Prison
Cat B
Key Concerns Identified
Positive Findings
Swaleside
IMB Annual Report 2023 · Published 8 September 2023
HMP Swaleside experienced an unprecedented year of staff shortages, severely impacting the regime and humane treatment of prisoners with restricted time out of cell. Despite these challenges, the Board commends the SLT and staff for implementing an improving regime, which saw a decline in violence and self-harm incidents. Key concerns remain around staff retention, the poor state of facilities, long segregation times, inadequate resettlement support, and the high number of deaths in custody.
Positive Findings
The Board commends the Senior Leadership Team (SLT), officers, detached duty officers, service providers and administrative staff for their efforts to implement an improving regime despite severe staffing challenges. Prisoner-on-prisoner violence and self-harm cases have fallen steadily during the year, and serious assaults have shown a steady decline. The introduction of airport-style x-ray machines has improved security, and restricting sugar purchases has reduced illegal alcohol brewing. Health provision has improved since Oxleas took over, and prisoners' mental well-being appears to be improving with regime enhancements. Blossoms provides good social care. Swaleside is one of the best performing prisons in the LTHSE for education course starts and completions, with an 89% pass rate, and the library service has expanded.
Key Concerns
Staffing
Repeated
The Board remains concerned about the retention and recruitment of staff. 29 experienced officers from Swaleside were recruited directly by the Border Agency during the year and numbers were also lost to the police and civil service. These other agencies offer better employment terms than HMPPS for all levels and grades of staff. The result is that Swaleside has been compelled to hire expensive agency staff and transfer in detached duty officers from other prisons on higher pay and bonuses, as well as paying their hotel bills. Some detached staff do not seem to have the same level of commitment to supporting and engaging with prisoners as local staff. The prison also has to encourage officers to work long hours of overtime. In the Board’s view it is a false economy to maintain such a sharp differential between the terms and conditions of HMPPS staff and those of other agencies.
Regime/Time Out of Cell
The humane treatment of prisoners is questionable given regime restrictions for most of the year, especially given the lack of meaningful activity and the confinement of prisoners to their cells for long periods.
Estate/Conditions
Repeated
The refurbishment of showers throughout the establishment should be completed, with necessary funding provided. The identified faults with recently installed showers should be remedied as a matter of urgency.
Segregation
Repeated
The length of time spent in CSRU by a number of prisoners remains far too long and far exceeds normal recommendations. An effective means of reducing this time should be sought as a matter of urgency.
Resettlement/Release
The Employability Hub is not yet functioning as it should. New prisoners are not receiving appropriate induction and the Board is very concerned that prisoners are being released from prison without proper support.
Regime/Time Out of Cell
Repeated
The Board remains concerned about the impact of the recently introduced Offender Flow and Allocation system. Swaleside is a category B trainer in the LTHSE but is now receiving younger prisoners with shorter sentences. This is detrimental to the stability of the prison and the well-being of older, longer sentenced prisoners. The change should be re-examined and the benefit examined against its detrimental impact.
Safety
Repeated
The Board shares the concerns expressed by the SLT that there have again been deaths in custody during the year. A thorough investigation is being conducted by the LTHSE into the causes. However, a national investigation is perhaps required to establish either commonality of cause irrespective of prison type and to highlight specific issues relating to particular establishments.
Substance Misuse
However, drugs, especially spice, continue to be an issue
Resettlement/Release
The Board remains very concerned at the situation of IPP prisoners. Courses and programmes should be made available to them so that they can have the opportunity to demonstrate that they are no longer a danger to the public.
Food/Catering
Repeated
The continued reliance of HMP Standford Hill on the kitchen at Swaleside for the preparation of its food continues to cause major issues, as has been stated for several years. The stalled installation of kitchens at HMP Standford Hill should be restarted urgently and be completed without further delay.
Estate/Conditions
Repeated
GFSL has improved the rate at which out-of-action cells are brought back into use. However, far too many cells remain unusable.
Staffing
Keywork has been a major casualty of staff shortages and is currently restricted to only the most vulnerable prisoners. As the regime improves, the Board would urge the Governor to extend Keywork to all prisoners as a matter of urgency and encourage wing staff to engage more with prisoners.
Equality/Diversity
Facilities for female officers are inadequate and it is not acceptable that they have to share locker rooms with male staff. This needs to be addressed, especially as there are now many female officers working in the prison.
Equality/Diversity
A range of equality and access issues, including in-cell technology only in English, laptops inappropriate for visually impaired, lift issues, kitchen menus only in English, no in-cell telephony for healthcare, no Pagan or Rastafarian Chaplain, limited corporate worship for some religions, issues with some wings getting to visits due to staff, and skewing of enhanced status in favour of white prisoners.
Staffing
Repeated
The Board has raised before the inadequacy of basic apprentice officer training and believes that training must at least result in them knowing what to expect when they arrive at their establishment. Support for new officers has improved considerably at Swaleside, especially with the introduction of the mentoring system. However, this is no substitute for proper basic training.
