Prison
Cat YOI, C
Key Concerns Identified
Positive Findings
Swinfen Hall
IMB Annual Report 2022 · Published 3 November 2022
HMP/YOI Swinfen Hall, a YOI and Category C training prison, held 583 prisoners during the reporting year. The Board noted positive progress in safety initiatives and equality, diversity, and inclusion. However, significant concerns remain regarding slow responses to prisoner property and complaints, insufficient purposeful activity places, and delays in offender management. Healthcare provision, particularly night cover and mental health staffing, also raises concerns.
Positive Findings
The Board welcomes the new Governor's "keep the peace" strategy and improvements in managing self-isolators. In-cell phones have been a positive addition, and there has been significant progress in equality, diversity, and inclusion initiatives, including a positive HMPPS health check. Chaplaincy services are highly effective, and there are good examples of staff-prisoner collaboration, successful barbering, library initiatives, and thriving workshops. The prison also offers a range of positive social prescribing and wellbeing activities.
Key Concerns
Regime/Time Out of Cell
Repeated
The prison is slow to respond to issues regarding prisoners’ personal property being lost on arrival or transfer, and internal property matters, causing increased anxiety for prisoners.
Complaints/Property
The prison is frequently too slow to investigate and respond to specific allegations of unfair treatment, and to advise prisoners of the outcome.
Education/Purposeful Activity
Repeated
There are insufficient work and education places available for the prisoner population, leading to many placements being part-time or low-value wing worker roles, and some workshops remaining closed.
Resettlement/Release
Repeated
Persistent delays in preparing OASys sentence plans and programme delivery are hampering prisoners’ progression and opportunities for timely transfers, with waits of five months or more for OASys reports.
Safety
Custodial managers frequently fail to supply timely support plans for prisoners identified as needing safer custody support, and reports for multi-agency safeguarding meetings are not always available on time, impacting informed decision-making.
Safety
The use of weapons has increased, and searches of men leaving residential areas and workplaces are failing to detect weapons.
Safety
There are delays in control and restraint staff training, a shortage of instructors, and inconsistent use of Body Worn Video Cameras by staff during prisoner moves.
Equality/Diversity
Repeated
There is a disproportionate use of PAVA against Black, Asian, and minority ethnic prisoners.
Estate/Conditions
Repeated
Problems with C wing showers persist despite a third refurbishment during the reporting year, indicating poor standards of work and inadequate contract monitoring.
Healthcare
The cessation of healthcare night cover from June 2021 means the Board is not confident the out-of-hours GP service will carry out night visits, increasing risk to prisoners.
Mental Health
Difficulty in recruiting a registered nurse with specialist training in mental health is a potential risk to mental health support.
Other
Reduced Board resources (four active members compared to seven last year) combined with a lack of administrative support and non-compliance with the HMPPS/IMB Memorandum of Understanding, adversely affects the Board's monitoring efforts.
Equality/Diversity
There is a significant imbalance in the number of Black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) prisoners on the enhanced incentives scheme level, with BAME prisoners making up only 39% of the enhanced level despite being 47.5% of the population.
Board Commentary
Staffing
Staffing levels have been variable, but staff have adapted well to challenges. There is a high proportion of newly qualified staff, who have benefited from a successful coaching program. Key worker sessions have been inconsistent, and there are concerns about recruitment of mental health nursing staff and a shortage of control and restraint instructors.
Healthcare
Healthcare, including mental health, is provided by Practice Plus Group and is delivering a Level 2 service with capacity to reduce backlogs. However, there are concerns about recruiting a specialist mental health nurse and the cessation of healthcare night cover, which increases risk to prisoners. GP waiting times are typically 10 days and dental waiting times are 54 days.
Regime & Daily Life
The full regime is often restricted due to staff shortages, leading to limited time out of cell. Work and education places are available for only 65% of men, and many placements are part-time. In-cell telephony has been a positive addition, particularly during lockdowns.
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 | 6 | 14 | |
| Canteen, facility list, catalogue(s) | 0 | 3 | |
| Discipline, including adjudications, incentives schemes, sanctions | 8 | 7 | |
| Equality | 1 | 0 | |
| Finance, including pay, private monies, spends | 18 | 7 | |
| Food and kitchens | 3 | 2 | |
| Health, including physical, mental, social care | 8 | 13 | |
| Letters, visits, telephones, public protection restrictions | 15 | 10 | |
| Miscellaneous, including complaints system | 5 | 1 | |
| Property during transfer or in another establishment or location | 23 | 16 | |
| Property within this establishment | 36 | 16 | |
| Purposeful activity, including education, work, training, library, regime, time out of cell | 9 | 7 | |
| Sentence management, including HDC, release on temporary licence, parole, release dates, recategorisation | 33 | 36 | |
| Staff/prisoner concerns, including bullying | 15 | 24 | |
| Transfers | 37 | 9 |
Recommendations (8)
HMPPS: 3
Governor / Director: 5
1 repeated
Recommendation 1
The names of prisoners to be transferred should be provided to the receiving prison by close of play on Thursday each week. This change would allow sufficient time for checks on key security and safety concerns to be completed prior to any unnecessary journey being made. Will HMPPS implement a process to ensure that this happens?
HMPPS
transfers
Recommendation 2
What action is HMPPS taking to improve the protocols related to the transfer of prisoners’ property between prisons?
HMPPS
property
Recommendation 3
Will HMPPS give consideration to categorising Swinfen Hall as a complex prison to improve the outcomes for prisoners held here?
HMPPS
prison_management
Recommendation 4
What action will be taken to improve the internal processes for the reception and onward delivery of prisoners’ property within Swinfen Hall?
Governor / Director
property
Recommendation 5
What action will be taken to improve the handling of the clothing parcel process from initial application to safe delivery of the parcel?
Governor / Director
property
Recommendation 6
Repeated
What action will be taken to continue to reduce the backlog of OASys reports that clearly impacts negatively on outcomes for prisoners?
Governor / Director
resettlement
Recommendation 7
What action will be taken to improve the detection of weapons in the prison?
Governor / Director
safety
Recommendation 8
What action will be taken to improve the use of body worn video cameras and to address delays in control and restraint training?
Governor / Director
safety