Source · IMB Annual Report
Brixton
Year: 2023
Published: 15 Nov 2024
Type: Prison · Cat C resettlement
Population: 759
Recommendations: 2
Key concerns
Positive findings
HMP Brixton, a Category C resettlement prison, experienced significant overcrowding, housing 759 prisoners against an operational capacity of 798. While healthcare saw improvements with reduced waiting times and a new care model, core issues like inadequate accommodation, persistent vermin, and high levels of contraband remain. The Board also highlighted severe limitations in purposeful activity and education, exacerbated by overcrowding, hindering the prison's resettlement function.
Safety statistics
| Indicator | This year | Previous |
|---|---|---|
| Deaths in custody | 2 | — |
| Use of force | 192 | 216 |
Positive findings
The Board noted significant improvements in healthcare, with reduced waiting times and the successful introduction of a new model of care. The prison kitchen consistently provides excellent meals, and the employment hub effectively supports men preparing for release. Staff-prisoner relationships and communication have improved, and the scrutiny of use of force is much better.
Key concerns
Overcrowding
Repeated
Overcrowding at HMP Brixton resulted in the establishment accommodating general population prisoners on the vulnerable prisoners’ wing, which necessitated restricting the regime of both groups of prisoners.
Mental Health
The prison lacks the facilities to adequately support persistent self-harmers, while the ability to transfer them to appropriate facilities is severely limited.
Substance Misuse
Despite significant efforts, the prison seems unable to reduce the amount of contraband entering the establishment.
Estate/Conditions
Repeated
Prisoner accommodation continues to be inadequate, too small, too old and too dilapidated.
Regime/Time Out of Cell
The facilities for prisoners washing their own clothes continue to be inadequate.
Estate/Conditions
From the Board’s observations, vermin are a continuing and constant presence in the prison.
Complaints/Property
Repeated
Missing and lost property, particularly on transfer from other establishments, continue to be a major concern for prisoners.
Education/Purposeful Activity
Repeated
In the Board’s view, the number, range and standard of many educational and training opportunities is inadequate.
Overcrowding
Repeated
The prison cannot hope to fulfil its function as a resettlement prison while it accommodates around twice as many men than it can provide education, training and employment opportunities for. There are even fewer purposeful activities for men convicted of a sexual offence.
Estate/Conditions
Repeated
When will the Prison Service address the significant improvements in the infrastructure of the prison that have been needed for many years?
Healthcare
In the Boards’ view, supervision of the distribution of medication continues to be inconsistent.
Regime/Time Out of Cell
Too many prisoners wait for too long before being taken to first night accommodation.
Regime/Time Out of Cell
In November, prisoners reported that they had been waiting for four weeks for induction. In January, 202 men were waiting for induction, although this had fallen to 27 men by May.
Safety
In June, it was noted that a number of men on an assessment, care in custody and teamwork (ACCT) plan (used to support prisoners at risk of self-harm and suicide) had transferred to Brixton without their ACCT file being transferred at the same time.
Safety
Sometimes, ACCT documentation appeared to be incomplete, and some care plans did not address the issues identified.
Safety
In the early part of the reporting period, in particular, there were tensions arising from rival gangs being represented amongst the prison population, with very limited opportunities for separation.
Safety
Self-isolation on the wings seemed to be a response to debt.
Substance Misuse
The Board is concerned about prisoners suffering new psychoactive substances (NPS) attacks (such as convulsions, paralysis and extreme behaviour), as well as arise in throw-overs (where people from outside the prison throw parcels containing illicit items over the walls, to be picked up by prisoners) and attempts at passing illicit items during social visits
Substance Misuse
NPS continue to have a significant impact on the prison with, in some months, as many as 25 men being reported as under the influence of these drugs.
Estate/Conditions
The wing washing machines and driers are unreliable and breakdowns take a very long time to be rectified.
Regime/Time Out of Cell
There appear to have been shortages of clean bedding and towels.
Regime/Time Out of Cell
Basic items such a toilet rolls have, at times, been in very short supply on the wings, even when they have been available in the stores.
Segregation
One man was held in care and separation unit (CSU) for more than 42 days (the limit allowed without external authorisation) during the reporting period.
Regime/Time Out of Cell
In the Board’s view, communication with prisoners has improved but there are still too many last-minute changes in routines, and cancellations of regime.
Staffing
Key working entries on Nomis (the internal computer system) have, at times, been neither good in quality nor quantity; only 45% of detailed sessions took place in one week, that is, 220 men were not seen who should have been seen.
Equality/Diversity
In December, 50% of occasions in which force was used involved black prisoners, who made up only 30% of the prison population.
Equality/Diversity
Data identifying areas of disproportionality are collected, but the prison does not do enough analysis to understand why disproportionality occurs, or to address unequal treatment effectively.
