Prison
Cat C
Key Concerns Identified
Positive Findings
Maidstone
IMB Annual Report 2022 · Published 2 August 2022
HMP Maidstone, an exclusively foreign national Category C prison, operated under significant Covid-19 restrictions during the reporting year ending February 2022, resulting in a largely restrictive regime. Despite this, the Board found the prison generally safe, with good staff-prisoner relationships and declining self-harm and violence. However, key concerns persist regarding the inhumane impact of the restrictive regime, inadequate collaboration between HMPPS and HOIE affecting foreign national prisoners' immigration status and resettlement, persistent property management issues, and ongoing maintenance challenges within the aging estate.
Positive Findings
HMP Maidstone is largely considered a safe and well-run prison with low violence, and generally good staff-prisoner relationships. The Board commends the progress of the resettlement management unit and the focus of healthcare staff on vulnerable prisoners' wellbeing. Improvements to the reception area, the re-establishment of the Listener service, and appropriate use of force are noted. The chaplaincy's commitment, good food quality, and increased key working sessions are also highlighted. The Diversity & Inclusion team has diligently improved information accessibility for foreign national prisoners.
Key Concerns
Regime/Time Out of Cell
Repeated
The restrictive regime operating throughout the prison estate cannot constitute fair and humane treatment. It is problematic for health and wellbeing and provides few opportunities for rehabilitation.
Resettlement/Release
Repeated
A significant concern of the Board is the reduced level of contact that Maidstone’s foreign national prisoners have had with HOIE during the pandemic and the service they receive from the Home Office. The number of prisoners held under IS91 provisions (authority to detain under Immigration Act powers after completing their sentence) has significantly increased.
Education/Purposeful Activity
Repeated
Insufficient numbers of prisoners are accessing education and limited opportunities remain for vocational training or work.
Equality/Diversity
Repeated
Home Office documents required to be signed by foreign national prisoners are provided in languages they can fully understand.
Complaints/Property
Repeated
The Board considers that the resolution of this problem (prisoner property loss and deficient management framework) is taking far too long to complete.
Estate/Conditions
Repeated
The general state of repair at the establishment continues to give cause for concern and has not significantly improved since our last annual report. There are continual challenges to ensure that the basics of heating, lighting and hot water for showers are available on a daily basis.
Regime/Time Out of Cell
Repeated
The sports hall was condemned in 2017 and has not been replaced. A new sports hall has budget approval and work was expected to start in July 2021 and completion was envisaged in 2022. This has now slipped to 2023.
Estate/Conditions
Repeated
New CSU cells were deemed unusable as they had not been completed properly, and their current location within the segregation unit is inappropriate.
Regime/Time Out of Cell
Repeated
Poor internet bandwidth at Maidstone impacts successful video calls (Purple Visits) and other opportunities for prisoners to communicate.
Other
Repeated
Local Governor control of establishments has not been restored, limiting nuanced decisions informed by local conditions.
Safety
The induction process is not sufficiently robust for all prisoners, with some missing it entirely and educational testing/job allocation being too protracted.
Resettlement/Release
Communication of end of sentence arrangements is poor, causing significant anxiety, especially concerning IS91 powers, and the service level agreement with the Home Office is frequently not met.
Equality/Diversity
The Big Word interpretation service is not always satisfactory due to a lack of skilled interpreters in some languages or dialects, and written information is often not translated.
Healthcare
Main areas of prisoner concern continue to be in relation to delays in accessing medications and waiting times for external hospital appointments.
Mental Health
There are often delays when prisoners need transfer to an external specialist forensic unit due to bed availability, and similarly, access to in-patient facilities at other establishments can be problematic.
Substance Misuse
Discoveries of fermenting liquid (hooch) are on the increase, indicating a shift in illicit items of concern.
Overcrowding
Repeated
Many prisoners who should not be in HMP Maidstone, including Category D-suitable individuals, IS91 detainees, and those past their Early Removal Scheme date, remain due to lack of alternative accommodation and transfer restrictions.
Regime/Time Out of Cell
Family contact has been severely curtailed this year, with none of the planned family days possible and insufficient staff to support more video calls.
Other
The Board has several fewer members than recommended, impacting its monitoring capacity.
Staffing
There are insufficient staff locally to manage the property process, exacerbating issues with property loss during transfers.
Staffing
The significant number of vacancies in the resettlement management unit should be addressed swiftly.
Board Commentary
Staffing
The pandemic and staff shortages have tested staff-prisoner relationships, though they generally remain good. Staff vacancies in the works department hinder maintenance and are also a concern within the resettlement management unit. Healthcare staffing levels have shown improvement, reaching 13.1 FTE against an establishment of 15.5. Progress has been made in increasing key working sessions, with management now focusing on improving their quality.
Healthcare
Healthcare services, provided by Oxleas NHS Foundation Trust, have been impacted by Covid-19 restrictions, though primary and mental healthcare continue as far as possible. Key prisoner concerns include delays in accessing medications due to external pharmacy issues and long waiting times for external hospital appointments. GP waiting times are currently 10 days for non-urgent cases. Mental health services, supported by Oxleas in-reach, are fully staffed but transfers to external specialist forensic units often face delays due to bed availability.