Equality/Diversity
Repeated
The inequality of opportunity for prisoners convicted of sexual offences (PCOSOs) and vulnerable prisoners still needs to be addressed, despite progress made in that direction.
Mental Health
Repeated
The Board remains concerned regarding the mental health of prisoners who have suffered long-term lockdown. This is evidenced by the high number of ACCT cases, self-harm cases and violent incidents. The first indications from the recent improvement in regime are positive. However, the necessity for increased psychology and psychiatric services still needs to be assessed.
Board Commentary
Staffing
The prison faced an unprecedented staff shortage, with only 180 available Band 3 uniformed staff against an agreed complement of 264, augmented by 40 detached duty staff. Staff losses, particularly of experienced officers to other Government departments like the Border Agency (29 officers), police, and civil service, are continuous. Recruitment struggles to keep pace, with about 35% of uniformed staff having less than two years' experience. The Board is concerned about retention and recruitment, noting that other agencies offer better terms and conditions, leading to reliance on expensive agency and detached duty staff, which is seen as a 'false economy'.
Healthcare
Healthcare provision has improved since Oxleas took over in May 2022, though staffing levels have fluctuated. Communication between healthcare staff and prisoners is good, and medicine hatches have improved services. However, lift access to healthcare remains a problem. The dentist's surgery has been unavailable for months due to refurbishment, with 65 prisoners on the waiting list. Optical services run well with an approximate six-week waiting list. Mental health services have suffered from staffing and demand, worsened by the restricted regime, though improvements are noted with regime changes. Time limits for mental health transfers are not being met.
Regime & Daily Life
The regime was severely restricted for most of the reporting year due to staff shortages, with time out of cell at one point as low as 30 minutes. The prison implemented a 'Core Day 0' basic regime and is gradually improving through Core Days 1, 2, and 3, aiming to return to pre-pandemic levels with 'Core Day 4'. Under Core Stage 3, prisoners had a minimum of one hour out of cell during the week (more with activities) and two hours at weekends. The plan for Core Stage 4 is a minimum of two hours out of cell during the week and 2.5 hours at weekends. The lack of meaningful activity for long periods significantly impacted prisoner wellbeing.
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 | 52 | 19 | |
| Equality | 101 | 19 | |
| Fairness | 171 | 22 | |
| Healthcare | 100 | 25 | |
| Meals | 61 | 27 | |
| Other | 129 | 24 | |
| Property | 254 | 44 | |
| Regime | 145 | 31 | |
| Requests | 186 | 45 | |
| Safety | 39 | 19 | |
| Staff | 72 | 26 | |
| Visits | 17 | 2 | |
| Work / Education | 11 | 2 |
Recommendations (17)
Ministry of Justice: 2
HMPPS: 9
Governor / Director: 6
10 repeated
Recommendation 1
Indeterminate sentences for Public Protection (IPPs) were abolished in 2012 with the government stating that they were “not defensible”. However, the change did not apply to prisoners who were already serving IPP sentences, and this left them in limbo with little hope of release. The Board are concerned that the Government has rejected the call from the Justice Select Committee to resentence IPP prisoners and reduce the licence period from 10 to five years. This is neither decent nor humane and the Board would urge the Minister to review the department’s response to the Justice Select Committee’s report.
Ministry of Justice
Resettlement
Recommendation 2
Repeated
Prev. unaddressed
The Board remains concerned about the retention and recruitment of staff. 29 experienced officers from Swaleside were recruited directly by the Border Agency during the year and numbers were also lost to the police and civil service. These other agencies offer better employment terms than HMPPS for all levels and grades of staff. The result is that Swaleside has been compelled to hire expensive agency staff and transfer in detached duty officers from other prisons on higher pay and bonuses, as well as paying their hotel bills. Some detached staff do not seem to have the same level of commitment to supporting and engaging with prisoners as local staff. The prison also has to encourage officers to work long hours of overtime. In the Board’s view it is a false economy to maintain such a sharp differential between the terms and conditions of HMPPS staff and those of other agencies.
Ministry of Justice
Staffing
Response
Although some progress in recruitment has been noted, there has been a continued outflow of staff which has more than offset any benefit and a continued reliance on detached duty staff. The situation has recently improved by the transfer out of prisoners allowing the closure of two wings. This change has resulted from the action taken following the enquiry into excessive deaths in custody.
Recommendation 3
Repeated
Prev. unaddressed
The refurbishment of showers throughout the establishment should be completed, with necessary funding provided. The identified faults with recently installed showers should be remedied as a matter of urgency.
HMPPS
Estate
Response
Showers, even recently refurbished showers, continue to evidence problems relating to poor drainage and lack of ventilation.
Recommendation 4
Repeated
Prev. unaddressed
The Board shares the concerns expressed by the SLT that there have again been deaths in custody during the year. A thorough investigation is being conducted by the LTHSE into the causes. However, a national investigation is perhaps required to establish either commonality of cause irrespective of prison type and to highlight specific issues relating to particular establishments.
HMPPS
Safety
Response
A thorough investigation involving senior LTHSE staff from all relevant disciplines has taken place over the past year. This has resulted in several practice changes and, as noted above, a real reduction in Operational Capacity allowing better use of staff.
