Key concerns 36 items
Key concerns were extracted from the report text by an AI model.
Key concern 1
Mental Health · Repeated from a previous year
Prisoners with severe mental health issues or learning difficulties are still being held in custody.
Key concern 2
Regime/Time Out of Cell
A realistic minimum rate for prisoners’ pay under Prison Service Order (PSO) 4460 has not been set, leading to extreme financial hardship and poverty.
Key concern 3
Segregation · Repeated from a previous year
When will the new policy framework relating to prisoners detained in segregation be published? Our concerns were raised in the 2021-2022 and 2022-2023 reports. The Board was told that the new policy framework was expected to be issued in May 2023, then in December 2023.
Key concern 4
Estate/Conditions
Will the Prison Service please advise when there will be a full overhaul of the boilers and heating systems in HMP Norwich? During the winter, the boilers broke down on several occasions. Despite efforts made by the staff, prisoners were left without heating in their cells for days at a time. As temperatures fell below zero, the Board finds it unacceptable for prisoners to live in these conditions, which involved them wearing two layers of clothing to keep warm at night.
Key concern 5
Estate/Conditions · Repeated from a previous year
The segregation unit is not up to standard and requires improvement and expansion given the expansion of HMP Norwich in 2025.
Key concern 6
Regime/Time Out of Cell · Repeated from a previous year
There are no adequate local laundry facilities in HMP Norwich, and the external laundry (HMP Whitemoor) is inadequate.
Key concern 7
Complaints/Property · Repeated from a previous year
There are problems with the circulation and comprehension of communications released to prisoners, especially Governor’s notices to prisoners (GNTP).
Key concern 8
Regime/Time Out of Cell · Repeated from a previous year
There is a lack of prompt repair/replacement of wing washing machines and driers.
Key concern 9
Equality/Diversity · Repeated from a previous year
Prisoners with disabilities and older prisoners do not have the same access to jobs, education and gym, and adjustments are not made to meet their needs.
Key concern 10
Safety · Repeated from a previous year
The Board still has concerns about ACCT documents and would like to see further improvements in the management of the ACCT process and completion of documents by staff.
Key concern 11
Other · Repeated from a previous year
The Board has highlighted the issue of safeguarding prisoners’ property when they are moved around the prison estate, but with little change. How does the Governor propose to improve processes so that property does not get lost?
Key concern 12
Segregation · Repeated from a previous year
Prisoners are behaving in such a way so they are held in the segregation unit for longer periods, with the unit now appearing to be a destination of choice for some prisoners.
Key concern 13
Estate/Conditions · Repeated from a previous year
Dilapidated buildings with leaking roofs, broken heating, faulty lighting and washing machine failures have continued to undermine efforts for safety and reform.
Key concern 14
Safety
Statistics show HMP/YOI Norwich as having a medium-to-high rate of violence against comparator prisons. Prisoner-on-prisoner assaults are too frequent and gang-related assaults continue to be a concern.
Key concern 15
Safety
Concerns exist over the safety of housing vulnerable prisoners on landings near non-vulnerable prisoners.
Key concern 16
Mental Health · Repeated from a previous year
Levels of self-harm in the prison population remain high, and the mental health team is overstretched.
Key concern 17
Safety
Prisoners continue to report that it takes a long time for staff to respond to cell bells.
Key concern 18
Estate/Conditions
Norwich is one of the few prisons that does not have access to safety cells (which are designed to make suicide or self-harm as difficult as possible). Funding was allocated by Ministry of Justice (MoJ) on two occasions, but was subsequently withdrawn.
Key concern 19
Equality/Diversity
Prisoners report that the language line (The Big Word) is available but is not consistently used, which results in foreign national prisoners being taken to first night cells in a confused and uninformed state.
Key concern 20
Estate/Conditions · Repeated from a previous year
Prisoners are still reporting that they arrive in their cells on the first night to find items missing, or cells dirty and barely habitable.
Key concern 21
Safety
Violence in the prison has continued at a high level due to an increased number of gang members involved in county lines drug dealing.
Key concern 22
Substance Misuse
Illicit mobile phones, SIM cards and phone chargers continue to be found on a regular basis.
Key concern 23
Substance Misuse
Large amounts of drugs remain available within the prison, and Mandatory Drug Testing (MDT) has still not been restarted, reducing the ability to prove suspicions.
Key concern 24
Food/Catering · Repeated from a previous year
Serveries on A, B and C wings are still not being monitored appropriately by staff, resulting in the uneven distribution of food.
Key concern 25
Mental Health · Repeated from a previous year
As stated in the last two annual reports: ‘The Board is concerned that prisoners with mental health issues continue to be held in the segregation unit, as there is no other suitable place of safety should they be violent and disruptive.’ Prisoners due to be sectioned under the Mental Health Act were also held there for some time, as there were delays in them being sectioned.
Key concern 26
Regime/Time Out of Cell
The key worker process in HMP/YOI Norwich has not functioned as it should. Only 47% of prisoners who responded to the 2023-2024 questionnaire knew who their key workers were and, of those, only 39% had spoken to them within the last 14 days.
Key concern 27
Equality/Diversity
Prisoners with disabilities who are unable to work, or prisoners who are of pensionable age, are locked up during the day. The Board considers this to be inappropriate.
Key concern 28
Equality/Diversity
Some prisoners with mobility issues are housed in inappropriate accommodation, making it difficult to access showers and serveries, compounded by non-functioning lifts.
Key concern 29
Healthcare · Repeated from a previous year
The Healthcare Centre remains without a shower accessible to prisoners with disabilities, an issue reported in many previous annual reports and considered a breach of the Equality Act 2010.
Key concern 30
Regime/Time Out of Cell
Prisoners on remand and those who are unsentenced are still being told to work or face having their incentives status downgraded, which is in breach of PSOs.
Key concern 31
Healthcare
There are large numbers of lost appointments with healthcare professionals due to the lack of availability of officers to escort prisoners to their appointment within the prison and external facilities.
Key concern 32
Equality/Diversity
The location of the centralised library on the top floor of the education block prevents those with mobility issues from accessing its facilities easily.
Key concern 33
Education/Purposeful Activity
The drop in wages for the majority of prisoners has had an impact on their willingness to work or attend education.
Key concern 34
Resettlement/Release · Repeated from a previous year
There is no provision for offending behaviour programmes at HMP/YOI Norwich, particularly for long-term sentenced prisoners.
Key concern 35
Regime/Time Out of Cell · Repeated from a previous year
There are still problems in providing prisoners with PIN numbers (which allow prisoners to make phone calls to family). This particularly impacts those who are in prison for the first time. Prisoners report that PIN numbers can take up to 14 days to be organised for new arrivals on A wing. This issue was also noted in last year’s annual report.
Key concern 36
Other
Prisoners continue to report that they were very upset by the poor-quality photocopying of their mail, particularly with children’s paintings and drawings. Also, there is often a delay in receiving the mail.