Prison
Cat C
Key Concerns Identified
Positive Findings
Bure
IMB Annual Report 2023 · Published 16 January 2024
HMP Bure, a Category C prison primarily for older prisoners, maintains a calm and safe environment with good staff-prisoner relationships and effective healthcare, including a fully staffed mental health team. Key concerns include insufficient purposeful activity, inconsistent key worker engagement, and the significant impact of not having formal medical care on-site at night. Persistent estate maintenance issues and a call for the re-sentencing of IPP prisoners highlight areas requiring urgent attention from both the prison and the Ministry of Justice.
Positive Findings
HMP Bure maintains a calm and safe environment with low levels of violence, supported by strong staff commitment and good staff-prisoner relationships. Healthcare provision is generally good, and the mental health team is fully staffed. The new Resettlement Service is welcomed and functioning well. The kitchen provides good meals, and the induction process, segregation unit, and discrimination reporting system are effective. Purposeful activities, including workshops and well-maintained gardens, are available, and the chaplaincy team is well respected.
Key Concerns
Other
Repeated
Will the Minister once again consider the re-sentencing of IPP prisoners, many of whom have been in prison far beyond their original tariff.
Other
Will the Minister consider the introduction of a national minimum wage for prisoners. The rates of pay vary considerable between prisons, yet prisoners nationally must pay the same for canteen and catalogue items. Prisoners are obviously not able to leave employment to move to a higher paid job.
Regime/Time Out of Cell
if there is to be an increase in prisoner numbers at HMP Bure above the agreed number of 643, then provision must also be made for more work for prisoners. Even at present there are not enough work opportunities for the existing numbers. We are acutely aware that there are not enough activity places at HMP Bure. Fewer than 66% of working age prisoners are engaged in purposeful activity and some prisoners say they are bored.
Estate/Conditions
if the numbers are to increase, the existing recreational space and garden areas should not be utilised. Consideration should be given to extending the existing fencing. There is also a need to improve the regime for older prisoners.
Staffing
even more could be done if funding was made available for proper administration support rather than just relying on existing staff going above and beyond.
Safety
The Board has noticed an increase in self-harm and this needs to be investigated by the prison.
Estate/Conditions
Repeated
Residential unit 7 heating. Full acceptance but work not done in financial year, therefore, funding was lost. Resubmitted for funding and decision on latest bid by end of financial year.
Estate/Conditions
Repeated
Solar Panels. Fitted in 2020 With an expectation of saving money. They have never worked. Discussions with contractors ongoing. Continues to be raised at monthly meeting with MoJ Property Services. Issue now escalated to the contractors’ senior management.
Regime/Time Out of Cell
Repeated
In cell telephony. When? Present telephones on landings make private calls difficult. Work on in-cell telephones to start spring 2023 for completion by the end of the year.
Staffing
less contact with key workers and prisoner offender managers (POMs) than is desirable. Some prisoners even claim to not know the name of their POM. The Board has raised this issue with the prison management.
Segregation
on occasions, there have been extended stays of up to 42 days by one or two difficult individuals and, from time to time, the Board feels that a change of establishment may be the only way forward and should be considered at an earlier stage. We feel that more support is needed in this area from regional management.
Healthcare
at night there are 643 prisoners, many of whom are elderly, and there is no formal medical care on site. The prison therefore uses NHS 111 which tends to be risk adverse. This means that the advice given is to go to A&E in Norwich. This then has a serious impact due to staff being taken off duty to escort prisoners.
Board Commentary
Staffing
The key worker scheme is not consistently applied due to staff shortages and emergency escort duties. The absence of formal medical care at night places a significant burden on prison staff, resulting in over 2000 man-hours spent on bed watches and unplanned escorts in July 2023, impacting the daily regime. Low staffing levels also occasionally delay the Listeners' service, and the resettlement team would benefit from dedicated administrative support to reduce reliance on existing staff working above and beyond.
