Key concerns 60 items
Key concerns were extracted from the report text by an AI model.
Key concern 1
Safety
Hand-made weapons were found on a regular basis.
Key concern 2
Safety
Self-harm increased by 14%.
Key concern 3
Safety
There were six deaths in custody.
Key concern 4
Safety
Assaults on staff increased by 30%.
Key concern 5
Safety
No firm funding for the remaining two wings for CCTV.
Key concern 6
Safety
Body-worn video cameras (BWVCs) were not always worn by staff and the technology failed regularly. There was insufficient management grip on the use of force.
Key concern 7
Safety
Five dog handlers are ‘allocated’ to Pentonville from the HMPPS regional hub, but the reality is that there is only one handler who regularly works at the prison with both an ‘active’ and a ‘passive’ dog – and not daily.
Key concern 8
Estate/Conditions
Pentonville is unsuitable for the incarceration of prisoners in the 21st century. But there is still no sign of the significant and urgent financial investment noted as being needed.
Key concern 9
Estate/Conditions
Refurbished landing was ‘mothballed’ for months because of ineffective water pressure. Although £284,000 funding was agreed in September 2019 for refurbishment of showers, this work has not begun.
Key concern 10
Estate/Conditions
Organising lift engineers, plumbers or pest control seemed to be daily challenges for GFSL.
Key concern 11
Healthcare
Hospital appointments were sometimes cancelled at short notice because of a shortage of prison officer escorts.
Key concern 12
Healthcare
Applications to the Board about healthcare increased by around 50%.
Key concern 13
Mental Health · Repeated from a previous year
Attendance at the wellbeing centre is not seen as a clinical priority by the prison, and during any routine lockdown the centre is empty. The Board has raised this concern repeatedly.
Key concern 14
Resettlement/Release
Many prisoners have complex and multiple needs that a local prison serving the local courts is ill equipped to address.
Key concern 15
Resettlement/Release
Despite planned improvements in provision and an effective provider, homelessness remains a problem.
Key concern 16
Regime/Time Out of Cell
Constructive use of prisoners’ time is negatively affected by what seem to be persistent problems in delivering them to education and work – the 56% average attendance figure is dismal.
Key concern 17
Resettlement/Release
Rehabilitation, as a means of progression towards successful resettlement, takes a back seat.
Key concern 18
Estate/Conditions
Despite two separate National Offender Management Service (now HMPPS) investigations mandating that 800 cells needed either their window or grille replacing (following the homicide and double escape in 2016), by the end of March 2020 the work had still not been completed – meaning that contraband can still enter in this way.
Key concern 19
Estate/Conditions
Physical condition and layout of the reception area remain poorly suited for its purpose, with a large central holding room raising safety concerns.
Key concern 20
Safety
During the reporting period, physical screens were installed between interviewing booths, in an attempt to provide greater privacy. However, the screens offer little additional privacy, and prisoners still undergo their cell sharing risk assessment and are asked personal questions to assess their safety needs while in earshot of other prisoners.
Key concern 21
Safety
The person escort record, which accompanies each prisoner arriving at the prison, is frequently incomplete or inaccurate. Moreover, the vans bringing prisoners arrive unpredictably and are often delayed. The result is that officer numbers in reception are often poorly matched to requirements. For example, when many vans have arrived simultaneously and late, a lack of interview-trained staff in reception has meant that the last arriving prisoner was not located in a cell until 3am.
Key concern 22
Safety
In January, the MoJ announced that Pentonville would become one of a number of challenging prisons to be installed with an airport-style body scanner to screen new arrivals. Work was to start in the spring, with the hope that it would be fitted by summer. However, its installation has been delayed, and during the reporting period it was not clear when the scanner would be installed.
Key concern 23
Regime/Time Out of Cell
Induction sessions are not always delivered to every prisoner; vulnerable prisoners sent to the vulnerable prisoner unit often receive no induction or basic kit.
Key concern 24
Safety
Only 10 trained Listeners for over 1,000 prisoners, described as an ‘all-time low’.
Key concern 25
Safety
The challenge, support, and intervention plan (CSIP) scheme has been mandatory across the prison estate since February 2019 but only started to be implemented at Pentonville in January 2020, at which point two prisoners were admitted to the scheme.
Key concern 26
Safety
Catch 22’s contract to provide analysis and support to the prison and prisoners around gang issues ended in March 2020, at which point the prison began using its own questionnaire to elicit relevant information. The Board understands that the prison is in the process of reviewing the most effective way for gang conflict information and resolution to be delivered, but with so many prisoners (especially YAs) connected to gangs, a robust solution to this seemingly intractable problem is needed as soon as possible.
Key concern 27
Safety
Fears about visits by these prisoners to the healthcare centre continued until, in August 2019, clinics were reserved for vulnerable prisoners once a month and GPs visited their landings daily. Risks remained, however, when mixing with the wider population on the way to medication, visits or work.
Key concern 28
Safety · Repeated from a previous year
Lack of a full induction for new vulnerable prisoners arriving from reception was a recurring concern.
Key concern 29
Safety
Vulnerable prisoners with mobility problems were sometimes placed on the vulnerable prisoner unit, which was not a fit or safe location, with broken lifts, no exercise yards, and unclear fire evacuation procedures.
Key concern 30
Safety
5 Use of force The HMIP report from April 2019 found that use of force was high, and governance very poor. When the inspectors returned for the IRP in February 2020, they found that use of force had increased, many use of force reports were incomplete and data collection was poor. They concluded that governance of the use of force remained poor overall. They also noted that BWVCs were not routinely activated in the event of an incident. BWVCs have been taken in and out of service on many occasions during the year, and the whole system needed to be sent back to Scotland for repair at one stage.
