Ranby

Could the minister assure the Board that this situation is receiving their urgent attention and that something is being done about it?

I appreciate the Board’s ongoing concerns about transfers to specialist mental health facilities and would like to assure you that NHS England Midlands Health Team continue to do all they can to facilitate transfers within the required timeframes. The pathway to secure beds is complex and the responsibility for the commissioning and provision of all levels of service sits within NHS England’s Specialised Commissioning team. As such, the healthcare provider and HMP Ranby are working closely with key stakeholders to ensure access to secure hospital beds. As mentioned in last year’s response, the pandemic affected services and this included closures within the mental health hospital estate. This resulted in many prisoners incurring further delays to admission and significant waiting times for access to secure hospital provision.
To reduce waiting times for admission to secure hospitals, NHS England (Midlands) Governance team and Commissioners continue to implement their fortnightly Clinical Case review meetings. This is clinically led and seeks to proactively manage those waiting for secure beds and every case on the waiting list is risk assessed. The meeting covers the whole Midlands Region and incorporates all prisoners that have exceeded the 28-day timeframe. This is a multi-agency meeting to ensure there is a whole systems approach to supporting the most vulnerable and high-risk prisoners. I understand that these meetings are now positively effecting prioritisation. However, on occasion, HMP Ranby will continue to need to segregate prisoners that require specialist treatment for mental health and this will be minimised as reasonably as possible.

Will the Prison Service explain why several prisoners transferred from other prisons are continuing to arrive without all their property?

Prisoners’ Property
The new Prisoners’ Property Policy Framework was published on 1 August 2022 with an implementation date of 5 September 2022. The Framework is the result of extensive consultation, including with the IMB. It has been designed with procedural justice at its core and aims to ensure consistency and fairness and enhance prisoners’ satisfaction with processes and outcomes. Given the nature of property, and the movement of prisoners between establishments, the Framework looks to provide greater direction and standardisation on a national basis. It strengthens processes in relation to the main problem areas identified by IMBs and staff including the handling of valuable property, managing cell clearances, compliance with volumetric control and forwarding on excess property following a prisoner’s transfer.
As mentioned in last year’s response, the Prisoner Escort and Custody Services (PECS) vehicle fleet is designed to carry the number of prisoners it is intended for together with their property in line with the volumetric limit which is currently governed by Prison Service Instruction 12/2011 (to be replaced by the new Prisoners’ Property Policy Framework in due course). The introduction of digitally recorded Person Escort Records (PERs), including property tags, will assist with investigations for property that is lost in transit with PECS suppliers. HMPPS is also considering what more can be done to encourage prisoners to send out or dispose of excess items to reduce the amount of their property that cannot transfer with them. Steps are being taken to ensure a consistent approach when prisons forward on any excess items to prisoners at their new establishments after transfers have taken place. PECS continues to monitor all aspects of the contractor’s performance and on occasions where it fails to meet the agreed levels, this will be raised with the contractor for improvement.

Will the Prison Service explain when HMP Ranby will be returned to a training prison with prisoners who are able to complete courses according to their sentence plan and with adequate funding to prepare them for release?

Prison Function
The Reconfiguration Project has modelled the estate into three core functions: reception, training and resettlement. This was done to give establishments clarity of function and ensure prisoners are located in the right establishment at the right point in their sentences. HMP Ranby is a dual-function prison modelled to hold a population mix of 65% training places and 35% resettlement. The current situation of increased resettlement prisoners being held at HMP Ranby is part of a national picture of misalignment as a result of the pandemic, which has affected both the make-up of the population and the flow of prisoners through the estate.
HMP Five Wells has now opened (HMP Fosse Way to follow) and will hold regional resettlement prisoners, allowing these men to progress from HMP Ranby. In the meantime, the Reconfiguration Project is working to support prisons in addressing the misalignment, adhering to offender flow rules and making best use of space as it becomes available.
Rehabilitation Courses
During the pandemic there was limited access to accredited courses for prisoners. HMP Ranby is now running the Thinking Skills Programme and Kaizen courses and is in the process of recruiting further facilitators to ensure the prison maximises the delivery of these programmes over the next twelve months.

Could the Governor explain why the system of recording incoming property has changed? This has made it very difficult for the Board to address prisoners’ concerns about their missing property.

Prisoners’ Property
The new Prisoners’ Property Policy Framework was published on 1 August 2022 with an implementation date of 5 September 2022. The Framework is the result of extensive consultation, including with the IMB. It has been designed with procedural justice at its core and aims to ensure consistency and fairness and enhance prisoners’ satisfaction with processes and outcomes. Given the nature of property, and the movement of prisoners between establishments, the Framework looks to provide greater direction and standardisation on a national basis. It strengthens processes in relation to the main problem areas identified by IMBs and staff including the handling of valuable property, managing cell clearances, compliance with volumetric control and forwarding on excess property following a prisoner’s transfer.
As mentioned in last year’s response, the Prisoner Escort and Custody Services (PECS) vehicle fleet is designed to carry the number of prisoners it is intended for together with their property in line with the volumetric limit which is currently governed by Prison Service Instruction 12/2011 (to be replaced by the new Prisoners’ Property Policy Framework in due course). The introduction of digitally recorded Person Escort Records (PERs), including property tags, will assist with investigations for property that is lost in transit with PECS suppliers. HMPPS is also considering what more can be done to encourage prisoners to send out or dispose of excess items to reduce the amount of their property that cannot transfer with them. Steps are being taken to ensure a consistent approach when prisons forward on any excess items to prisoners at their new establishments after transfers have taken place. PECS continues to monitor all aspects of the contractor’s performance and on occasions where it fails to meet the agreed levels, this will be raised with the contractor for improvement.