Prison
Cat Open, Category D, YOI
Key Concerns Identified
Positive Findings
Sudbury
IMB Annual Report 2022 · Published 1 December 2022
HMP/YOI Sudbury is an open Category D resettlement prison. The Board noted positive improvements in staff-prisoner relationships, healthcare provision, and the availability of work and vocational training opportunities. However, significant concerns remain regarding the extremely outdated accommodation, persistent staff shortages impacting various services, and issues with prisoner property transfers. The report also highlights long dental waiting times and the lack of psychologist services.
Positive Findings
HMP/YOI Sudbury has demonstrated positive improvements in several areas, including enhanced safety by allocating new arrivals to suitable accommodation, maintaining low self-harm incidents and assaults, and receiving commendation for its Safer Custody team. Staff-prisoner relationships have significantly improved, with staff being more accessible, and the single pod accommodation has been popular. Healthcare is well-staffed, well-run, and receives positive feedback from prisoners. Additionally, the library is well-resourced and imaginatively run, and the prison excels in providing paid work and vocational training opportunities, with external placements nearing pre-pandemic levels.
Key Concerns
Staffing
Lack of funding for necessary staffing levels to ensure safety and effectiveness in Open Prisons.
Estate/Conditions
Repeated
Urgent need for renewal of Sudbury's extremely outdated and temporarily constructed prisoner accommodation, with no clear timeframe for the production of a renewal strategy or delivery of improvements.
Other
Repeated
High number of incidents of prisoners’ property going missing during transfers between establishments, indicating a need for improved systems.
Staffing
Lack of human resources to effectively deliver procedures and systems within the prison, including insufficient staffing levels in the probation service.
Estate/Conditions
Repeated
The poor quality of dormitory accommodation at Sudbury is deficient in many ways, an issue the IMB has been reporting on since 2018, requiring secure resources for improvements.
Healthcare
Ensuring the prison can meet the physical and mental health needs of an increased population at Sudbury.
Substance Misuse
Supporting additional prisoners with substance misuse needs and preventing the ingress of these substances as the prison population increases.
Estate/Conditions
Lack of an ongoing schedule of projects to improve prisoner accommodation and an unclear timeframe for upgrading power supply to dormitories for fridges and additional microwaves.
Education/Purposeful Activity
Ensuring prisoner education, especially in functional skills, delivers improved levels of achievement.
Healthcare
Approximately a 20-week waiting time for dental appointments.
Education/Purposeful Activity
Lack of IT provision to support teaching and learning, with computer facilities out of use for an excessive length of time.
Education/Purposeful Activity
No provision for supporting learners whose first language is not English (ESOL).
Mental Health
No access to psychologist services within the healthcare department.
Education/Purposeful Activity
Limited progression onto Level 2 English and Maths courses, and low retention of learners.
Education/Purposeful Activity
Problems with mislaid certificates and unrecorded attainment from private prisons, leading to prisoners repeating courses.
Resettlement/Release
Some men have parole board targets which cannot be met through the course provision at Sudbury, sometimes resulting in return to closed conditions.
Board Commentary
Staffing
Staffing levels continue to present challenges in some areas, particularly affecting education provision due to contractor shortages and the probation service where a small number of Prison Offender Manager (POM) posts impacts support for prisoners. However, the healthcare team is fully staffed, and the new residential team has made positive strides in improving staff-prisoner relationships, though some officers still need to improve interaction. While new education staff have been recruited, library services have faced pressure from staff illness. The Board raises concerns about the general lack of human resources to effectively deliver prison procedures.
Healthcare
HMP/YOI Sudbury's healthcare department is fully staffed and generally well-run, managing Covid-19 outbreaks effectively. Positive feedback from prisoners outweighs complaints, though a notable concern is the approximate two-week wait for GP appointments and a significant 20-week wait for dental services. Mental health needs are addressed by a visiting psychiatrist every two weeks, with urgent cases quickly referred, and there are 2.5 full-time equivalent mental health nurses, though no psychologist services are available. Substance misuse services are effective and client-focused, working with about 10% of the population.
