Prison
Cat B, C, D, local, YOI
Key Concerns Identified
Positive Findings
Norwich
IMB Annual Report 2022 · Published 12 July 2022
HMP/YOI Norwich faced significant challenges in 2021-2022 due to ongoing Covid-19 restrictions and chronic staff shortages, impacting regime, safety, and humane treatment. Despite dedicated local leadership and staff efforts, the prison grappled with high self-harm incidents, violence, and inadequate ACCT management. Key issues highlighted include overcrowding, dilapidated facilities, insufficient rehabilitative programmes for long-term prisoners, and concerns regarding the detention of individuals with severe mental health needs and foreign nationals past their sentences.
Positive Findings
The Board commends the strong and effective local leadership and successful teamwork shown by staff and management during the pandemic. Efforts to protect prisoners from Covid-19 and provide humane conditions, despite staffing shortfalls, were appreciated. The Board welcomes restoration plans for A wing and new M wing, along with in-cell telephony and video calls that have positively impacted family contact. The Accelerator prisons project has improved employment and accommodation opportunities on release, and construction skills training is being offered. Staff also reacted professionally during a power outage.
Key Concerns
Staffing
The continuous and overarching issue of staff shortages exacerbated by the Covid pandemic has overshadowed all aspects of prison life, undermining the ability of staff and management to make the prison ‘a place of safety and reform’ and to assist prisoners ‘to lead law-abiding and useful lives both while they are in prison and after they are released.’
Regime/Time Out of Cell
The Board is concerned that not all prisoners see and understand important notices (Governor's notices to prisoners - GNTPs).
Estate/Conditions
There have been shortfalls in the prevention of infection procedures, with a lack of cleaning materials throughout the establishment.
Estate/Conditions
Accommodation in L wing, the healthcare unit, E wing and the segregation unit is outdated and would benefit from refurbishment and modernisation.
Regime/Time Out of Cell
Accommodation fabric checks (AFCs) have been nominal, first night induction was reduced to a 'through the door conversation', the useful key worker programme continues to be curtailed due to staff shortages, and education and workshop classes have limited numbers.
Safety
Statistics show HMP/YOI Norwich as having a medium to high rate of violence against comparator prisons. Prisoner-on-prisoner assaults are too frequent.
Safety
Self-harm in the prison population remains high and has increased during lockdown.
Mental Health
The mental health team are overstretched. Prisoners are supported using the assessment, care in custody and teamwork (ACCT) process, however there is need for improvements in the training of staff, completion of documents and the management of the system.
Regime/Time Out of Cell
Current induction processes during Covid are brief and inadequate, confusing some new prisoners, particularly those with low levels of English.
Regime/Time Out of Cell
Covid has impacted on the humane treatment at HMP/YOI Norwich, with prisoners being locked up for long hours due to Covid restrictions. New arrivals are kept behind their doors for up to five days or until testing shows they are clear of Covid, and are not allowed out of their cells for showers, exercise etc.
Overcrowding
Repeated
The prison is overpopulated and toilet facilities in doubled-up cells lack essential privacy.
Resettlement/Release
There are currently 11 foreign nationals at HMP/YOI Norwich whose sentences have expired. Their continued detention is neither fair nor humane.
Healthcare
Prisoners identify dental provision as inadequate, and the air exchange units in the dentist’s clinics have not been installed. Prisoners comment adversely about GP access.
Equality/Diversity
Dispensary hatches on the second floor are not easily accessible to all prisoners as there is no lift on B and C wings and the lift on A wing has frequent breakdowns. There is no accessible shower on the healthcare unit.
Resettlement/Release
Repeated
There is no funding for accredited interventions and offending behaviour programmes (OBPs) at HMP/YOI Norwich and there is nothing for long-term sentenced prisoners and those serving indeterminate public protection sentences (IPPs) to help demonstrate a reduction in risk.
Overcrowding
Repeated
The Board continues to have concerns that the increase in prisoner numbers planned for HMP/YOI Norwich is being funded without additional funding for education, catering and activity provision.
Mental Health
Repeated
The Board continues to encounter inhumane treatment through the incarceration of men with severe mental health issues and/or learning disabilities, who should be in establishments that can properly address their issues.
Food/Catering
The budget for food is £2.02 per prisoner per day. With the rapid increase in food prices, this makes it increasingly difficult for the prison to provide a balanced diet for prisoners.
