Prison
Cat D
Key Concerns Identified
Positive Findings
North Sea Camp
IMB Annual Report 2023 · Published 13 September 2023
HMP North Sea Camp, an open Category D male resettlement prison, maintained a safe and humane environment with generally positive staff-prisoner relationships and good healthcare provision during the reporting year. Key challenges include persistent delays caused by Community Offender Managers impacting ROTL and Parole Board hearings, the insecurity faced by IPP prisoners, and ongoing issues with accommodation quality, property transfers, and routine maintenance due to contract failures. The Board noted diligent efforts in resettlement, purposeful activity, and equality, supported by robust internal programs.
Positive Findings
HMP North Sea Camp provides a safe and humane environment, with generally positive and supportive relationships between staff and prisoners. The Board commends efforts to improve cleanliness, provide a wide range of resettlement programs, and offer varied education and paid outside work opportunities. Healthcare services are largely praised, with an 81% satisfaction rate reported previously, and an effective in-house bowel cancer testing system. The prison also excels in equality and diversity initiatives, maintains high catering standards, and benefits from a well-established Employment Hub and a new mental health clinic.
Key Concerns
Resettlement/Release
Repeated
Community offender managers often take a long time to update their part of OASys and complete the paperwork to enable prisoners to sit ROTL boards. This can mean prisoners having to postpone Parole Board hearings as they have not done the required ROTLs and means prisoners may spend more time in prison than strictly necessary. Timescales for return of paperwork would be helpful.
Resettlement/Release
The situation surrounding imprisonment for public protection (IPP) prisoners, whilst well handled by the establishment, must be resolved to end the insecurity of this category of prisoner. The Board is disaapointed by the Government’s rejection of the Justice Select Committee’s recommemdation of a resentencing exercise.
Estate/Conditions
Repeated
The quality of some of the accommodation is poor and the space allocated to prisoners sharing rooms is not ideal. It was good to see the two-storey aging accommodation units decommissioned, however the Board is concerned that, as yet, there is no plan to replace them.
Overcrowding
Repeated
Funding needs to be allocated to convert the current dormitories to smaller rooms so that when HMP North Sea Camp is at full capacity, no prisoners will have to share with more than one other person.
Complaints/Property
Repeated
The IMB is concerned by the time taken to complete routine maintenance jobs, and the issues around the transfer of prisoners’ property. These are issues that are provided by contracted out services and the Board is concerned that contract failures do not result in penalties to encourage compliance.
Other
Repeated
There continues to be a problem with a prisoner’s property not always arriving in its entirety on the completion of transfer. Prisoners face a long wait for their property to come and often it does not arrive at all.
Board Commentary
Staffing
Healthcare staffing levels are good with only one vacancy, not detrimentally impacting service provision. The mental health team has three full-time nurses with one vacancy, also not affecting service. The Offender Management Unit has a full complement of seven staff, and the IMB observed generally positive and supportive relationships between staff and prisoners.
Healthcare
Healthcare is provided by Nottinghamshire NHS Foundation Trust, with good staffing levels. Most prisoners are complimentary, and an HMIP survey previously reported 81% satisfaction. A new mental health clinic has been a useful addition. Waiting times for hospital consultants are 3-6 weeks, while a routine dental appointment could involve a 4-week wait.
Regime & Daily Life
Post-Covid, the gymnasium is fully open for organised training and exercise, and the playing fields are well-utilised during good weather. Prisoners spend less time in their rooms due to lifted restrictions, and work activities encourage engagement with the 300-acre resettlement establishment.
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 | 0 | 2 | |
| Canteen, facility list, catalogues | 4 | 2 | |
| Discipline, including adjudications, incentives scheme, sanctions | 1 | 1 | — |
| Equality | 1 | 2 | |
| Finance, including pay, private monies, spends | 6 | 1 | |
| Food and kitchens | 1 | 0 | |
| Health, including physical, mental, social care | 3 | 1 | |
| Letters, visits, telephones, public protection, restrictions | 3 | 2 | |
| Miscellaneous | 7 | 3 | |
| Property during transfer or in another facility | 7 | 11 | |
| Property within the establishment | 1 | 3 | |
| Purposeful activity, including education, work, training, time out of cell | 0 | 2 | |
| Sentence management, including HDC, ROTL, parole, release dates, re-categorisation | 9 | 3 | |
| Staff/prisoner concerns, including bullying | 0 | 1 | |
| Transfers | 0 | 2 |
Recommendations (9)
Other: 2
HMPPS: 4
Governor / Director: 3
5 repeated
Recommendation 1
Repeated
Prev. unaddressed
Community offender managers often take a long time to update their part of OASys and complete the paperwork to enable prisoners to sit ROTL boards. This can mean prisoners having to postpone Parole Board hearings as they have not done the required ROTLs and means prisoners may spend more time in prison than strictly necessary. Timescales for return of paperwork would be helpful.
