Berwyn

Response
I share the Board’s continued concerns about specialist settings for prisoners with mental health issues and personality disorders. It is recognised that vulnerable prisoners, who meet the threshold for detention under the Mental Health Act and require a transfer to a mental health hospital, do experience delays in accessing the specialist care and treatment they need with waits in segregated conditions. I’m informed that delays are rare with the transfers to the local medium secure unit in North Wales but can be more challenging when referring to the secure units in England and it is clear that more work needs to be done to ensure that secure hospital beds are made available as quickly as possible. There is a role for the Government on this and we at the Ministry of Justice are working with the Department of Health and Social Care to introduce a Mental Health Bill as soon as possible. This will include a range of reforms to support people suffering severe mental illness in the criminal justice system and improve the access to specialist inpatient treatment to provide those affected with the timely care they need.

Response
HMPPS recognises and does not underestimate the challenges that are presented by those prisoners with mental health issues. All prisoners are seen by mental health professionals on a regular basis and information is shared with operational colleagues where necessary to assist with their daily management. NHS Wales continues to develop new services to meet the needs of the population at HMP Berwyn, which is informed by a commissioned health needs assessment that is carried out every three years. Completion of mental health awareness training is already mandated as part of the suicide and self-harm course for all operational staff, including those who may then go on to work in segregation units. A selection process takes place for Prison Officers to work in Ogwen at HMP Berwyn to ensure that they have the required skills for the role and have the ability to support prisoners with a variety of complex needs. HMPPS has also issued a learning guide, highlighting promising practice within segregation. This provides information on staff upskilling and signposting to mental health training and resources. In addition, the segregation policy framework is currently under review and ongoing areas for development will continue to be considered.

Response
As the Board will be aware the prison estate has been under severe capacity pressure and HMPPS had to take decisive action to quickly increase capacity in the existing estate. This involved many decisions around required maintenance and refurbishment across the estate, including the paint work programme at HMP Berwyn. It is recognised that there are cells that remain below the standards expected because they could not be remedied before having to be brought back in to use. In the interim the prison has been continuing to make progress to address this when space allows but it is acknowledged this has been at a much slower pace than the original programme. To also help alleviate the pressure on prison places, on 12 July 2024, the Secretary of State announced temporary changes to reduce the time those prisoners that are sentenced to Standard Determinate Sentences serve in prison from 50% to 40% of that sentence. HMPPS will assess the impact of these measures on the prison population, which may lead to an expansion of maintenance and refurbishment commitments across the prison estate.