Segregation
Repeated
The Board requests again that the Prison Service looks at the care of prisoners who are located in the segregation unit for long periods of time, as there is often nowhere else to take them, leading to inhumane treatment.
Estate/Conditions
The delays in appointing outside contractors are long and lead to unacceptable and inhumane outcomes e.g. dealing with rats and cleaning showers after dirty protests.
Safety
Due to the number of deaths following self-harm over the last 12 months, HMP/YOI Norwich has been classed as a ‘cluster site’, but no additional resource has been made available to the prison to address this.
Staffing
The long-standing issue of low staff numbers has led to the further curtailment of regimes on many occasions.
Complaints/Property
Loss of property is one of the biggest issues for prisoners, with belongings going missing during transfers and difficulties in claiming compensation.
Safety
The Board has concerns over the degree of reported bullying and debt within HMP/YOI Norwich and the lack of effective countermeasures to reduce the impact of such issues.
Equality/Diversity
The use of Language Line (an interpretation service) is not logged, making it difficult to evidence its use, and staff show low levels of use of the Language Line.
Safety
Some ACCT reviews took place in busy offices with other staff present, which did not allow for the necessary confidentiality and privacy.
Safety
ACCT documents are often left in the wrong places or not updated, and observations have not been carried out in a timely manner or have been missed altogether.
Safety
The ACCT training still falls short of the required standard, and newly college-trained officers start out with a very poor understanding of the ACCT process and documents.
Safety
The Board still has concerns that prisoners on ACCTs have unsupervised access to tinned items from the canteen which they can use to self-harm.
Safety
The Board has also noticed an increase of the use of ligatures throughout the prison this reporting year.
Safety
A fire in the catering manager’s office was caused by faulty light fittings, and these fittings have been identified in offices throughout the establishment, posing a fire safety threat with no replacement programme in place.
Equality/Diversity
The Board has real concerns about prisoners who have no visits or have difficulty completing the necessary paperwork to retrieve their mail within 28 days, leading to its destruction, which the Board finds discriminatory.
Regime/Time Out of Cell
The PIN system for in-cell phones results in delays to prisoners contacting family, with many PIN requests not being dealt with in an appropriate and timely manner.
Board Commentary
Staffing
Continuous and overarching staff shortages, exacerbated by the Covid pandemic, have negatively impacted all aspects of prison life and curtailed the useful key worker programme. These shortages have led to curtailed regimes on many occasions and raise real concerns about safety, especially when whole landings are unlocked. The Board notes a lack of additional resources despite the prison being classed as a 'cluster site' due to self-harm deaths.
Healthcare
Healthcare provision is generally equivalent to the community, except for dentistry which is inadequate due to uninstalled air exchange units. Prisoners report adverse experiences with GP access, but good nursing provision. The mental health team is overstretched with heavy caseloads. Accessibility issues exist with dispensary hatches and the healthcare unit lacks an accessible shower.
Regime & Daily Life
Covid-19 restrictions continued to limit time out of cell, activities, and education, leading to long hours in cells and affecting prisoner wellbeing. New arrivals are kept behind doors for up to five days for isolation, unable to shower or exercise. Attendance at work and education was limited by social distancing needs, and gym sessions operated with reduced numbers.
Recommendations (26)
Ministry of Justice: 5
HMPPS: 9
Governor / Director: 12
5 repeated
Recommendation 1
Repeated
Will the Minister explain why there are still eight prisoners serving indeterminate sentences for public protection (IPP) and 30 life sentenced prisoners in HMP/YOI Norwich in February 2022 without provision of any offending behaviour programmes or accredited interventions to allow progression towards release?
Ministry of Justice
Resettlement
Recommendation 2
Repeated
Will the Minister confirm that the plan for an increased prison population at HMP/YOI Norwich will ensure sufficient, decent prison spaces alongside adequate provision of rehabilitative programmes and interventions?
Ministry of Justice
Overcrowding
Recommendation 3
Repeated
The Board asks the minister ‘Why are these men still being kept in custody?’ (referring to men with severe mental health issues and/or learning disabilities who should be in establishments that can properly address their issues).
