Recommendations 13 items · 5 repeated
Recommendations were extracted from the report by AI, and responses and their status from the ministerial response by AI. Each recommendation shows whether its wording has been checked against the report.
Addressee: Ministry of Justice · Topic: Resettlement · Repeated from a previous year
Recommendation (the Board's words)
Provision for the Probation Service in the OMU is still seemingly insufficient to meet the demand of the current prison population at HMP Oakwood. If the intention is to reduce the number of prisoners returning on recall for breaching their license conditions, then can the Minister ensure that the probation service funding is increased to be able to meet this aim?
Response (as published)
Target staffing on the OMU for POMs was reached but the Probation service is still felt to be understaffed.
Addressee: HMPPS · Topic: Mental Health · Repeated from a previous year
Recommendation (the Board's words)
All transfers to a secure mental health facility at Oakwood continued to exceed the 28-day stipulated timeframe (with reference to the HM Inspectorate of Prisons (HMIP) thematic review, ‘The Long Wait’, published in February 2024). Can this ongoing concern continue to be addressed?
Response (as published)
All transfers to a secure mental health facility at Oakwood exceed the 28-day stipulated timeframe in the reporting year.
Addressee: HMPPS · Topic: Regime · Repeated from a previous year
Recommendation (the Board's words)
Since the implementation of the Prisoners’ Property Policy Framework in 2022, the Board remains concerned that it is seeing a lack of adherence to the policy, particularly with missing property from incoming prisoners. The highest numbers of complaints both to the prison and to the IMB continue to concern missing property. Can this ongoing concern continue to be addressed?
Response (as published)
Property Issues continue to be a major cause of complaints both to the prison and the IMB.
Addressee: Governor / Director · Topic: Food · Repeated from a previous year
Recommendation (the Board's words)
How can the Director ensure that standards during service at the serveries are consistently high - wearing of personal protective equipment (PPE) and ensuring equipment is working correctly)?
Response (as published)
There has been some improvement but there are still inconsistencies across the estate when PPE, for example, is not being worn. Equipment not being functional for weeks after being reported; as such, it is still a problem.
Addressee: Ministry of Justice · Topic: Resettlement · Repeated from a previous year
Recommendation (the Board's words)
Of the 91 IPP prisoners at HMP Oakwood, 71 are on recall (77%). Given that the majority are ten or more years over their original tariff, will extra funding be given to the Probation Service to prioritise reducing this recall percentage for IPP prisoners?
Response (as published)
The number of IPP prisoners remains high at HMP Oakwood and the proportion of those on recall has continued to be around 75%.
Addressee: Ministry of Justice · Topic: Equality
Recommendation (the Board's words)
There is only one Neurodiversity Coordinator (appointed by the Ministry of Justice) to each prison in England, including HMP Oakwood, irrespective of its population and need. HMP Oakwood’s neurodiversity coordinator currently estimates that it has 900 neurodiverse prisoners (40%). Can the Minister review the neurodiversity funding for individual prisons to support their specific needs and size of population?
Addressee: HMPPS · Topic: Safety
Recommendation (the Board's words)
Although the IMB receives the Prisons and Probation Ombudsman PPO final report on deaths in custody, it no longer receives the clinical review which previously came as an annex to the report. Is it possible to allow access to such reports again?
Addressee: Governor / Director · Topic: Complaints
Recommendation (the Board's words)
Can the Director work with the Development and Assurance (D & A) department to address the issue of the availability of prison complaint forms on the houseblocks?
Addressee: Governor / Director · Topic: Healthcare
Recommendation (the Board's words)
Can the Director work with health champions and members of the HAS Line, a prisoner-led initiative which works with Healthcare, to address the issue of the availability of health complaint forms on the houseblocks?
Addressee: Governor / Director · Topic: Complaints
Recommendation (the Board's words)
30% of the complaints received were converted to three-day requests this reporting year. Can the Director ensure that that this proportion of conversions can be justified and that the process is demonstrated to be transparent for prisoners?
Addressee: Governor / Director · Topic: Regime
Recommendation (the Board's words)
Can the Director review again whether there are sufficient resources to manage the internal movement of property?
Addressee: Governor / Director · Topic: Equality
Recommendation (the Board's words)
Can the Director work with the chaplaincy to facilitate a Rabbi joining their team?
Addressee: Governor / Director · Topic: Other
Recommendation (the Board's words)
Can the Director facilitate the installation of IMB information noticeboards in the admissions area and on the induction wings to further inform and promote the work of the IMB?