Recommendation 1
The IMB recommends that the YCS reconsiders the appropriateness of the ACCT format.
Source · IMB Annual Report
Wetherby
AI-generated report summary The IMB report for HMYOI Wetherby covers a year of accelerated change and leadership transition. The Board acknowledges some improvements, particularly in staff morale, healthcare provision, and initial efforts to improve the regime. However, significant concerns persist regarding violence, limited time out of cell, and a disappointing education provision. Staffing issues, including redeployment of specialist teams and high sickness, also remain a challenge alongside ongoing concerns about support for vulnerable young people.
Year: 2024
Published: 10 Jan 2025
Type: Prison · Cat YOI
Population: 150
Recommendations: 2
Key concerns
Positive findings
Safety statistics
| Indicator | This year | Previous |
|---|---|---|
| Deaths in custody | 0 | — |
| Self-harm incidents | 1,163 | — |
| ACCT cases opened | 220 | — |
| Assaults on staff | 24 | — |
| Use of force | 1,143 | — |
| Drug finds | 47 | — |
Positive findings
AI-generated summaryThe Board acknowledges the significant efforts made by the establishment to facilitate visits for young people with critically ill family members, commending this as exemplary. Healthcare provision offers reliable 24-hour cover, and staff morale appears to have improved since the previous year. The Board welcomes ongoing site investment, recent improvements to the regime on Keppel, and an increase in staff diversity. Additionally, the regular use of body-worn video cameras is increasing, and the Board commends the practice of re-using clothing for young people upon release.
Key concerns
violence continues to present a challenge, with young people carrying improvised weapons.
The Board is concerned about the number of injuries sustained by both young people and staff during restraints.
The absence of a predictable regime causes frustration and uncertainty for the young people. Lack of consistency and the persistent poor communication of information to them unfortunately exacerbated the situation.
The daily food allowance (DFA), although recently increased to £3.45 per person, is still, in the view of the Board, inadequate.
many areas, such as the Keppel unit, remain in need of refurbishment.
Lack of suitable rooms in which to see the young people on the wings, however, remains a problem. This impacts, in particular, on Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services’ (CAMHS) ability to deliver interventions.
Time out of room (TOOR) generally and, in particular, at weekends continues to be unacceptable. Separated young people remain in their rooms for up to 22 hours or more.
This has been a very disappointing year for the education department, with recruitment and retention of suitable staff the overriding factor.
Over 12,500 hours of education were lost due to cancellations, often poorly communicated to the young people, sometimes minutes before they were due to attend lessons.
The ever-increasing number of young people who are serving very long sentences presents an irrefutable challenge. They enter custody as teenagers and may be in their forties when released. How does the Minister plan to support this specific category of offender through their custodial journey?
What changes will the Minister make to the care system to reduce the disproportionate number of looked-after children in custody?
What decision, if any, has the Minister made regarding the provision for young women who require a secure setting?
At the end of our reporting year, there were 43 remanded young people at the establishment. Unfortunately, for legal reasons, they are apparently not able to access any interventions.
Local authorities frequently leave the provision of suitable accommodation until the very last minute. What can be done to improve the position?
Many of the procedures in the youth custodial setting appear to be based on the adult model. Has the time come to review the systems such as adjudications, assessment, care in custody and teamwork (ACCT) plans and good order or discipline (GOoD) reviews, to make them more relevant to young people?
The Board is concerned about the lack of communication, whether between or within departments.
How can you ensure that the staff required for interventions, such as conflict resolution, minimising and managing physical restraint (MMPR) or custody support plan (CuSP), will be available and not, as happens at present, frequently redeployed?
Numerous young people rely on social video calls to keep in contact with family and friends. They tell us that, due to lack of staff, the video call often does not last as long as scheduled.
Many agencies report that they struggle to see young people for wing-based interventions, due to the lack of suitable rooms.
Keppel, the unit has become increasingly unsettled.
The Board was very concerned at the lack of TOOR and the limited regime on Keppel, the only certainty being cancellations. With the lack of both teaching staff and officers available to facilitate the educational offer, day-to-day life was, in the Board’s view, bleak.
The Board remains of the opinion that the area used to hold the GOoD reviews is unsuitable. It offers little in the way of privacy and is frequently so busy, with people walking through to access other areas, that the young people who attend their reviews become distracted.
The rooms [on Benbow] are extremely small, grim and not fit for purpose.
racism continues although the situation is not getting worse.
Many young people are aware of the systems in place for reporting discrimination but seem to have little confidence in the process.
The delivery of a CuSP has been poor throughout the year, with disparity in the number of CuSP sessions undertaken by different units.
Young people complain that there is little difference between the gold and silver levels and there has been no addition to the gold level benefits in the reporting year.
C wing is the gold wing. However, there are insufficient places, which can be frustrating for those who are eligible to be housed there.
It is frustrating to see education staff, at times, in attendance on the unit, yet unable to gain access to the young people.
The Board receives countless applications from young people unhappy about the room temperature.
This reporting year, it has been an even greater problem [shortage of kit].
Property lost by the establishment in the laundry is not under the control of the young person.
The distribution of property to the young person on the wing is sometimes delayed, due to staffing shortages in reception.
Officers seemed to have lost confidence in their ability to use restraint effectively... combination of new and inexperienced officers, has perhaps been a contributing fact in the increased number of injuries.
Recommendations
Recommendation 2
The Board recommends that this is addressed as a matter of urgency.
Applications to the IMB
| Category | Current | Previous |
|---|---|---|
| Access to healthcare | 21 | 24 |
| Accommodation (including transfers) | 41 | 46 |
| Complaints | 6 | 7 |
| Food | 15 | 17 |
| General welfare | 33 | 37 |
| Legal | 19 | 21 |
| Other | 12 | 13 |
| Property | 9 | 10 |
| Remand/sentenced status | 3 | 3 |
| Rule 45/49 | 0 | 0 |
| Safety and wellbeing | 18 | 20 |
| Segregation | 5 | 6 |
| Staff care and behaviour | 27 | 29 |
| Total applications | 225 | 251 |
| Work/education/training | 16 | 18 |
Other reports for Wetherby
Population 119
· Self-harm 699
· Concerns
Population 168
· Concerns
Population 156
· Concerns
Population 164
· Self-harm 646
· Concerns
Population 197
· Concerns