Recommendation 1
There is an urgent need to review pay and conditions at all levels in the prison service to ensure the recruitment and retention of high quality staff.
Source · IMB Annual Report
Styal
AI-generated report summary HMP/YOI Styal successfully managed Covid-19 spread and saw a significant reduction in self-harm, with healthcare and perinatal care provision improving. However, the Board highlighted critical staffing shortages impacting regime and services, persistent decency and fire risks in residential houses, and challenges in managing prisoners with severe mental health needs. Concerns were also raised regarding medication administration, changes to resettlement contracts, and the distress caused by the parcel ban.
Year: 2022
Published: 23 Aug 2022
Type: Prison · Cat female, local, YOI
Population: 373
Recommendations: 7
Key concerns
Positive findings
Safety statistics
| Indicator | This year | Previous |
|---|---|---|
| Deaths in custody | 0 | — |
| Use of force | 318 | — |
Positive findings
AI-generated summaryThe prison's management effectively reduced Covid-19 spread and maintained a positive, supportive environment for prisoners, with staff working tirelessly to keep them safe. There was a significant reduction in self-harm incidents over the year. Healthcare provision was maintained to a community standard, adapting well to pandemic challenges, and significant progress was made in perinatal care. Additionally, the percentage of prisoners released to accommodation improved to an average of 92% due to a new housing specialist role, and the visitors' centre was refurbished.
Key concerns
There have been capacity issues throughout the year with regard to staffing in the prison, impacting the regime, healthcare access, and prisoner movement.
The need for escorts, due to the nature of the cohort, exacerbates the critical staffing situation, highlighting an urgent need to review pay and conditions for recruitment and retention.
As the prison returns to stage 1 the resumption of visits and more free flow is likely to impact on the amount of drugs being brought into the prison by visitors and by new and recalled prisoners. Increased resources are still required to support the Governor in tackling this problem, reflecting those enhanced security resources and the technology more commonly found in the male estate.
The prison continues to be challenged by the need to manage many prisoners with severe and enduring mental health problems, with a pressing national need for more specialist psychiatric facilities.
There is still a significant fire risk to prisoners who reside in the 16 houses which have not yet been refurbished at Styal, as indicated in last year’s report.
Almost 70% of the population reside in the houses, which continue to present decency issues regarding the number of toilets and bathrooms, and overcrowded bedrooms, impacting mental health and wellbeing.
The Board remains concerned about the changes to the contracts for Through the Gate Services, with new external partners lacking requisite experience in post-release accommodation.
Source wording under review
The suitability and choice of clothing provided to female, transgender and non-binary prisoners, especially underwear, is inadequate, requiring greater attention.
Access to the library facilities has been restricted over the year, impacting prisoner wellbeing, with a return to normal access being beneficial.
The prison has banned all incoming parcels, causing real distress as the provided alternatives do not meet the needs of many prisoners.
12 The Board has received a number of complaints this year from the prisoners in Bollinwood regarding their lack of contact with staff and use of the facilities inside the prison. They have expressed concern about the lack of ROTL and access to the services in the community. In effect they see few incentives and do not feel that the unit provides opportunities to progress towards release.
Healthcare has not been able to consistently provide a timely, safe process for administering medicine, partly due to inadequate accommodation for the pharmacy service.
14 The incentives scheme in the prison has been subject to a number of reviews over the year and as yet there appears to be no consistent interpretation and application of how the scheme operates. The Board is therefore unable to monitor the progress of any changes and their impact on the prisoners, especially those prisoners with enhanced status.
Recommendations
Recommendation 2
Increased resources are still required to support the Governor in tackling this problem, reflecting those enhanced security resources and the technology more commonly found in the male estate.
Recommendation 3
Nationally, there is still a pressing need for more specialist facilities that can be easily accessed, particularly psychiatric units.
Recommendation 4
All residential accommodation should be decent and in a good state of repair including sufficient hygiene facilities for the numbers of women.
Recommendation 5
consideration needs to be given to a more holistic, multi-agency approach to release arrangements to ensure fair and consistent access to support.
Recommendation 6
the Board feels that greater attention needs to be given to this issue.
Recommendation 7
a return to normal access would be beneficial to the prisoners.
Applications to the IMB
| Category | Current | Previous |
|---|---|---|
| Catering | 11 | 18 |
| Chaplaincy | 0 | 1 |
| Discrimination | 2 | 1 |
| Education/Library | 7 | 7 |
| Finance | 10 | 18 |
| Healthcare | 48 | 45 |
| IMB Concerns | 4 | 12 |
| Legal | 4 | 3 |
| Other | 25 | 16 |
| Property | 18 | 30 |
| Reception/Release | 11 | 21 |
| Regime | 20 | 30 |
| Segregation/CSU | 1 | 3 |
| Staff/Prisoner concerns including bullying | 18 | 15 |
| Total | 203 | 206 |
| Visits | 4 | 6 |
Related inspections & investigations
Emma Tuff · Other non-natural
Margaret Berry · Natural causes
Emma Muirhead · Other non-natural
Sarah Boyle · State Custody related deaths | Suicide (from 2015)
Christine McDonald · Suicide (from 2015)
Other reports for Styal
· Concerns
· Concerns
Population 420
· Concerns
Population 380
· Concerns
· Concerns
· Self-harm 2,362
· Concerns