
| 8 | The laundry at HMP Isle of Wight urgently requires significant upgrading to make it fit for purpose. Whilst the funding for these works has now been approved, these works need to be carried out as a matter of urgency. Repeated | HMPPS | |
| 9 | The transfer of category C prisoners to HMP Isle of Wight must be carefully managed, with consideration given to the length of sentence remaining and the increased distance from home that most prisoners will experience. | HMPPS | |
| 10 | All prisoners should have the opportunity to participate in education whilst in the establishment. The resumption of face-to-face learning is a key part of this, but also the provision of initial assessments, personal learning plans and provision of the full range of courses provided before the pandemic. | Governor / Director |
Applications to the IMB
| Category | Current | Previous |
|---|---|---|
| Accommodation, including laundry, clothing, ablutions | 10 | 16 |
| Canteen, facility list, catalogue(s) | 7 | 14 |
| Discipline, including adjudications, IEP, sanctions | 2 | 27 |
| Equality | 13 | 8 |
| Finance, including pay, private monies, spends | 10 | 20 |
| Food and kitchens | 4 | 4 |
| Health, including physical, mental, social care | 44 | 38 |
| Letters, visits, telephones, public protection restrictions | 12 | 28 |
| Miscellaneous, including complaints system | 51 | 57 |
| Property during transfer or in another establishment or location | 14 | 17 |
| Property within this establishment | 27 | 13 |
| Purposeful activity, including education, work, training, library, regime, time out of cell | 13 | 11 |
| Sentence management, including HDC, release on temporary licence, parole, release dates, recategorisation | 21 | 20 |
| Staff/prisoner concerns, including bullying | 57 | 53 |
| Transfers | 10 | 10 |
Related inspections & investigations
Other reports for Isle of Wight
Report details
- Establishment
- Isle of Wight
- Type
- Prison · Cat B male training prison
- Report year
- 2021
- Published
- 18 October 2022
- Responsible body
- HMP Isle of Wight
- Recommendations
- 10
- MoJ rating (2024/25)
- 2 — Concern
Population
| Population | 991 |
| Operational capacity | 1,139 |
Service providers
Distance Learning
Open University
Education
Milton Keynes College
Healthcare
Practice Plus Group
Laundry/Maintenance
Gov Facility Services Ltd
Library/Social Care
Isle of Wight Council
Video calls
Purple Visits