Humber

The Board would like to ask the Minister when sufficient resources will be made available to the establishment to ensure this work can continue and be developed.

Over the next twelve months, HMPPS will review whether HMP Humber’s population is appropriate and whether the resources available are sufficient to deliver the outcomes needed. The Ready for Release Wing is scheduled to be open and operational later this autumn. This wing will work with a cohort of prisoners in the last twelve weeks of their sentence and will be provided with an increase in staff resourcing to deliver resettlement services.

The Board repeats this view: that forcing men to share cell accommodation designed for single occupancy and which contains toilet and washing facilities with little or no privacy is neither decent nor fair. The requirement to insist on such use reflects poorly on HMPPS.

HMPPS appreciates the Board’s ongoing concerns around cell sharing. HMPPS’ cell certification framework requires that cells are only shared where a Prison Group Director has assessed them to be of adequate size and condition. There are other standards set out in the framework, including adequate lighting, heating, ventilation, fittings, and access to water and sanitation. These standards ensure that prisoners are accommodated safely even when held in crowded conditions.
The Board will be aware from last year’s response that HMPPS is delivering 20,000 additional modern uncrowded prison places, the largest prison build programme since the Victorian era. We have already delivered 6,000 places including through our two new 1,700-place prisons, HMP Five Wells and HMP Fosse Way. We are also investing in our prisons to make them safer for both prisoners and staff by taking a preventative approach to safety, making key changes to the physical environment and testing new technology. We will continue to invest in critical prison maintenance and renewal to ensure that we keep as much capacity as possible in use and fit for purpose. These measures will have a positive impact on lowering the proportion of crowding within the prison estate by providing accommodation that is safe, decent and uncrowded. The extent to which the proportion of prisoners held in crowded accommodation can be reduced will always be dependent on levels of demand in the system. Our number one priority is protecting the public and cutting crime by taking dangerous criminals off the streets. We can only do this by always ensuring we have sufficient prison places to serve the courts.

The Board would ask HMPPS do more to improve the situation and acknowledge the importance of their property to prisoners who have been deprived of their liberty.

HMPPS recognises the Board’s continued concerns about prisoners’ property following a transfer between establishments. The emphasis must remain on prisoners complying with volumetric control limits, since any property within these limits will be transferred with them. This includes items which are exempt from volumetric control, such as legal papers. It is not possible to transfer all excess property with a prisoner which they might have accrued above these limits. There has been a requirement since the introduction of the Prisoners’ Property Policy Framework for prisons to transfer any excess items within four weeks. Previously, there was no time limit in place. HMPPS is aware of the problems around property and continues to look at what further can be done.

The Board would commend staff for the care they have given in cases during the reporting year, but feel it is an unreasonable demand on them and would ask the Prison Service to take all necessary steps to ensure such transfers are expedited.

NHS England is responsible for mental health transfers and does not consider prisons as a designated place of safety. Whenever an individual who requires transfer to a secure mental health bed is identified, NHS England and their providers work proactively with the prison governor to expedite a transfer to a more appropriate hospital location as quickly as possible. There is a facility within HMP Hull, the Wellbeing Unit, where prisoners who may require more therapeutic support whilst awaiting a secure inpatient bed can be temporarily transferred to if considered appropriate and this facility has been a positive intervention for prisoners from HMP Humber. NHS England performance metrics indicate that HMP Humber has not experienced delays in transfer in the last five months. Training is available for staff and if a care management plan is required, this would be facilitated pending transfer to a secure unit.

The Board acknowledges the 12 key concerns identified by HMIP in its recent report and agrees they should be progressed during the coming reporting year, subject to the necessary resources being available. The Board will endeavour to structure its monitoring to reflect these concerns and the progress made in addressing them.

The Board, in particular, hopes that the key worker scheme will return to the quality and effectiveness we identified prior to the Covid pandemic. The Board acknowledges the difficulties caused by the regular turnover of prisoners but firmly believes an effective key worker programme is vital for a safe and effective establishment.