Safety
The additional investment required to improve safety and security measures during 2022-2023 was agreed and actioned during 2024. However, measures taken have not been able to fully address the ever-increasing drone activity delivering drugs and illicit items, frequently arriving directly to prisoners at their cell windows.
Substance Misuse
There are major concerns that access to drugs is too easy. This is confirmed by random drug tests, where one-third of these tests prove positive.
Safety
Alarmingly, there has been an approximate 45% increase in violence, with many more serious assaults.
Regime/Time Out of Cell
Repeated
There have been regular changes to the regime, with prisoners having to be locked up unexpectedly due to staff sickness and absence of officers because of injuries. Sudden changes in regime on the day cause unrest and discontent when it happens, heightening risk to everyone in the prison.
Mental Health
Repeated
The CSU frequently houses prisoners who have severe mental health issues and/or severe personality disorders. These individuals are generally being held there for unacceptably longer periods than they should be. Many segregated prisoners are not able to be moved to alternative suitable accommodation, either in this prison or to specialist units or hospitals elsewhere.
Staffing
Repeated
Key work is not being applied consistently across the prison, mainly due to officers being re-deployed elsewhere from their own work to cover for staff who are not available, due to sickness or other causes.
Regime/Time Out of Cell
Repeated
It is unhealthy and unhelpful for prisoners to be confined in their cells for excessive periods of time. This requires urgent attention by maintaining an effective regime with sufficient good-quality work and employment for prisoners, as well as domestic time out of cell.
Other
Repeated
Major problems continue regarding the progression of property from sending prisons and then from the gate and the dedicated search team (DST) to reception. This frequently means that a prisoner is required to wait three weeks or more for his property, or perhaps months for catalogue purchases. Causes include the unwillingness of transporting companies to carry all prisoners’ property, compounding staffing problems within the prison.
Mental Health
The mental health team is frequently overburdened. The workload is such that it has been difficult for healthcare staff to have the time to attend essential segregation reviews.
Healthcare
The numbers of prisoners requiring medication is increasing and managing that demand was problematic during the year, resulting in a significant increase in the Board receiving healthcare applications.
Overcrowding
Progression to move prisoners from Garth to a Category C prison was almost at a standstill during winter and spring, due mainly to the national overcrowding problem.
Staffing
Due to continuing staff shortages library, workshops and education have been forced to reduce hours.
Staffing
Repeated
The whole policy and process of staff recruitment needs to be reviewed and revised as a matter of urgency, because many of the operational problems within the prison derive from the inadequacies of the current process.
Other
Repeated
The ongoing scandal of Imprisonment for Public Protection (IPP) needs to be finally resolved.
Safety
A recent unannounced inspection by HMIP reported that this prison was “of real concern” and “unsafe”, with a 45% increase in violence.
Staffing
Repeated
Statistics suggest that staff turnover has been too high, particularly with uniformed staff leaving. The whole process of recruitment and retention needs to be addressed with the Governor and senior management being included in the process and able to determine suitability of individual applicants for this prison.
Complaints/Property
Applications containing complaints about staff have increased by 47%. Work is required by the prison to establish the cause of this rise and put in place any necessary remedial steps.
Estate/Conditions
Repeated
Many areas of the prison have been deteriorating badly with little or no remedial work being done. For six or seven years, flat roofs of the prison have developed leaks, particularly above the main secure corridor.
Estate/Conditions
Repeated
Applications were received from prisoners complaining about the poor ventilation which is a particular problem in the summer if they are locked in cells for up to 23 hours a day.
Estate/Conditions
Earlier in the year all the showers were assessed and found to be in poor condition and therefore in need of upgrading, but funding is unavailable, and the Governor had to find more creative means to gradually improve the situation (the quote from Amey, who run the works department, was deemed excessively high).
Food/Catering
The catering department receives a budget of £3.01 per day per prisoner to provide three meals: breakfast, a hot lunchtime meal, and a cold evening snack meal. This department has experienced frequent equipment failures, such as refrigerators and ovens requiring repair or replacement.
Healthcare
Repeated
For many years the Board has raised the issue of the very poor waiting facilities for prisoners in the healthcare department of the prison. It is a railed and gated area with poor quality seating and there is no toilet available.