Other
(minister)
Resettlement
Response
Every effort is made to obtain the necessary documents so Release on Temporary Licence (ROTL) boards can be held promptly, and Parole Board hearings are not postponed. Return of paperwork reminders are regularly sent to COMs and escalated to the Head of Offender Management five weeks prior to the ROTL Board. If there is further delay, where the prisoner has been allocated to a COM and responsibility transferred from the Prison Offender Manager, matters are escalated through the local probation senior management.
Recommendation 2
The situation surrounding imprisonment for public protection (IPP) prisoners, whilst well handled by the establishment, must be resolved to end the insecurity of this category of prisoner. The Board is disaapointed by the Government’s rejection of the Justice Select Committee’s recommemdation of a resentencing exercise.
Other
(minister)
Sentence management
Recommendation 3
Repeated
Prev. unaddressed
The quality of some of the accommodation is poor and the space allocated to prisoners sharing rooms is not ideal. It was good to see the two-storey aging accommodation units decommissioned, however the Board is concerned that, as yet, there is no plan to replace them.
HMPPS
Estate
Response
HMPPS is considering options for longer-term replacement of the decommissioned Harrison and Llewelyn modular units, and is undertaking a strategic review at HMP North Sea Camp as part of the agency’s long-term estates strategy. This is looking at how the reduction in capacity might be reversed to reduce overcrowding, whilst also taking into account the risks of flooding at the site.
Recommendation 4
Repeated
Prev. unaddressed
Funding needs to be allocated to convert the current dormitories to smaller rooms so that when HMP North Sea Camp is at full capacity, no prisoners will have to share with more than one other person.
HMPPS
Estate
Response
Regarding prisoners sharing dormitories, it is recognised that the rooms are not large enough for two tables, but prisoners are not constrained to their rooms and the regime is structured so that comparatively little time is spent indoors. Work activities encourage people to make the most of the 300 acres of this resettlement establishment. At this time there is no budget allocated to converting the dormitories to smaller rooms. A Small-Scale Investments team are commissioning a feasibility study on the options available to refurbish various buildings. This includes erecting partition walls in three dormitory rooms located in South Units 1 and 2 to create seven double-occupancy rooms.
Recommendation 5
Repeated
Prev. unaddressed
The IMB is concerned by the time taken to complete routine maintenance jobs, and the issues around the transfer of prisoners’ property. These are issues that are provided by contracted out services and the Board is concerned that contract failures do not result in penalties to encourage compliance.
HMPPS
Estate
Response
It is acknowledged that the performance of facilities management (FM) has sometimes fallen below expectations. Performance is measured through Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), tracking results periodically and applying financial penalties where necessary. The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) Property Directorate will continue to work with the FM provider to improve reactive maintenance.
Recommendation 6
Repeated
Prev. unaddressed
There continues to be a problem with a prisoner’s property not always arriving in its entirety on the completion of transfer. Prisoners face a long wait for their property to come and often it does not arrive at all.
HMPPS
Other
Response
The newly published Prisoners’ Property Policy Framework came into effect on 5 September 2022 and replaces Prison Service Instruction 12/2011 - Prisoners’ Property. The Framework is the result of extensive consultation, including with the IMB. It has been designed with procedural justice at its core, and aims to ensure consistency and fairness and enhance prisoners’ satisfaction with processes and outcomes. Given the nature of property, and the movement of prisoners between establishments, the Framework looks to provide greater direction and standardisation on a national basis. It strengthens processes in relation to the main problem areas identified by IMBs and staff including the handling of valuable property, managing cell clearances, compliance with volumetric control and forwarding on excess property following a prisoner’s transfer.
Recommendation 7
Continue to provide support to the IPP populaton.
Governor / Director
Welfare
Recommendation 8
Continue to work on the integration of the recategorised prisoners on arrival at North Sea Camp.
Governor / Director
Regime
Recommendation 9
Continue to support the improvements within the Offender Managenent Unit (OMU).
Governor / Director
Resettlement
Other IMB Reports for North Sea Camp
HMIP Inspections
Recent inspections by HM Inspectorate of Prisons for this establishment.
22 May 2023
Unannounced
Safety: 4
Respect: 3
Activity: 3
Release: 3
PPO Fatal Incidents
Prisons and Probation Ombudsman fatal incident investigations for this establishment.