Regime & Daily Life
The restrictive Covid-19 regime led to prisoners being locked in cells for extended periods, sometimes over 22 hours daily, which the Board deems inhumane and detrimental to rehabilitation. Recreational facilities are severely lacking, with the sports hall condemned since 2017 and its replacement delayed until mid-2023. Time out of cell varied significantly throughout the year depending on fluctuating Covid stages. In-cell telephony became operational in March 2022, after the reporting period.
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 | 8 | 2 | |
| Canteen, facility list, catalogue(s) | 5 | 3 | |
| Discipline, including adjudications, IEP, sanctions | 14 | 11 | |
| Equality | 6 | 2 | |
| Finance, including pay, private monies, spends | 13 | 4 | |
| Food and kitchens | 4 | 6 | |
| Health, including physical, mental, social care | 53 | 12 | |
| Letters, visits, telephones, public protection restrictions | 31 | 8 | |
| Miscellaneous, including complaints system | 54 | — | |
| Property during transfer or in another establishment or location | 57 | 13 | |
| Property within this establishment | 48 | 7 | |
| Purposeful activity, including education, work, training, library, regime, time out of cell | 25 | 15 | |
| Sentence management, including HDC, release on temporary licence, parole, release dates, recategorisation | 95 | 16 | |
| Staff/prisoner concerns, including bullying | 33 | 20 | |
| Transfers | 7 | 6 |
Recommendations (17)
Ministry of Justice: 3
HMPPS: 6
Governor / Director: 8
6 repeated
Recommendation 1
Repeated
Prev. unaddressed
Support the restoration of local Governor control of establishments.
Ministry of Justice
Management
Response
Local Governor control has not been restored.
Recommendation 2
Repeated
Prev. unaddressed
Work with the Home Office to ensure that HOIE documents required to be signed by foreign national prisoners are provided in languages they can fully understand.
Ministry of Justice
Equality
Response
Minister stated that ‘The Home Office currently issue this documentation in English only, however a project is underway to explorer (sic) options of translating a selection of documents into a number of other languages.’ No evidence of translated forms.
Recommendation 3
Repeated
Prev. unaddressed
Support, or sponsor if necessary, work to implement effective collaboration between HMPPS and HOIE so that communication and end of sentence management for foreign national prisoners are improved, the number of men detained under IS91 is reduced and that these men are no longer held in prisons.
Ministry of Justice
Resettlement
Response
The number of men held under IS91 has continued to rise and they are still held in closed prisons.
Recommendation 4
Repeated
Prev. unaddressed
Provide more clarity about the prisoner property management framework.
HMPPS
Complaints
Response
Draft framework issued but no improvements observed.
Recommendation 5
Provide more category D accommodation across the estate and address the current restrictions of category D establishments accepting foreign national prisoners.
HMPPS
Resettlement
Recommendation 6
Support the re-establishment of a release on temporary licence (ROTL) facility at Maidstone.
HMPPS
Resettlement
Recommendation 7
Arrange for core material prepared for the resettlement of foreign national prisoners to be developed across the estate nationally.
HMPPS
Resettlement
Recommendation 8
Work with the Probation Service to ensure that there are mechanisms to provide feedback to Maidstone on the work they do to prepare prisoners for release in the UK. Consider what parallel arrangements might be made in respect of prisoners released overseas.
HMPPS
Resettlement
Recommendation 9
Repeated
Prev. unaddressed
Prioritise the provision of upgraded internet bandwidth at Maidstone so that prisoners have more opportunities to communicate with family and support agencies.
HMPPS
Regime
Response
Internet bandwidth has not changed.
Recommendation 10
Ensure the induction process is sufficiently robust.
Governor / Director
Safety
Recommendation 11
Improve communication of end of sentence arrangements.
Governor / Director
Resettlement
Recommendation 12
Continue to seek ways to enhance the role of the community council.
Governor / Director
Regime
Recommendation 13
Repeated
Prev. unaddressed
Restart governor wing surgeries as soon as possible.
Governor / Director
Regime
Response
Some success at some times during the year when the regime allowed. We expect to see all surgeries now being held regularly.
Recommendation 14
Consolidate the progress made in the amount of key work undertaken and work to increase its quality.
Governor / Director
Staffing
Recommendation 15
Improve delivery of education and training.
Governor / Director
Education
Recommendation 16
Consider the resettlement team’s proposal to establish a ROTL facility.
Governor / Director
Resettlement
Recommendation 17
Provide category D prisoners that cannot be moved to a category D establishment with as many category D privileges as possible.
Governor / Director
Regime
Other IMB Reports for Maidstone
2025
Published 3 Dec 2025
HMIP Inspections
Recent inspections by HM Inspectorate of Prisons for this establishment.
20 Nov 2023
IRP
PPO Fatal Incidents
Prisons and Probation Ombudsman fatal incident investigations for this establishment.