Mr North — HMP Whitemoor

All assaults at HMP Whitemoor are immediately reported to the Orderly Officer and the majority, including all serious assaults, are then referred to the police. Prison managers are briefed on any assaults at the daily operational meeting. The prison has robust systems in place to ensure that incident reports, Mercury intelligence reports and injury to prisoner forms are completed following the incident. Every violent incident at HMP Whitemoor, including unexplained injuries, is the subject of a simple investigation by the custodial manager in charge of the respective area. The reports of these investigation are considered at the monthly Safer Custody meeting to identify learning. Wing managers and officers attend these meetings and provide feedback to staff in their respective functions. A weekly check of the residential units by the Safer Prisons Manager ensures compliance with these processes. Where the incident is particularly serious, or where the simple investigation identifies issues that require further exploration, the prison Governor will commission a further investigation in accordance with PSO 1300. Since the incident HMPPS has issued Prison Service Instruction (PSI) 15/2014 Investigations and learning following incidents of serious self-harm or serious assaults, which reinforces the requirement for prisons to conduct investigations in these circumstances.

HMP Whitemoor conducted a review of the effectiveness of the system for providing prisoners with access to razor blades. HMP Whitemoor manages prisoners’ access to razor blades according to the location of the prisoner: for example in the segregation unit prisoners are allowed razor blades in possession when in patrol state, and staff control the issuing of them on a one for one basis. In other areas of the prison, prisoners may be permitted two razors in possession at any time. HMP Whitemoor has also introduced enhanced searching to reduce the opportunity for bladed weapons to be carried out of the residential wings. At national level, HMPPS has instructed the Governors of all closed prisons to ensure that an appropriate local risk assessment has been conducted on the process for managing razor blades.

HMPPS issues Prison Service Instructions setting out the key features of operational policies. It is not possible or desirable for staff these to include detailed guidance on the completion of related documents, and Governors are required to ensure that staff are aware of their responsibilities in this regard. This is achieved through staff induction and training, for the most part delivered locally at establishments. At national level, the Prison Officer Entry Level Training (POELT) is provided to all new entrant prison officers and includes material on the writing of reports and the use of official documents including: Assessment, Care in Custody and Teamwork (ACCT) documents, used to manage those at risk of self-harm or suicide; adjudication forms, injury to prisoner forms; use of force forms, Mercury intelligence reports and corruption prevention reports, prisoner property records and Person Escort Records (PERs). HMP Whitemoor conducted a health check on the completion of F213s, gym observation books, segregation unit daily diary sheets, the recording of use of force in observation books, high security estate pre-transfer documents and control room logs for incidents. The completion of these documents continues to be reviewed through internal audit procedures. Since the incident HMPPS has issued PSI 35/2014 Records, archiving, retention and disposal, which provides a framework for prisons to ensure that: records are retained for the right length of time and regularly reviewed; the destruction of records is properly documented; and historical records are preserved and transferred to the appropriate repository. HMP Whitemoor now has an established document archive system. The processes in place are reviewed as part of the internal review procedure so the prison will identify any shortcomings and take remedial action. . A review of the central filing system for public correspondence was undertaken at HMP Whitemoor to ensure that it is clear which versions of letters are draft and which are final. No changes were identified to the already established processes for the business hub. However, it resulted in the arrangements for storing archived correspondence/documentation in the muniments store room being tightened up. New members of the business hub team are trained in public correspondence processes to ensure that they are aware of the importance of distinguishing between draft and final versions of letters. All managers have been reminded that the business hub holds copies of the official responses to all public correspondence, and that they should label their own files clearly to distinguish between draft and final versions. Routine reminders continue to be given at the morning operational meetings and at senior management team meetings.

Since the incident, HMPPS has issued PSI 9/2014 Incident Management, which clarifies the command structure during serious incidents and provides guidance on resolving serious incidents with the minimum risk of harm to staff, prisoners, visitors and the public. National Operations Unit provides contingency plan templates to establishments to use as a guide for formulating local contingency plans. These templates cover the issues identified, including scene and evidence preservation and police referrals. Both the PSI and the contingency plan templates are subject to continuous review, and prisons are required to review their local contingency plans as part of the debrief process following any serious incident.

A joint national protocol between NOMS (now HMPPS), the police and the CPS on the handling of crimes committed in prison was published in February 2015. It provides guidelines for joint working between prisons, police and the CPS to ensure that, wherever possible and appropriate, those who commit acts of violence or commit other serious crimes in prison are punished through the courts rather than by the internal prison disciplinary system. An inter-departmental Crime in Prison Board has been established to monitor the implementation of the protocol, to set priorities for further work and to commission the development of guidance to assist local police/prison/CPS in prioritising and managing crime in prison.

PSO 1700 Segregation provides that a prisoner will be returned to normal location on the basis of a decision by a segregation board which will determine whether the prisoner can go directly to normal location, whether there should be a phased return to normal location or whether the prisoner should transfer from segregation to a High Supervision Unit. Revised guidance on the review and authorisation of segregation was issued in September 2015 in response to the findings of a Supreme Court Judgment. This recommendation will be considered as part of a comprehensive review of segregation policy which commenced in late 2017.

HMPPS, with the support of the Crime in Prison Board, is reviewing internal policies and processes for preserving evidence. This includes working closely with other parts of the criminal justice system to develop better training for our staff who are collecting evidence.

An exercise is under way to provide costings for appropriately sized notebooks, with a view to providing them or all establishments.

Informing the IMB is part of the contingency plan for all serious incidents at HMP Whitemoor. The contingency plans have all been reviewed since the incident in 2008 and continue to be reviewed on a regular basis.

The role of Independent Monitoring Boards is to monitor the day- to-day life in their local prison or removal centre and ensure that proper standards of care and decency are maintained. Visiting prisoners whilst they are temporarily resident in external settings, such as hospitals, is not within the legislative remit of IMBs.