Prison
Cat Women's Closed, YOI, Training & Resettlement
Key Concerns Identified
Positive Findings
Drake Hall
IMB Annual Report 2023 · Published 9 April 2024
Drake Hall continues to provide a largely safe and humane environment, with commendable support for vulnerable women and effective management of challenging behaviours, although self-harm and violence have increased. Key concerns persist regarding the poor condition of Richmond and Plymouth houses, systemic issues with property, and healthcare resources being outstripped by the increasing complexity of the population's needs. The Board also highlights issues around staffing, regime restrictions, and the halting of planned capacity improvements.
Positive Findings
The Board believes the prison generally provides a safe, calm, and well-structured environment. Support for women who self-harm is multidisciplinary and trauma-informed. Interactions between staff and women are often positive, professional, and compassionate. The Hamlet project and use of therapy dogs are welcome initiatives. Healthcare provision includes areas of good practice like a perinatal pathway and health promotion events. The response by prison management and healthcare staff to the pandemic, and ongoing work to keep women safe, has been outstanding.
Key Concerns
Estate/Conditions
Repeated
The poor and dilapidated condition of Richmond and Plymouth houses, which has been a concern since 1999, remains unresolved and the facilities are considered unfit for human habitation.
Safety
A significant increase in self-harm incidents, particularly involving a small number of women who put themselves at serious risk, and an increase in overall acts of violence.
Safety
The continuing arrival of many women with complex needs and challenging behaviour, which is difficult to manage in a relatively open environment with limited cellular accommodation.
Overcrowding
Population pressures and rapid turnover, with many women arriving on short sentences or with limited time to serve, destabilise the prison and challenge its rehabilitative ethos.
Other
Repeated
Property delayed or lost on transfer remains a significant, systemic problem across the Prison Service, causing unnecessary distress to women and often leaving items lost forever.
Healthcare
The increasing level of healthcare needs in the population now outstrips the available resources, particularly for medical appointments and prescribing.
Regime/Time Out of Cell
Problems in completing the roll call have impacted healthcare provision, leading to delays in commencing the regime and cancellation of appointments.
Estate/Conditions
Plans for a major capital programme to increase the prison’s operational capacity and expand its function to include remand, resettlement, and open facilities have been put on hold, despite current pressures within the women's estate.
Resettlement/Release
Repeated
Increasing numbers of women are transferred shortly before their release date, making it impossible to adequately prepare them for release.
Staffing
Concerns regarding inconsistent application of prison rules, inappropriate language and behaviour by some staff, and the infrequent delivery of key work sessions due to operational pressures, impacting prisoner wellbeing and trust.
Substance Misuse
Repeated
The persistent problem of prisoners passing on and trading prescription medicines, despite previous recommendations for better control through risk assessments and medication reviews, leading to drug finds.
Equality/Diversity
The management of equality and diversity lacks the necessary resources to provide the strategic and operational focus required for this vital area of prison work.
Board Commentary
Staffing
The prison is experiencing an increasing turnover of staff and a higher number of new and inexperienced staff, reflecting the wider prison estate. This impacts the quality of relationships and the day-to-day management of duties, such as property handling. Operational pressures often override the delivery of key work within the OMiC system, leading to skepticism among women, though recent changes have enabled more key work sessions. While healthcare staffing levels are reasonable with proactive recruitment, chaplaincy has vacancies across several faiths.
Healthcare
Healthcare needs are increasingly complex, multi-faceted, and unstable, with demand outstripping available resources, particularly for appointments and prescribing. Problems completing the roll call have significantly impacted healthcare provision, leading to cancelled appointments. Although mental health transfers have historically been expedited quickly, this position is changing, and women awaiting transfer often must be located in the CSU under Rule 45, which is not ideal. Mental health caseloads are increasing by 50% monthly, with a rise in women experiencing severe mental illness.
Regime & Daily Life
The Board has concerns about the restrictive elements of the regime compared to the pre-Covid period. While education provision has increased since the pandemic, a changed delivery model means fewer women attend the education facility, and the education budget faces a de facto reduction due to inflation. Some women find induction inadequate and have difficulty adapting to Drake Hall's more open regime. Delays in commencing the regime due to issues with the roll call have impacted healthcare appointments.
Applications to the IMB
Prisoners can apply to their IMB about any aspect of their treatment. This table shows application counts by category.
| Category | Current | Previous | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Accommodation (including transfers) | 45 | 38 | |
| Discipline, adjudications and incentives | 11 | 5 | |
| Healthcare | 58 | 19 | |
| Meals and food | 4 | 2 | |
| Other | 16 | 12 | |
| Property | 53 | 26 | |
| Staff conduct | 10 | 3 | |
| **Total** | 228 | 128 | |
| Visits and contact with family | 16 | 12 | |
| Work, education, training and activities | 15 | 11 |
Recommendations (13)
Ministry of Justice: 1
HMPPS: 4
Governor / Director: 8
5 repeated
Recommendation 1
Repeated
Prev. unaddressed
The Board urges the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) to reconsider the above estimate, with a view to establishing a more affordable price that will allow work to commence as soon as possible.
Ministry of Justice
Estate
Response
A feasibility study has been undertaken and the costs are prohibitive.
Recommendation 2
Repeated
Prev. unaddressed
Property delayed or lost on transfer remains a significant problem and causes unnecessary distress to women. As noted in previous reports, it is a systemic issue that requires action across the Prison Service.
HMPPS
Other
Response
Procedural improvements have been made through developing and implementing the national policy framework.
Recommendation 3
Repeated
Prev. unaddressed
Due to population pressures, increasing numbers of women are transferred shortly before their release date. This makes it impossible to undertake work to prepare such women for release.
HMPPS
Resettlement
Response
The Female Offender Strategy and Delivery plan is designed to introduce measures to keep women out of prison.
Recommendation 4
Transferring women from other prisons to Drake Hall on Friday evenings, when there is only minimal staff cover, should not happen.
HMPPS
Safety
Recommendation 5
The booking of visits is problematic across the prison system. This requires urgent attention for the matter to be resolved.
HMPPS
Regime
Recommendation 6
Repeated
Prev. unaddressed
The Board asks if it would be possible to appoint a single point of contact to be responsible for property? This should ensure better co-operation from transferring prisons and more accountability within the prison for the resolution of property-related issues.
Governor / Director
Other
Response
Two additional officers were allocated to help support reception procedures. Daily staff briefings support the allocation of staff to distribute parcels.
Recommendation 7
The Board is interested in further action to improve the amount of key work undertaken.
Governor / Director
Staffing
Recommendation 8
The Board is interested in plans to effectively resource this function and develop a renewed focus on this vital area of prison work.
Governor / Director
Equality
Recommendation 9
Given the reduction since the pandemic, the Board is interested in whether there will be a focus on increasing the number of ROTLs, particularly for childcare resettlement, during 2023-2024.
Governor / Director
Resettlement
Recommendation 10
The Board would like to know if plans are in place to increase the number of spaces available at the prison to ensure visitors are not left disadvantaged.
Governor / Director
Other
Recommendation 11
The Board would like access to PSIs to be improved for women in the open unit and the CSU.
Governor / Director
Fair and Humane Treatment
Recommendation 12
Repeated
Prev. unaddressed
More ways of controlling prescription medication need to be found to reduce the risks associated with trading medications.
Governor / Director
Substance Misuse
Recommendation 13
The Board would encourage identifying those women who are isolated from family and friends and creating a programme to support them.
Governor / Director
Wellbeing
Other IMB Reports for Drake Hall
PPO Fatal Incidents
Prisons and Probation Ombudsman fatal incident investigations for this establishment.