Regime/Time Out of Cell
The scheme is perceived by both the men and staff to be more geared towards the punishment of poor behaviour rather than rewarding good behaviour.
Complaints/Property
In November, staff sickness led to a marked deterioration in the speed and quality of the responses to complaints.
Complaints/Property
Repeated
Complaints about property lost in moves between establishments remain at a very high level and take a very long time to resolve. This is due to the lack of urgency placed on these issues by the prisons that men have transferred from.
Complaints/Property
Moves to the CSU can cause property loss issues, especially with regard to shared cells.
Complaints/Property
The lack of consistency across the prison estate over what property the prisoners are allowed causes many of the issues.
Estate/Conditions
All therapeutic services, both in mental health and substance misuse, were challenged by a lack of space in which to work, especially on A wing.
Regime/Time Out of Cell
The healthcare unit also reported that their patients found the bi-weekly Wednesday lockdowns for prison staff training difficult to manage. This is because, with prisoners locked in their cells all day on staff training Wednesdays, there is reduced to access to medical appointments and dispensaries.
Healthcare
Appointment non-attendance (DNAs) for all areas of healthcare remained high throughout the reporting year, particularly for the GP and the dentist. Regime restrictions and inefficient officer escort arrangements contributed to delays and DNAs.
Healthcare
Repeated
Dispensing and the delivery of other healthcare services on G wing were badly affected in July and August, when population pressures meant both the general population and MCSO men had to be housed on the wing with two separate regimes.
Regime/Time Out of Cell
The regime on B wing, the induction wing, where men can often wait several weeks before getting a job or activity off the wing, was intentionally restricted to encourage men to move to other wings; the Board believes this was both unfair and inhumane.
Regime/Time Out of Cell
Self-isolators did not always get time out of their cells each day; and, when they did, it was not always for a full half-hour.
Substance Misuse
FT found their work intermittently undermined by illicit NPS use on the wing and, on a couple of occasions, unsuitable men being placed on the wing.
Education/Purposeful Activity
Repeated
Not enough education, skills and work opportunities are available to meet the needs of the prison population. Only a third of prisoners benefited from education or work leading to either a qualification or recognised skill training.
Education/Purposeful Activity
On arrival at the prison, more than half the prisoners were identified as having English and Math skills below the level required for most jobs. There were education places for only around one in ten of these prisoners.
Education/Purposeful Activity
Teaching in English and Maths does not support prisoners to develop their knowledge and skills at a rapid enough pace. Very few prisoners have taken accredited qualifications in these subjects.
Regime/Time Out of Cell
Punctuality is poor because of delays to unlocking. Attendance of prisoners at training and work sessions is too often disrupted by other prison activities, such as social visits and gym sessions.
Regime/Time Out of Cell
Too many activity places were not used.
Regime/Time Out of Cell
Repeated
The prison cannot offer work, education or training opportunities to more than two-thirds of the prison population, leaving many without purposeful activity or the scope to prepare positively for release.
Resettlement/Release
However, POM contacts outside these periods were inconsistent and prisoners report a lack of support.
Staffing
Some other prisoners complain of little contact with their key worker.
Resettlement/Release
Repeated
In December, 52 prisoners were waiting for a progressive move, and it was clear that some would be released before being given a transfer to an open prison.
Resettlement/Release
The early release scheme generated a significant amount of extra work for prison offender managers but resulted in few men leaving the prison early.
Regime/Time Out of Cell
There was a shortage of working in-cell phones for much of the reporting year. This was especially the case on the induction wing - B wing - and hard on men who had just arrived and often left their previous prison with little or no notice. The landing phones on C and D wings were also often out of action.
Overcrowding
Repeated
At the beginning of the reporting year, the prison was being sent men who did not match the profile, with some having very little time left to serve so giving the prison very limited opportunities to work towards resettlement.
Resettlement/Release
Repeated
Prisoners have a greater chance of being released into settled accommodation than in previous periods, but there was still a reliance on the emergency housing service. Very few prisoners were now discharged without accommodation, but too much accommodation was only temporary.
Resettlement/Release
In November, of the 18 community offender management offices in London, 15 were rated red, 2 amber and only 1 green for their staff in post, which had a direct impact on the potential for successful resettlement.
Recommendations
| # | Recommendation | Addressee | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |
The prison cannot hope to fulfil its function as a resettlement prison while it accommodates around twice as many men than it can provide education, training and employment opportunities for. There are even fewer purposeful activities for men convicted of a sexual offence. The Chief Inspector has repeated his previous comments that ‘a reduction in headcount and an increase in purposeful activity are prerequisites for the prison to provide decent living conditions and realise its potential as an effective London resettlement jail. Decisions on the future of G wing and how to address the unmet needs of its vulnerable prisoner population are also well overdue. Ultimately, as I stated previously, the prison can only be more successful if a substantial proportion of its prisoners are released temporarily outside the prison wall each day to work in the community’. How – and when – does the Minister plan to ensure that these changes are made in the foreseeable future?
