Prison
Cat C, YOI
Key Concerns Identified
Positive Findings
Moorland
IMB Annual Report 2023 · Published 11 August 2023
HMP/YOI Moorland is a Category C public sector resettlement prison for adults and young offenders, also serving as a foreign national hub, with an operational capacity of 1,058. The report highlights generally good accommodation and staff-prisoner relationships, with improvements in healthcare waiting times and education access. However, key concerns persist regarding staffing levels impacting regime and key work, ongoing issues with illicit substances, and significant delays in mental health transfers to specialist units, alongside a lack of prisoner confidence in the complaints system.
Positive Findings
The Board welcomes the success of de-escalation measures, which led to a marked reduction in the recorded use of force. Accommodation standards are generally good and clean, and staff-prisoner relationships are largely positive with an increase in key worker sessions. Healthcare provision is equivalent to community standards, with successful management of waiting times and proactive investigation into missed appointments. Access to education has recovered, and library use has seen a welcome uplift, including the restart of the Storybook Dads project. Resettlement planning benefits from new management, vocational training, work opportunities, and employment fairs, while the mental health team provides effective, prompt interventions. The incentivised substance-free living unit has also demonstrated positive outcomes.
Key Concerns
Safety
Concerns remain about inconsistencies in the use of body-worn video cameras during use of force incidents.
Substance Misuse
There are ongoing issues with illicit substances getting into the prison, despite security measures.
Complaints/Property
Prisoners have little confidence in the complaints and discrimination incident reporting form (DIRF) systems, often reporting to the IMB that they have submitted forms which, when the Board investigates, do not appear to have arrived.
Food/Catering
Repeated
Concern continues about the limited budget for food: while the kitchen does an amazing job in catering for such a wide range of special dietary needs, prisoners often complain about small portion sizes.
Mental Health
Repeated
The Board remains concerned about undue delay in transfers to specialist psychiatric units.
Resettlement/Release
Repeated
Lack of access to programmes such as Horizon is causing frustration, especially for prisoners for whom the parole board has specified it.
Resettlement/Release
Repeated
The situation of IPP prisoners, especially those who have no clear prospect of progression and resettlement due to lack of access to programmes, continues to be a concern for this Board.
Other
Repeated
Lost property, both within and between establishments, continues to be a cause of great frustration for all concerned.
Regime/Time Out of Cell
Prisoners are not always informed in writing about their incentive level, which means they cannot appeal within the time limit, and the system is seen as mainly punitive rather than motivating.
Board Commentary
Staffing
Staff availability remains the biggest factor impacting regime provision, limiting the consistent delivery of key worker sessions despite the Governor's commitment to increasing them. Staffing levels currently restrict the full implementation of key worker initiatives and are preventing the restart of crucial rehabilitative programmes like Horizon. While some staffing difficulties in the Offender Management Unit are being resolved, the overall shortage affects daily operations and the prison's ability to provide a full regime.
Healthcare
The overall care of prisoners’ health and wellbeing is considered equivalent to community standards, with waiting times successfully managed and good efforts made to address causes of missed appointments. However, the Board remains significantly concerned about undue delays in transfers to specialist psychiatric units, with one prisoner waiting 55 days. The draft Mental Health Bill, aiming to introduce a statutory 28-day limit for such transfers, has not yet been passed into law.
Regime & Daily Life
The Governor and senior team have actively reviewed the regime, expanding time out of cell, gym sessions, and courses throughout the year. However, staff availability severely impacts regime provision, often resulting in prisoners having a minimum of only two hours out of cell daily, including one hour of outdoor exercise, leading to 22 hours in cell for many, particularly at weekends. This situation causes frustration among prisoners desiring more social time.
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 | 7 | 14 | |
| Canteen, facility list, catalogues | 8 | 9 | |
| Discipline, including adjudications, incentives scheme, sanctions | 26 | 18 | |
| Equality | 26 | 23 | |
| Finance, including pay, private monies, spends | 7 | 6 | |
| Food and kitchens | 10 | 56 | |
| Health, including physical, mental, social care | 53 | 52 | |
| Letters, visits, telephones, public protection, restrictions | 32 | 29 | |
| Miscellaneous | 24 | 16 | |
| Property during transfer or in another facility | 30 | 40 | |
| Property within the establishment | 29 | 22 | |
| Purposeful activity, including education, work, training, time out of cell | 16 | 9 | |
| Sentence management, including HDC, ROTL, parole, release dates, re-categorisation | 36 | 28 | |
| Staff/prisoner concerns, including bullying | 47 | 30 | |
| Transfers | 21 | 14 |
Recommendations (13)
Other: 3
HMPPS: 4
Governor / Director: 6
7 repeated
Recommendation 1
Repeated
Prev. unaddressed
Can the Minister predict when the statutory limit of 28 days for transfers of prisoners needing secure psychiatric care, which was referred to in the previous Minister’s response to our report last year, will be passed into law?
