Prison
Cat C adult training
Key Concerns Identified
Positive Findings
The Verne
IMB Annual Report 2023 · Published 6 February 2024
HMP The Verne maintains a generally safe and respectful environment, successfully implementing a new self-harm monitoring system and demonstrating strong staff-prisoner relationships. The Board commends the high-quality physical healthcare provision, including excellent vaccination rates, and welcomes the establishment of a new 16-room social care unit aimed at addressing the long-standing concern for elderly and frail prisoners. However, significant challenges persist, particularly in resettlement provision, severe understaffing in the Offender Management Unit leading to backlogs, and long waiting times for mental health services and external healthcare appointments due to staff shortages.
Positive Findings
HMP The Verne maintains a generally safe environment with rare instances of violence and a prevailing ethos of mutual respect between staff and prisoners. The Board commends the high-quality physical healthcare provision, including exemplary vaccination uptakes and the successful establishment of a new 16-room social care unit, which is a significant improvement addressing a long-standing concern for frail and elderly prisoners. Staff-prisoner relationships, chaplaincy work, and the handling of complaints are also noted as positive aspects.
Key Concerns
Healthcare
Repeated
The lack of 24-hour dedicated social care provision for frail, elderly prisoners who will need regular personal care.
Resettlement/Release
The inadequate and unfunded resettlement provision, which is increasingly critical given the high number of direct releases from this training prison.
Staffing
Significant understaffing in the Offender Management Unit (OMU), leading to substantial backlogs in OASys assessments and reviews, causing anxiety and potential sentence extensions for prisoners.
Healthcare
Frequent cancellation of external healthcare appointments (approximately one-third) due to insufficient prison staff for escorts, or lack of appropriate transport/trained staff.
Mental Health
Long waiting times for mental health services, with waiting lists of approximately 10 weeks for a psychologist and 15 weeks for a psychiatrist.
Healthcare
Repeated
The Board regrets that there is currently no plan to establish a ‘community hospital’ at The Verne, which has been discussed in earlier years and would reduce the need for external hospital visits and offer considerable savings in staff time.
Regime/Time Out of Cell
Unsuccessful application for funding to run the Horizon programme, which means 128 prisoners were released without completing a required programme.
Board Commentary
Staffing
Staff at HMP The Verne demonstrate dedication in maintaining a stable and safe regime and providing high-quality healthcare, despite pressures. However, staffing shortfalls significantly impact the Offender Management Unit, requiring reliance on agency workers, and contribute to the cancellation of around one third of outpatient appointments due to lack of escort staff. The key worker scheme is considered less than satisfactory by the Board, though some prisoners report satisfaction.
Healthcare
HMP The Verne provides excellent, high-quality physical healthcare to its ageing population, with strong vaccination uptake and screening programmes. However, the Board remains concerned about the lack of 24-hour dedicated social care provision, especially for frail and elderly prisoners, although a new 16-room social care unit is being established to provide day and overnight care. Mental health services face waiting lists of 10 weeks for psychologists and 15 weeks for psychiatrists, and a third of external appointments are cancelled due to escort staff shortages.
Regime & Daily Life
The Verne aims to maintain a stable and safe regime through a week-long induction program emphasizing respect and non-violence, offering a range of educational, vocational, and work opportunities. However, the Board notes a shortage of purposeful activities, and a significant number of direct releases from this training prison without adequate resettlement funding. Prisoner association time is sometimes reduced due to staff shortages, and despite a variety of activities, many cells lack in-cell sanitation.
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 laundry, clothing, ablutions | 5 | 7 | |
| Canteen, facility list, catalogues | 5 | 5 | — |
| Discipline, including adjudications, incentives scheme, sanctions | 9 | 3 | |
| Equality | 4 | 2 | |
| Finance, including pay, private monies, spends | 9 | 3 | |
| Food and kitchens | 7 | 0 | |
| Health, including physical, mental, social care | 12 | 7 | |
| Letters, visits, telephones, public protection, restrictions | 3 | 9 | |
| Miscellaneous | 17 | 8 | |
| Property during transfer or in another facility | 7 | 8 | |
| Property within the establishment | 7 | 3 | |
| Purposeful activity, including education, work, training, time out of cell | 14 | 3 | |
| Sentence management, including HDC, ROTL, parole, release dates, re-categorisation | 10 | 5 | |
| Staff/prisoner concerns, including bullying | 7 | 2 | |
| Transfers | 5 | 2 |
Recommendations (3)
Ministry of Justice: 1
HMPPS: 1
Governor / Director: 1
Recommendation 1
The Board invites the Minister to ensure adequate funding for the resettlement role currently undertaken by HMP The Verne.
Ministry of Justice
Resettlement
Recommendation 2
The Board urges HMPPS to recognise the efforts made by the senior management team to provide a resettlement service despite the absence of dedicated funding.
HMPPS
Resettlement
Recommendation 3
The Board encourages the Governor to continue the search for further employment opportunities for Verne prisoners.
Governor / Director
Purposeful Activity
Other IMB Reports for The Verne
HMIP Inspections
Recent inspections by HM Inspectorate of Prisons for this establishment.
8 Jul 2024
Unannounced
Safety: 4
Respect: 3
Activity: 2
Release: 2
PPO Fatal Incidents
Prisons and Probation Ombudsman fatal incident investigations for this establishment.