Healthcare
Healthcare provision is generally good with regular visits from professionals, and the mental health team is fully staffed, managing a caseload of approximately 75 prisoners. However, a major concern is the lack of formal medical care on-site at night, which forces reliance on NHS 111 and results in frequent, costly A&E escorts that strain prison resources and staff. The prison is actively working on developing remote video clinics with a local hospital to mitigate the impact of hospital escorts, identifying this as an urgent priority.
Regime & Daily Life
Prisoners generally spend a good deal of time out of their cells with access to gym facilities and association on wings. However, there is a significant lack of purposeful activity places, with fewer than 66% of working-age prisoners engaged, leading to reported boredom. The Board also recommends more work opportunities if the prison population increases, improvements to recreational space, extended fencing, and a better regime for older prisoners.
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 | 23 | 12 | |
| Canteen, facility list, catalogues | 4 | 0 | |
| Discipline, including adjudications, incentives scheme, sanctions | 5 | 7 | |
| Equality | 1 | 0 | |
| Finance, including pay, private monies, spends | 7 | 4 | |
| Food and kitchens | 2 | 3 | |
| Health, including physical, mental, social care | 7 | 8 | |
| Letters, visits, telephones, public protection, restrictions | 6 | 9 | |
| Miscellaneous | 0 | 0 | |
| Property during transfer or in another facility | 14 | 5 | |
| Property within the establishment | 11 | 12 | |
| Purposeful activity, including education, work, training, time out of cell | 8 | 5 | |
| Sentence management, including HDC, ROTL, parole, release dates, re-categorisation | 10 | 8 | |
| Staff/prisoner concerns, including bullying | 6 | 6 | — |
| Transfers | 9 | 7 |
Recommendations (6)
Ministry of Justice: 2
HMPPS: 2
Governor / Director: 2
1 repeated
Recommendation 1
Repeated
Prev. unaddressed
Will the Minister once again consider the re-sentencing of IPP prisoners, many of whom have been in prison far beyond their original tariff. We consider that the previous Minister’s response to the Justice Committee’s report on the treatment of IPP prisoners was disgraceful. However, we note that the current justice minister has reversed some, but not all, of the decisions made by your predecessor on IPP’s.
Ministry of Justice
Justice System
Recommendation 2
Will the Minister consider the introduction of a national minimum wage for prisoners. The rates of pay vary considerable between prisons, yet prisoners nationally must pay the same for canteen and catalogue items. Prisoners are obviously not able to leave employment to move to a higher paid job.
Ministry of Justice
Fairness
Recommendation 3
We recognise there has been an increase in the prison population nationally. Consequently, if there is to be an increase in prisoner numbers at HMP Bure above the agreed number of 643, then provision must also be made for more work for prisoners. Even at present there are not enough work opportunities for the existing numbers. We are acutely aware that there are not enough activity places at HMP Bure. Fewer than 66% of working age prisoners are engaged in purposeful activity and some prisoners say they are bored.
HMPPS
Purposeful Activity
Recommendation 4
Also, if the numbers are to increase, the existing recreational space and garden areas should not be utilised. Consideration should be given to extending the existing fencing. There is also a need to improve the regime for older prisoners.
HMPPS
Regime
Recommendation 5
The Board notes and welcomes the introduction in January 2023 of an officer dedicated to resettlement. The Board has observed that the work done by the team daily is encouraging and an excellent step forward in getting prisoners ready for release. However, we feel even more could be done if funding was made available for proper administration support rather than just relying on existing staff going above and beyond.
Governor / Director
Resettlement
Recommendation 6
The Board has noticed an increase in self-harm and this needs to be investigated by the prison.
Governor / Director
Safety
Other IMB Reports for Bure
HMIP Inspections
Recent inspections by HM Inspectorate of Prisons for this establishment.
2 Oct 2023
Unannounced
Safety: 4
Respect: 4
Activity: 1
Release: 3
PPO Fatal Incidents
Prisons and Probation Ombudsman fatal incident investigations for this establishment.