Ministry of Justice
Mental Health
Recommendation 4
Will the Minister please outline his plan for aligning the catering budget with the increases in the cost of living to ensure prisoners can be offered a balanced and nutritious diet?
Ministry of Justice
Food
Recommendation 5
Will the Minister please explain why this continues to be the case and what plans there are to move them out of HMP/YOI Norwich?
Ministry of Justice
Resettlement
Recommendation 6
Repeated
The Board requests again that the Prison Service looks at the care of prisoners who are located in the segregation unit for long periods of time.
HMPPS
Segregation
Recommendation 7
Are there plans for refurbishment of the outdated buildings e.g. the healthcare unit, L wing, E wing and the segregation unit, alongside the planned refurbishment of a previously closed wing and the installation of a new M wing?
HMPPS
Estate
Recommendation 8
Would the Prison Service define its policies regarding the employment of contractors outside the existing contracts when the circumstances dictate the need for extra work? What are the policies for allowing prison Governors to secure/procure such contracts when they deem them necessary?
HMPPS
Estate
Recommendation 9
The Board asks for confirmation that plans are in place, and asks for details, for increasing the education, activities and catering provision alongside the increase in prison spaces following refurbishment of the old A wing.
HMPPS
Regime
Recommendation 10
What resources are being allocated to replace these fittings to reduce the risk to life of fire?
HMPPS
Safety
Recommendation 11
What additional resources could be made available to support the prison since it has been labelled as a cluster site?
HMPPS
Safety
Recommendation 12
What steps is HMPPS taking to improve recruitment and staff retention and can it outline the policies regarding local recruitment?
HMPPS
Staffing
Recommendation 13
As the outside community learns to live with Covid, can HMPPS please outline what steps will be taken to return the prison to a more normal regime which would enable rehabilitation and more humane conditions?
HMPPS
Regime
Recommendation 14
Can HMPPS please outline the steps it intends to take to address this costly issue?
HMPPS
Humane Treatment
Recommendation 15
Repeated
Prev. unaddressed
The Board asks the Governor to provide information on plans for making sure that all communications especially Governor's notices to prisoners (GNTPs) are distributed to, seen and understood by all prisoners including those who do not read/speak English This concern was highlighted in the 2020-21 annual report but the Board does not see any improvement.
Governor / Director
Equality
Recommendation 16
The Board asks the Governor to provide information on plans for ensuring that foreign nationals are better supported and that staff access the translation facilities whenever needed.
Governor / Director
Equality
Recommendation 17
The Board asks the Governor to provide information on plans for maintaining the focus on decency and provision of basic essentials.
Governor / Director
Humane Treatment
Recommendation 18
The Board asks the Governor to provide information on plans for ensuring that scheduled forums take place and minutes are readily available for prisoners to see.
Governor / Director
Complaints
Recommendation 19
The Board asks the Governor to provide information on plans for ensuring that Prisoner representatives have time allocated in order to support their fellow prisoners.
Governor / Director
Regime
Recommendation 20
The Board asks the Governor to provide information on plans for proper completion of ACCT documents and the management of the ACCT process.
Governor / Director
Safety
Recommendation 21
The Board asks the Governor to provide information on plans for continued emphasis on AFCs.
Governor / Director
Estate
Recommendation 22
The Board asks the Governor to provide information on plans for managing prisoners' property effectively, particularly during cell clearances.
Governor / Director
Humane Treatment
Recommendation 23
The Board asks the Governor to provide information on plans for construction of the workshops on the category C site.
Governor / Director
Education
Recommendation 24
The Board asks the Governor to provide information on plans for restoring the intended role of key worker.
Governor / Director
Staffing
Recommendation 25
The Board asks the Governor to provide information on plans for analysis of equalities statistics to determine whether minority groups such as those with protected characteristics, physical or mental disabilities, learning difficulties/disabilities, neurodiversity, foreign nationals, younger and elderly prisoners are properly identified and treated fairly and that adjustments are made to support their needs and to make adequate provision for those prisoners.
Governor / Director
Equality
Recommendation 26
The Board asks the Governor to provide information on plans for controlling bullying and debt issues on the wings.
Governor / Director
Safety
Other IMB Reports for Norwich
PPO Fatal Incidents
Prisons and Probation Ombudsman fatal incident investigations for this establishment.
Prevention of Future Deaths Reports
Coroner PFD reports issued to this establishment.