Substance Misuse
The level of illicit items and drugs entering the prison and the number of prisoners appearing to be under the influence of known and unknown substances.
Safety
The Board has been concerned about the increase in assaults during the reporting year. Incidents of violence occurring by prisoners on staff increased from nine (2023) to 40 (2024) and of these, three serious assaults were recorded (paragraph 4.3.2).
Estate/Conditions
One cell in the segregation unit has been out of action for most of the reporting year due to delays in getting replacement parts for the door.
Estate/Conditions
Repeated
The failing central heating and hot water system across the estate continues to be unacceptable, having been reported in the last five Board annual reports.
Estate/Conditions
The new kitchen opened during 2023. However, the kitchen is not functioning as intended, which means the prison is not benefiting in full from the money that was spent. The contractors who put the kitchen in are no longer in business and any warranties that existed expired in July 2024 (paragraph 5.1.5).
Staffing
Fortnightly key working is only achieved approximately 50% of the time.
Complaints/Property
Repeated
As reported each year and again in 2024, there continue to be problems associated with property coming into Huntercombe. In reference to complaints that involve lost property in transit or during transfer, the Board once again points to the lack of volumetric control that exists when prisoners are transferred between prisons, meaning that the system is simply overloaded. This was referenced in the annex, in the Minister’s response to the Board annual report in 2022. Two years later, the Board sees little evidence that this has made any difference at all. The current unreliable handwritten property cards are an example of part of a system that does not help easy resolution of problems and needs changing (paragraph 5.8.1, 5.8.2, 5.8.3, 5.8.4, 5.8.5).
Healthcare
Repeated
The Board reported in 2022 and in 2023 that part of the healthcare building was not fit for purpose. By the end of this reporting year, it is still not ready for occupation. Staff have had to reduce the amount of care that can be provided during the construction period (paragraph 6.1.4).
Mental Health
The Board is pleased to note that staffing in both general healthcare and in mental healthcare has improved considerably this year. This has resulted in a lack of space to undertake clinical care, particularly in mental health care, which requires confidential space. This is something that the Board is very concerned about (paragraph 6.1.9, 6.2.1 and 6.2.2).
Mental Health
Repeated
Delayed mental health transfers were raised by the Board in the 2023 annual report and continue to breach the target 28-day timeframe.
Resettlement/Release
Limited opportunities for men to undertake programmes to prepare for their release or undertake release on temporary license (ROTL).
Resettlement/Release
Repeated
The Offender Management Unit (OMU) has again been working under extreme pressure due to changes in sentence calculation across the service, a concern reported in 2023.
Resettlement/Release
10 The OMU at Huntercombe have subsequently uncovered several cases where earlier errors had been made and have then had to rescind an annex C and replace it with an annex D, meaning that the prisoner is no longer eligible for deportation. This causes a few frustrations for both the prisoner concerned and an unnecessary increase in the workload of the staff in the OMU at Huntercombe.