Repeated
Response
I appreciate the concerns you have raised around current headcount, echoed by the Chief Inspector of Prisons. As you will be aware, our prisons, particularly the male estate, continue to face ongoing capacity challenges, most notably in the remand population which has increased by 70% since 2020. HM Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS) is therefore increasing the number of reception places in the areas facing the most significant challenges: North West, North East and London. As part of this process, HMP Brixton will become a reception prison from Spring 2025. Planning for implementing this change is now underway and there are no current plans to change the operational capacity of the prison. Decisions regarding the future role of G wing will be made as part of this planning process. With the pending re-roll, and the potential of having a 60% remand population and a 40% resettlement population, the focus for the remand population will be on inductions, functional skills and unitised provision as well as the introduction of English for Speakers of Other Language courses. An annual delivery plan for the prison education framework 6-month extension is currently being planned in line with this. The focus for the resettlement population will be on provision with employer links and job outcomes. The introduction of the new Employment Advisory Board and chair will allow the development of employer links further to support positive outcomes for prisoners, including those convicted of sexual offences. I am encouraged that HMP Brixton is currently in the process of bringing XO Barbers (through the charity Onwards & Upwards) and Hatch Digital into the prison who both deliver courses with employers linked through-the-gate. It is also still exploring release on temporary licence with a small number of prisoners. |
Ministry of Justice | In progress |
| 2 |
When will the Prison Service address the significant improvements in the infrastructure of the prison that have been needed for many years?
Repeated
Response
HMPPS has invested approximately £5.8 million at HMP Brixton on necessary upgrades to the CCTV system, installation of a new cell call system and for some repair works to secure the carpark perimeter and groundworks. HMPPS is continually reviewing investment across the estate and any further requests from the establishment will be considered, noting that demands for maintenance are much greater than the available funding. Therefore, once a bid for a project is received, HMPPS must prioritise works very carefully to make best use of that funding, focusing on risk to life and risk to capacity and decency. A plan of work is underway to improve cell conditions at HMP Brixton with new flooring and furniture and projects have been scoped to improve the wider infrastructure. This includes high level painting, lighting improvements, control room and back gate working environments, and funding to build a new recycling workshop. A new weekly meeting has commenced to ensure prioritisation of facilities management and to monitor progression of works. The planned re-role of HMP Brixton to a Category B reception prison will require extensive work but scoping of this is still in progress. |
HMPPS | In progress |
Applications to the IMB
| Category | Current | Previous |
|---|---|---|
| Accommodation, including laundry, clothing, ablutions | 31 | 27 |
| Canteen, facility list, catalogues | 15 | 9 |
| Discipline, including adjudications, incentives scheme, sanctions | 29 | 14 |
| Equality | 11 | 6 |
| Finance, including pay, private monies, spends | 15 | 21 |
| Food and kitchens | 5 | 8 |
| Health, including physical, mental, social care | 40 | 85 |
| Letters, visits, telephones, public protection, restrictions | 19 | 17 |
| Property during transfer or in another facility | 34 | 47 |
| Property within the establishment | 29 | 17 |
| Purposeful activity, including education, work, training, time out of cell | 14 | 20 |
| Sentence management, including HDC (home detention curfew), ROTL (release on temporary licence), parole, release dates, recategorisation | 19 | 30 |
| Sentence Planning | 5 | 5 |
| Sentence related other | 15 | 33 |
| Staff/prisoner concerns, including bullying | 150 | 107 |
| Transfers | 7 | 16 |
Related inspections & investigations
3 Mar 2025
HMIP · IRP
4 Jun 2024
HMIP · Unannounced
Safety 2
· Respect 2
· Activity 1
· Release 1
Other reports for Brixton
Report details
- Establishment
- Brixton
- Type
- Prison · Cat C resettlement
- Report year
- 2023
- Published
- 15 November 2024
- Responsible body
- HMP Brixton
- Recommendations
- 2
- MoJ rating (2024/25)
- 1 — Serious concern
Population
| Population | 759 |
| Operational capacity | 798 |
| CNA (designed for) | 528 144% |
Service providers
Accommodation Services
St Mungo’s
Catering/Training
The Clink Restaurant
Education
Novus
Employment/Benefits
Jobcentre Plus (JCP)
Employment/Training IAG
Prospects, part of the Shaw Trust
Facilities Management
Mitie
Family Services
Prison Advice and Care Trust (Pact)
Healthcare
Practice Plus Group (PPG)
Media
National Prison Radio
Mental Health
Barnet, Enfield and Haringey Mental Health NHS Trust (BEH)
Offender Management
Probation Service (PS)
Substance Misuse
Forward Trust (FT)