Isis

Violence in the prison increased markedly this year, with a 31% increase in prisoner-on-prisoner assaults and a 66% increase in prisoner-on-staff assaults compared to 2022. There was an increase in self-harm compared with 2022, up from an average of 15 incidents per month to 21.

The general standard of cleanliness of the spurs continued to be of concern. In particular, serveries were often left overnight with dirty pans and remnants of food from the previous day. First-night cleanliness and condition of cells for new prisoners were often unacceptable.

There was a notable increase in the number of men held in the Segregation Unit. There is a lack of data available about the breakdown by prisoner protected characteristics making it difficult to monitor fairness. This extended to no systematic recording of the use of restricted regimes and separate regimes.

As the Board has stated in every annual report since 2018, prisoner property continued to be a problem, particularly property on transfer between prisons. The aim of the Prisoners’ Property Policy Framework, to improve the management of property, has not been met.

Staffing levels continue to impact many aspects of the prison regime, partly due to a high level of ineffective staff, i.e. staff who are unavailable for prison duties due to sickness or other reasons. This impacts prisoners’ access to training and education, healthcare and faith services.

The only HMPPS accredited programme run at HMP/YOI Isis is the Thinking Skills Programme (TSP) and prisoners must move to another prison if their sentence plan requires that they take other courses.

The windows in prisoners’ cells are still a problem even though a solution has been found. Only six cells had their windows renovated in 2023.

The Board remained concerned by the number of cell bells activated but not answered within five minutes. The cell bell answering system is complex and we were told that it does not lend itself to automated reporting.

The Board remains concerned that prisoners with serious mental health problems were held in the Segregation Unit, often whilst waiting for an appropriate transfer to a specialist hospital, as there is no in-patient facility in the prison.

There remains a backlog of OASys reports, estimated to be about 116 at the end of December 2023.

Recommendation 1 Repeated Prev. unaddressed

As the Board has said in every annual report since 2018, prisoner property continues to be a problem, particularly property on transfer between prisons. The aim of the Prisoners’ Property Policy Framework is to improve the management of property, but this has not been met. The manual, paper-based system is error-prone and inefficient. It relies on the manual recording of tags on prisoner property bags and handwritten property cards, which are sometimes illegible, incomplete and inaccurate. Will the minister allocate funding to digitise the system?

Ministry of Justice Regime

Recommendation 2 Repeated Prev. unaddressed

Staffing levels continue to impact many aspects of the prison regime, partly due to a high level of ineffective staff, i.e. staff who are unavailable for prison duties due to sickness or other reasons. This impacts prisoners’ access to training and education, healthcare and faith services. Will the minister increase the prison’s headcount buffer for ineffective staff to allow the regime to be fully resourced?

Ministry of Justice Staffing

Recommendation 3 Repeated Prev. unaddressed

Loss of prisoner property continues to be a problem, and the Prisoner Property Policy Framework has not improved this. How will the Prison Service improve processes and technology to ensure that prisoners’ property is not lost?

HMPPS Regime

Recommendation 4 Repeated Prev. unaddressed

Since at least 2014, the Board has drawn attention to the need for prisons receiving prisoners from the courts to complete an initial sentence plan (OASys) before onward transfer. The current system is clearly not working. How will the Prison Service address this and ensure that every prisoner on arrival at HMP/YOI Isis comes with a sentence plan that will enable him to begin the process of rehabilitation?

HMPPS Resettlement

Recommendation 5 Repeated Prev. unaddressed

The windows in prisoners’ cells are still a problem even though a solution has been found. Only six cells had their windows renovated in 2023. Can the Prison Service assure us that that the remaining windows will be fixed in 2024?

HMPPS Estate

Recommendation 6 Prev. unaddressed

The only HMPPS accredited programme run at HMP/YOI Isis is the Thinking Skills Programme (TSP) and prisoners must move to another prison if their sentence plan requires that they take other courses. Can the Prison Service authorise and facilitate the running of a wider range of accredited programmes at HMP/YOI Isis?

HMPPS Education

Recommendation 7

Can the Governor ensure that data regarding separate and restricted regimes is collated and analysed to provide a better understanding of these regimes’ use and impact?

Governor / Director Regime

Recommendation 8 Repeated Prev. unaddressed

How will the Governor monitor, analyse and report on prisoners’ time out of cell and engagement in purposeful activities?

Governor / Director Regime

Recommendation 9 Repeated Prev. unaddressed

Can the Governor ensure that processes for making sure that cell bells are answered in the specified times are followed and monitored?

Governor / Director Safety

Recommendation 10

Will the Governor ensure that the regime allows sufficient time at the end of the day to allow cleaners to properly clean the serveries and remove any uneaten food?

Governor / Director Regime