Regime & Daily Life
The daily regime at HMP/YOI Sudbury has largely returned to normal monitoring, though it continues to be affected by Covid-19 restrictions, leading to occasional dormitory lockdowns and staff redeployments. Prisoners generally appreciate the freedom of an open establishment, but gym access remains restricted to one timetabled hour per week per dormitory. Dining hall use has shifted, with prisoners now collecting food to eat in their rooms. While creative activities and work placements were impacted, outdoor exercise, the park run, and the music room have seen positive re-engagement.
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) | 31 | 38 | |
| Communications | 17 | 26 | |
| Discipline (Adjudications) | 1 | 0 | |
| Equality & Diversity | 1 | 0 | |
| Food | 0 | 0 | |
| Healthcare | 0 | 0 | |
| Legal | 1 | 0 | |
| Other | 4 | 7 | |
| Property | 27 | 13 | |
| Regime (including education/work/activity) | 6 | 6 | — |
| Request for transfer | 3 | 3 | — |
| Staffing | 1 | 0 | |
| Visits | 1 | 1 | — |
Recommendations (10)
Other: 2
HMPPS: 4
Governor / Director: 4
3 repeated
Recommendation 1
What plans are in place to ensure funding will support the necessary staffing levels to provide safety and effectiveness in Open Prisons given their crucial role in the rehabilitation process and the vision outlined in the Prisons Strategy White Paper?
Other
(minister)
Staffing
Recommendation 2
Repeated
There is reference in the White Paper to improving the existing prison estate via the creation of a new strategy for maintenance and renewal of prisons. Such renewal is urgently needed at Sudbury where prisoner accommodation is extremely outdated and of a quality intended only to sustain buildings temporarily. What is the likely timeframe for the production of this renewal strategy and the delivery of necessary improvements?
Other
(minister)
Estate
Recommendation 3
Repeated
Prev. unaddressed
What plans are in place to ensure that the systems for the transfer of prisoners’ property are improved to reduce the high number of incidents of property going missing when prisoners are moved between establishments?
HMPPS
Other
Recommendation 4
Many issues raised with the IMB indicate a lack of human resources to effectively deliver the procedures and systems in place within the prison. How can the service address issues of staffing levels – including within the probation service?
HMPPS
Staffing
Recommendation 5
Repeated
Prev. unaddressed
The quality of prisoner accommodation at Sudbury is deficient in many ways and the IMB has been reporting on the poor quality of dormitory accommodation since 2018. Whilst the prison itself has managed to make some improvement to kitchen/shower/toilet facilities it remains an issue for prisoners. What plans does the service have to secure necessary resources for improvements?
HMPPS
Estate
Recommendation 6
Are plans in place to drive improvement in the levels of achievement in functional skills across the closed estate in order to enable Open Prisons to be more successful in delivering their resettlement objectives?
HMPPS
Education
Recommendation 7
What plans are in place to ensure that the prison can meet the physical and mental health needs of the increased population at Sudbury?
Governor / Director
Healthcare
Recommendation 8
As the population of the prison continues to increase inevitably some of the additional prisoners received will have addiction issues. How does the prison plan to support these additional prisoners with their substance misuse needs? What plans are in place to prevent the ingress of these substances?
Governor / Director
Substance Misuse
Recommendation 9
Does the prison have an ongoing schedule of projects to improve the quality of prisoner accommodation? What is the likely timeframe for the upgrading of power supply to dormitories to support the provision of fridges and additional microwaves?
Governor / Director
Estate
Recommendation 10
How can the prison ensure that prisoner education, especially in relation to improving functional skills, delivers improved levels of prisoner achievement?
Governor / Director
Education
Other IMB Reports for Sudbury
PPO Fatal Incidents
Prisons and Probation Ombudsman fatal incident investigations for this establishment.