Grendon

There has also been a notable decrease in rodent reports and prisoners continue to be encouraged during community meetings to refrain from discarding food out of windows and the replacement windows bid will further support eradication efforts.

HMPPS is fully aware of the impact that cancelled transfers can have upon prisoners out of therapy and those awaiting progressive transfers which has been exasperated by population pressures across the prison estate. Enhanced reporting is now utilised to capture Prisoner Escort and Custody Service (PECS) performance data, which is shared with all Governors and Prison Group Director offices. The introduction of this has improved clarity and consistency in oversight, enabling both HMPPS and PECS to more effectively identify, manage, and respond to issues and concerns. In addition, an inter-prison transfer efficiency review has now been completed and implementation is being taken forward collaboratively across various national teams in HMPPS. Locally steps have also been taken to cultivate good relationships with other prison Offender Management Units to book and secure transfers in a timely manner. Transfers that are subject to multiple cancellations are escalated to ensure those moves are prioritised. In cases where transfers become delayed and may affect individuals’ progression, HMP Grendon has facilitated transfers using their own staff, particularly most recently for category D prisoners. Using these approaches, as the Board’s report notes, there has been a significant reduction in the prisoner out of therapy awaiting transfer which has had a stabilising effect on the wings.

There are clear requirements set by HMPPS for the delivery of prison retail services and the Board can be assured that the canteen supplier is subject to ongoing monitoring and assurance through established contract management and governance arrangements. HMPPS also continues to work with the supplier to offer an improved and more robust service, alongside the commitment to resolving and handling any issues or failures in a timely matter. Where items are confirmed missing, damaged, or lost, the supplier and prison are required to record the issue, use agreed mitigations and provide the necessary information promptly to enable an appropriate resolution without undue delay. HMP Grendon undertakes a quarterly meeting with canteen supplier, where complaints and prisoner experiences about the canteen service are discussed and the prison’s Business Hub has conducted a visit to the canteen supplier at HMP Bullingdon to improve understanding. Although a stock of some items is kept at the prison to address shortfalls in delivery, refunds or replacements are proactively sought, but on occassions it is recognised there have been delayed when information has not been received from the residential areas in a timely manner. In addition, following an increase in return slips not reaching the canteen supplier at HMP Bullingdon, a new process has been introduced which is working effectively where slips are now scanned to retain a digital copy locally, before requests are sent to HMP Bullingdon alongside the completed canteen sheets.