Recommendation 5
Repeated
Prev. unaddressed
The length of time spent in CSRU by a number of prisoners remains far too long and far exceeds normal recommendations. An effective means of reducing this time should be sought as a matter of urgency.
HMPPS
Segregation
Response
No change in this has been noted, although there is an occasional success in moving prisoners between establishments. However, this often results in a move from one CSRU to another.
Recommendation 6
Repeated
Prev. unaddressed
The Board remains concerned about the impact of the recently introduced Offender Flow and Allocation system. Swaleside is a category B trainer in the LTHSE but is now receiving younger prisoners with shorter sentences. This is detrimental to the stability of the prison and the well-being of older, longer sentenced prisoners. The change should be re-examined and the benefit examined against its detrimental impact.
HMPPS
Regime
Response
The change to the Offender Flow System continues to cause problems. It is conceivable that the recent transfer out of mainly Cat C and Cat D prisoners will improve the situation. Hopefully this will allow the key role of the establishment in dealing with longer term B Cat prisoners but this remains to be confirmed.
Recommendation 7
Repeated
Prev. unaddressed
The continued reliance of HMP Standford Hill on the kitchen at Swaleside for the preparation of its food continues to cause major issues, as has been stated for several years. The stalled installation of kitchens at HMP Standford Hill should be restarted urgently and be completed without further delay.
HMPPS
Food
Response
There has been no change to this situation which continues to require urgent consideration.
Recommendation 8
Repeated
Prev. unaddressed
The Board has raised before the inadequacy of basic apprentice officer training and believes that training must at least result in them knowing what to expect when they arrive at their establishment. Support for new officers has improved considerably at Swaleside, especially with the introduction of the mentoring system. However, this is no substitute for proper basic training.
HMPPS
Staffing
Response
Whilst there has been little change in the basic training provided to new recruits, within the establishment there is a much improved support network in place. This approach provides a ‘buddying’ system and the availability of experienced staff to provide help and encouragement.
Recommendation 9
Repeated
Prev. unaddressed
The inequality of opportunity for prisoners convicted of sexual offences (PCOSOs) and vulnerable prisoners still needs to be addressed, despite progress made in that direction.
HMPPS
Equality
Response
There has been a concentration of available work (especially DHL Canteen) for the PCOSOs but little other change to available support.
Recommendation 10
Repeated
Prev. unaddressed
The Board remains concerned regarding the mental health of prisoners who have suffered long-term lockdown. This is evidenced by the high number of ACCT cases, self-harm cases and violent incidents. The first indications from the recent improvement in regime are positive. However, the necessity for increased psychology and psychiatric services still needs to be assessed.
HMPPS
Mental Health
Response
This situation continued to deteriorate in the early part of the year, due to the regime restrictions. Recent improvements to allow more time for work and education may improve this situation. A meaningful reduction in self-harm has been noted.
Recommendation 11
Repeated
Prev. unaddressed
Gov Facility Services Limited (GFSL) has improved the rate at which out-of-action cells are brought back into use. However, far too many cells remain unusable.
HMPPS
Estate
Response
GFSL are aware of the urgency to bring damaged cells back into use and the situation has improved.
Recommendation 12
Keywork has been a major casualty of staff shortages and is currently restricted to only the most vulnerable prisoners. As the regime improves, the Board would urge the Governor to extend Keywork to all prisoners as a matter of urgency and encourage wing staff to engage more with prisoners.
Governor / Director
Staffing
Recommendation 13
As the regime gradually improves with the implementation of the Core Day programme, the Board would urge the Governor to ensure that more prisoners are provided with meaningful work and education in line with their sentence plans.
Governor / Director
Regime
Recommendation 14
The Board remains very concerned at the situation of IPP prisoners. Courses and programmes should be made available to them so that they can have the opportunity to demonstrate that they are no longer a danger to the public.
Governor / Director
Resettlement
Recommendation 15
The Employability Hub is not yet functioning as it should. New prisoners are not receiving appropriate induction and the Board is very concerned that prisoners are being released from prison without proper support.
Governor / Director
Resettlement
Recommendation 16
We are pleased to note that in-cell technology has now been installed throughout the prison. This is bringing improvements for prisoners and for the operation of the prison. However, the Board is concerned by the abuse of the technology by some prisoners.
Governor / Director
Safety
Recommendation 17
Facilities for female officers are inadequate and it is not acceptable that they have to share locker rooms with male staff. This needs to be addressed, especially as there are now many female officers working in the prison.
Governor / Director
Equality
Other IMB Reports for Swaleside
HMIP Inspections
Recent inspections by HM Inspectorate of Prisons for this establishment.
15 Dec 2025
Urgent Notification
11 Sep 2023
Announced
Safety: 2
Respect: 2
Activity: 2
Release: 2
PPO Fatal Incidents
Prisons and Probation Ombudsman fatal incident investigations for this establishment.
Prevention of Future Deaths Reports
Coroner PFD reports issued to this establishment.