Key concern 1
The Board remains concerned about the availability of mental health support for prisoners and the delay in identifying appropriate placements for prisoners with serious mental health conditions.
Independent Monitoring Boards annual report
Northumberland
Report year 2023
Published 5 Jul 2024
Type Prison, category C
Population 1,339
Responsible body HMP Northumberland
The summary and positive findings below were written from the report by an AI model. The Board's own wording is in the report linked above.
Summary
Summary written by this site (AI-generated)HMP Northumberland, a category C prison, is generally assessed as safe, despite a slight increase in violent incidents and self-harm. Significant progress has been made in primary healthcare provision, staff-prisoner relationships, and a revised regime aims to boost purposeful activity. However, the Board holds severe and repeated concerns regarding the profound lack of appropriate mental health provision, leading to the inappropriate use of segregation for acutely unwell prisoners, alongside challenges with education attendance and property management.
Positive findings
Summary written by this site (AI-generated)The Board welcomes the new Director's ambitious plans for improvements in progression and resettlement, and is generally satisfied with the fair and humane treatment of prisoners. Significant advancements have been made in primary healthcare, with a full-time GP eliminating waiting lists and dental waiting times reduced, earning commendation for the healthcare team. There have also been investments in cell equipment, improved cleanliness, and effective strategies for reducing illicit items. Strong staff-prisoner relationships, good chaplaincy support, and valuable rehabilitation programmes like TSP, HORIZON, and NMS are noted positively.
Key concerns
- Key concern 1Mental Health
- Key concern 2Mental Health
- Key concern 3Staffing
Key concerns 12 items
Key concerns were extracted from the report text by an AI model.
Key concern 2
The Care and Separation Unit (CSU) is inappropriately used to house prisoners with severe mental health conditions, with some individuals remaining on Rule 45 beyond the maximum 42 days, causing significant deterioration and impacting untrained staff.
Key concern 3
3 Mental health The mental health team has been less successful in recruiting permanent staff, and it was only recently that an appointment was made to the service manager post; this has placed more pressure on other team members during the year, although as a Board we have noted the efforts they make to attend Rule 45 reviews, where their presence is sometimes vital.
Key concern 4
We have observed very low levels of attendance on main education delivery, with attendance frequently as low as 50 per cent. This, combined with very early closures to sessions, means a lot of lost learning time.
Key concern 5
A weakness of the curriculum delivery on both the main and VP estates is the opportunity to engage in the arts. There is an arts offer expertly delivered on the VP estate, but no opportunities for drama or music on a regular basis. Men across the prison have expressed an interest in these areas.
Key concern 6
We continue to deal with a number of prisoner applications (prisoners’ written representations to the IMB) relating to slow receipt of, or missing, property transferred in from other prisons. These make up around half of all property applications. The Board believes that liaison between prisons in respect of property transfer and dealing with subsequent prisoner complaints about lost property or requests for compensation could be improved.
Key concern 7
The capacity of the single qualified Special Educational Needs Co-ordinator (SENCO) is insufficient to service the needs of the growing prison population in the North of England, making effective identification and assessment of learning difficulties extremely challenging.
Key concern 8
There is also no service for men with a dual diagnosis, which could place them at high risk.
Key concern 9
The prison runs family days. The take up from the VP estate is low and the public protection unit has a backlog of applications from prisoners for social visits.
Key concern 10
The reception area feels cramped given the volume of new arrivals, and the Board is not convinced that the recent move of the early days in custody (EDiC) unit has led to improvements in the induction programme.
Key concern 11
The CSU has a programme of continual improvement. The prison has acknowledged that there is a problem with the showers and has made some improvements, but the extractor system is not powerful enough and damp remains an issue.
Key concern 12
The introduction of Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) on the curriculum is welcome. Current provision suggests that prisoners with English as a first language and those for whom English is not their first language are taught together. This arrangement is not ideal, although it is an improvement in that there is now a dedicated delivery for those who do not have English as first language. We intend to monitor this throughout the coming year.
Safety statistics
Incidents during the reporting year.
| Indicator | This year | Previous |
|---|---|---|
| Deaths in custody | 5 | not recorded |
| Self-harm incidents | 463 | not recorded |
| ACCT cases opened | 549 | not recorded |
| Prisoner assaults | 189 | not recorded |
Population
| Population | 1,339 |
| CNA (designed for) | 1,348 (99% occupied) |
| Time out of cell | 6.5h/day |
Applications to the IMB
| Category | Current | Previous |
|---|---|---|
| Accommodation, including laundry, clothing, ablutions | 2 | 5 |
| Canteen, facility list, catalogues | 4 | 4 |
| Discipline, including adjudications, incentives scheme, sanctions | 5 | 3 |
| Equality | 2 | 3 |
| Finance, including pay, private monies, spends | 7 | 7 |
| Food and kitchens | 2 | 5 |
| Health, including physical, mental, social care | 25 | 40 |
| Letters, visits, telephones, public protection, restrictions | 6 | 12 |
| Property during transfer or in another facility | 12 | 24 |
| Property within the establishment | 11 | 21 |
| Purposeful activity, including education, work, training, time out of cell | 8 | 15 |
| Sentence management, including HDC (home detention curfew), ROTL (release on temporary parole), release dates, re-categorisation | 15 | 19 |
| Staff/prisoner concerns, including bullying | 29 | 20 |
| Transfers | 6 | 21 |
Report details
- Establishment
- Northumberland
- Type
- Prison, category C
- Report year
- 2023
- Published
- 5 July 2024
- Responsible body
- HMP Northumberland
- MoJ rating (2025/26)
- 3, Good
Service providers
| Service | Provider |
|---|---|
| Education | Novus |
| Family Support | North East Prison After Care Society (NEPACS) |
| Healthcare | Spectrum |
| Management | Sodexo |
| Probation Services | Probation Service |