Other
(minister)
Mental Health
Response
The draft Mental Health Bill published in June 2022 includes provision to introduce a statutory time limit of 28 days for transfers to hospital. The overall strategic direction of NHS England continues to be the one maintenance of existing secure hospital bed capacity … not an increase.
Recommendation 2
Repeated
Prev. unaddressed
Can the Minister please explain how the IPP action plan published by the Ministry of Justice in April 2023 will address the issue of access to programmes recommended by the parole board but not available to the prisoner?
Other
(minister)
IPP, Resettlement
Recommendation 3
Repeated
Prev. unaddressed
Can increased staffing be provided so that the important activity of key work can be delivered consistently and to a high standard for all prisoners?
HMPPS
Staffing, Regime
Recommendation 4
Repeated
The loss or delay of prisoners’ property is still a big problem. How will you ensure that the situation will be improved by the new national framework?
HMPPS
Other
Recommendation 5
What further action can be taken to improve prisoners’ confidence in the systems for complaints and DIRFs?
Governor / Director
Complaints
Recommendation 6
Can there be a review of how the incentives system might be adapted so that prisoners perceive it as less punitive and more motivating?
Governor / Director
Regime
Recommendation 7
Repeated
Prev. unaddressed
There remains a delay in the transfer of prisoners requiring secure psychiatric care. This appears to be a national problem. Can the Minister ask cabinet colleagues in the Department of Health and Social Care and the Treasury to address this shortage of beds?
Other
(minister)
Mental Health
Response
The draft Mental Health Bill published in June 2022 includes provision to introduce a statutory time limit of 28 days for transfers to hospital. The overall strategic direction of NHS England continues to be the one maintenance of existing secure hospital bed capacity … not an increase.
Recommendation 8
Prev. addressed
Can consideration be given to the implementation of the 2019 HMPPS nine ‘priority’ ideals and four ‘key’ ideals, suggested as best practice in working with IPP prisoners, to ensure a consistent and humane offer to this cohort of prisoners?
HMPPS
IPP
Response
Locally at HMP/YOI Moorland the implementation of the IPP ideals is part of the prison’s current and future planning.
Recommendation 9
Repeated
Prev. unaddressed
Can consideration be given to resourcing the backlog of programme provision, to allow progression towards safe release for determinate sentenced prisoners?
HMPPS
Resettlement
Response
HMP/YOI Moorland has successfully increased the group size of offender behaviour programme deliveryand to date the prison has started 30 prisoners on the Thinking Skills Programme, Resolve and Horizon this year. The prison is expanding TSP delivery in place of Resolve. HMPPS psychology service group directorate is working with the prison to find alternative places at other prisons.
Recommendation 10
Repeated
Prev. unaddressed
Can key worker sessions be prioritised?
Governor / Director
Staffing, Regime
Response
Key worker sessions have increased, and usually 36 are planned each weekday, giving priority to the most vulnerable prisoners. However staffing levels limit what can be delivered.
Recommendation 11
Prev. addressed
Can relationships with local employers be established to provide a pathway into employment on release?
Governor / Director
Resettlement
Response
Good progress has been made in liaison with local employers via employment fairs and contracts in workshops.
Recommendation 12
Prev. addressed
Can there be a general improvement in sentence progression and resettlement services for prisoners?
Governor / Director
Resettlement
Response
Staffing difficulties in OMU are being resolved and the resettlement hub is making good progress.
Recommendation 13
Prev. addressed
Can the 2019 HMPPS ‘Ideals’ document be adopted and implemented for IPPs in Moorland?
Governor / Director
IPP
Response
A prison offender manager (POM) has been appointed to lead on IPPs, and the prison has agreed to co-operate with the IMB traffic light monitoring tool adopted across Yorkshire and Humber.
Other IMB Reports for Moorland
HMIP Inspections
Recent inspections by HM Inspectorate of Prisons for this establishment.
13 Mar 2023
Unannounced
Safety: 3
Respect: 3
Activity: 3
Release: 3
PPO Fatal Incidents
Prisons and Probation Ombudsman fatal incident investigations for this establishment.