Key concern 31
Substance Misuse
Prevalence of drugs remains a problem. Cannabis was the drug of choice and the smell was often noticeable during the day. The new Governor renewed efforts to identify culprits.
Key concern 32
Substance Misuse
Although Rapiscan – technology for scanning mail for traces of drugs – was introduced in the second half of the year, in March 2020 it was still not in routine use because of the cost of training and staff deployment.
Key concern 33
Estate/Conditions
Persistent plumbing issues across the prison cause frequent lack of hot/cold water, blocked toilets/showers, and leaks.
Key concern 34
Estate/Conditions
Many cells still have inadequately screened toilets.
Key concern 35
Estate/Conditions
Many showers are mouldy, infested with flies and in a poor state of repair; the plan to deep-clean all toilets by end of 2019 has not been completed.
Key concern 36
Estate/Conditions
Persistent problem of vermin, especially cockroaches.
Key concern 37
Estate/Conditions
The refurbishment of a landing by GFSL Projects was completed in May 2019 but it remained non-operational owing to plumbing issues until its deployment in March 2020 for prisoners self-isolating because of COVID-19.
Key concern 38
Estate/Conditions
Several lifts were out of operation for extended periods, causing problems for prisoners (and visitors) with mobility issues.
Key concern 39
Regime/Time Out of Cell
Insufficient supplies of clothing at reception and on the wings.
Key concern 40
Food/Catering
However, some prisoners complain about small portions, and those without access to canteen sometimes report being hungry. There have been complaints of food arriving cold on the wings owing to faulty heated trolleys.
Key concern 41
Food/Catering
Kitchen management is strong and positive, despite multiple recurrent equipment issues which create significant challenges, and the presence of vermin.
Key concern 42
Regime/Time Out of Cell
Kitchen workers lack sufficient time for telephone calls, showers and association.
Key concern 43
Segregation · Repeated from a previous year
The Segregation Unit (CSU) suffered from a vermin problem again this year, and its overall fabric is very tired and in urgent need of further renovations, with cells often out of use and broken observation panels.
Key concern 44
Segregation
One prisoner was regrettably held on the unit for five months before a place in the high-security estate was finally found for him. Pentonville managers tried their best to move him out, and it is unacceptable that it took the Prison Service so long to facilitate this transfer.
Key concern 45
Complaints/Property
The adjudication process is cumbersome and bureaucratic, with lengthy forms, procedural failures, frequent absence of 'charging officers', and non-availability of key evidence compromising it.
Key concern 46
Staffing
The Board believes that the resistance of some staff to embrace change has contributed to some of the problems experienced by the prison this year, including staff suspensions and governors moving between roles.
Key concern 47
Equality/Diversity
However, notwithstanding his enthusiasm, by the time HMIP returned in February 2020, they reported that no meaningful progress had been made since April 2019: ‘Equality work was still neglected and the strategy had not been updated. There had been little focused work with protected groups. Although quality assurance of DIRFs [discrimination incident report forms] had recently been introduced, it had not yet led to sufficient improvements’.
Key concern 48
Complaints/Property
The lack of effective support led to much frustration and a loss of confidence among prisoners until early 2020, when new commitment and energy from the prison (including the creation, in February, of a new head of communities governor post) led to positive change and optimism.
Key concern 49
Regime/Time Out of Cell
At the end of this reporting year, that new local IEP policy has not materialised. Prisoners have complained regularly that they are not getting the enhanced privileges they are promised, whether it is extra association, extra gym sessions, doing their own laundry or getting microwaves and toasters.
Key concern 50
Complaints/Property
Prisoner property continued to be a concern during the reporting period, and the Board recorded an increase in applications regarding this problem. Common concerns related to frequent delays in prisoners’ property arriving at the prison from other institutions or going missing while in transit, and delays in receiving legitimate property which had been posted into the prison by prisoners’ family or friends. Delays of up to six weeks were not uncommon, and there were frequent instances of property disappearing. The associated impact on prisoners’ morale and on the effectiveness of the IEP system (allowing, for instance, enhanced prisoners to wear their own clothes posted to them by family) was significant.
Key concern 51
Healthcare
There are difficulties in coordination between prison and healthcare staff, which can have clinical consequences. This was compounded by there being no healthcare liaison governor for many months.
Key concern 52
Substance Misuse
Inadequate supervision by officers of opiate-substitute medication queues risked diversion of drugs.
Key concern 53
Safety
Failure to provide all prisoners with photo-identity cards raises the risk of prisoner impersonation to obtain dispensed drugs illicitly.
Key concern 54
Healthcare
Secondary health tests do not always occur within seven days when incoming prisoners are not located on the early days wing.
Key concern 55
Healthcare
Some prisoners are deterred from attending particular healthcare facilities because of gang tensions.
Key concern 56
Mental Health
Unpredictable unlock arrangements reduced the time available to attend mental health clinics and courses.
Key concern 57
Mental Health
ACCT forms for prisoners are not always brought to the Wellbeing Centre by escorts.
Key concern 58
Substance Misuse
The team thinks that there are probably more prisoners with alcohol problems than are being picked up at reception or later. Veterans are one group which tends to mask their needs.
Key concern 59
Substance Misuse
From mid-March, group work stopped. The team continued with individual assessments and support, within COVID-19 constraints. Through-the-gate support stopped. Prisoners on prescribed drugs were given an appointment with their local drug service, so that they could continue to get medication on release. Other prisoners were given details of local drug services, but most of these had stopped taking new clients.
Key concern 60
Education/Purposeful Activity
Low education attendance rate of 56% due to issues with the prison’s organisation and problems delivering prisoners to education.