Prison
Cat Women's Closed YOI
Key Concerns Identified
Positive Findings
Drake Hall
IMB Annual Report 2022 · Published 28 March 2023
Drake Hall generally provides a safe and humane environment, with commendable staff efforts and good healthcare provision. Key concerns persist regarding the unfit condition of two accommodation units, persistent issues with lost property on transfer, and challenges in education provision post-pandemic. The Board also highlights the difficulty in preparing women transferred close to their release dates for resettlement and issues with mental health staffing and low reporting of discrimination incidents.
Positive Findings
Drake Hall continues to provide a safe, secure, and humane environment for women, with staff efforts highly commended for their commitment and flexibility, particularly during Covid outbreaks. Healthcare provision is strong, with excellent management of outbreaks and notable initiatives in perinatal care and menopause support. Self-harm rates are low due to proactive safer custody interventions. Recruitment for operational staff met its target, and the chaplaincy provides highly valued pastoral support. Efforts in drug and alcohol rehabilitation are well-controlled, and external work placements are slowly recovering. The library has also maintained and developed its services, improving book lending and literacy initiatives.
Key Concerns
Estate/Conditions
Repeated
The Board again draws attention to the condition of Richmond and Plymouth houses. They are not fit for purpose. The provision of new accommodation is long overdue. Despite a major capital scheme to develop the site at Drake Hall, no provision is in place to replace these units.
Other
Repeated
Delayed or lost property on transfer remains a significant problem and causes unnecessary distress to women. It is a systemic issue that requires action across the prison service.
Resettlement/Release
Repeated
Due to operational pressure, increasing numbers of women continue to be transferred shortly before their release date. Undertaking work to prepare such women for release is then impossible.
Resettlement/Release
Resettlement services operate in an increasingly demanding environment where policy changes have impacted differently in different areas served by the provision. The IMB looks forward to seeing evidence of the development of a more joined up approach to services provided to women as they leave prison.
Education/Purposeful Activity
Since the pandemic, the provision of education for the women has been challenging. The Board looks forward to the development of an approach to the provision of education in which all parties work together to develop a provision which underpins sentence planning and supports reductions in reoffending while being acceptable to the women so that their take up, involvement and enthusiasm are maximised.
Equality/Diversity
The Board is concerned that women do not feel comfortable submitting DIRFs; this maybe because some recipients of racist language aren’t bothered by it or maybe it is to do with low levels of literacy and poor understanding of English so they cannot put in DIRFs. Alternatively, it could be that they lack confidence in the system.
Substance Misuse
The main concern at this time is the passing on of prescription medicines and unless this problem is better controlled through improved risk assessments and medication reviews, it could result in harm to a woman who takes a drug that is not prescribed for her.
Mental Health
There is an ongoing issue regarding the inability to recruit a trainee psychologist on site due to the absence of on-site supervision from a consultant psychologist. This appears to be an unrealistic expectation that this post will remain unfilled and this will impact on the wellbeing of the women.
Equality/Diversity
The environment at Drake Hall is not conducive to supporting women who need accommodation with a separate bathroom facility specifically adapted for a disabled person and on one occasion a woman transferred from another establishment had to be returned as her level of need could not be accommodated at Drake Hall.
Board Commentary
Staffing
Staff commitment and flexibility, particularly during the pandemic, were highly commended. However, the Board noted periods of staffing struggles, leading to sub-optimal regime operations and impacting key worker sessions and the provision of services like education and substance misuse support due to vacancies and recruitment difficulties. Towards the end of the reporting period, proactive recruitment efforts resulted in the prison meeting its target staffing figure for operational staff.
Healthcare
Healthcare services, led by Practice Plus Group for primary care and Midlands Partnership NHS Foundation Trust for mental health, are generally well-met and comparable to community standards. The management of Covid outbreaks was excellent. However, transfers of women undergoing medical treatment continue to be a concern, and there are specific pressures on dentistry and long waits for secondary services. Mental health caseloads are high, and the inability to recruit a trainee psychologist due to supervision issues is a notable problem, though space for therapeutic activities has improved. An increase in healthcare-related applications was observed.
Regime & Daily Life
The prison's regime remains more restricted than pre-pandemic, though less so than other closed women's prisons, with a slower return to normality. While women are expected to work or attend education, take-up is slow, and some pre-pandemic work opportunities are discontinued. Time out of cell is not at pre-pandemic levels, but women confined to houses have constant access to amenities, fresh air, and evening activities. The Board questions if current restrictions are optimal for the intended regime.
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 | |
| Catering | 0 | 1 | |
| Discipline | 1 | 0 | |
| Discrimination (inc. race, religion, disability) | 4 | 2 | |
| Drugs and Alcohol | 1 | 0 | |
| Healthcare | 19 | 7 | |
| Other establishments | 13 | 11 | |
| Property | 27 | 19 | |
| Routines | 11 | 9 | |
| Segregation | 2 | 2 | — |
| Staff | 2 | 1 | |
| Transfers | 6 | 8 | |
| Visits | 17 | 20 | |
| Work, vocational training, education | 1 | 0 |
Recommendations (6)
Other: 1
HMPPS: 3
Governor / Director: 2
4 repeated
Recommendation 1
Repeated
Prev. unaddressed
The Board again draws attention to the condition of Richmond and Plymouth houses. They are not fit for purpose. The provision of new accommodation is long overdue. Despite a major capital scheme to develop the site at Drake Hall, no provision is in place to replace these units (see section 5.1).
Other
(minister)
Estate
Recommendation 2
Repeated
Prev. unaddressed
Delayed or lost property on transfer remains a significant problem and causes unnecessary distress to women. It is a systemic issue that requires action across the prison service (see section 5.8).
HMPPS
Other
Recommendation 3
Repeated
Prev. unaddressed
Due to operational pressure, increasing numbers of women continue to be transferred shortly before their release date. Undertaking work to prepare such women for release is then impossible (see section 7.3).
HMPPS
Resettlement
Recommendation 4
Resettlement services operate in an increasingly demanding environment where policy changes have impacted differently in different areas served by the provision. The IMB looks forward to seeing evidence of the development of a more joined up approach to services provided to women as they leave prison (see section 7.5).
HMPPS
Resettlement
Recommendation 5
Repeated
Prev. unaddressed
During the reporting period, the Board has noted an increasing number of applications relating to the issue of property. The Board appreciates that this matter is being given increasing focus, but it is important it improves given the impact it has on the women’s wellbeing (see section 5.8).
Governor / Director
Other
Recommendation 6
Since the pandemic, the provision of education for the women has been challenging. The Board looks forward to the development of an approach to the provision of education in which all parties work together to develop a provision which underpins sentence planning and supports reductions in reoffending while being acceptable to the women so that their take up, involvement and enthusiasm are maximised (see section 7.1).
Governor / Director
Education
Other IMB Reports for Drake Hall
PPO Fatal Incidents
Prisons and Probation Ombudsman fatal incident investigations for this establishment.