Prison
Cat B local YOI
Key Concerns Identified
Positive Findings
Chelmsford
IMB Annual Report 2021 · Published 16 February 2022
HMP/YOI Chelmsford, a Category B local prison, faced significant challenges during a reporting year heavily impacted by COVID-19 restrictions, leading to a restricted regime with limited purposeful activity and prolonged cell confinement. Key concerns included persistent overcrowding, a severe rat infestation, and substantial delays in handling prisoner complaints and property issues. The prison also struggled with staffing shortages, particularly affecting the key worker scheme and healthcare provision, alongside high self-harm rates and increased assaults on staff.
Positive Findings
The IMB observed many instances of positive staff-prisoner interaction and good care. Healthcare-related applications decreased by 32% with improved phone access to services. Efforts were made to enhance ACCT review processes and prisoner-on-prisoner violence declined. The segregation unit was refurbished, and the Governor launched an initiative to improve cleanliness. The kitchen consistently provided meals, including for special diets, during lockdown. The Board noted the professionalism of segregation officers and the appropriate safeguards in place. During the pandemic, most prisoners maintained standard IEP privileges, and the Governor acknowledged the need to address complaint backlogs. Education was supported with in-cell materials, a fully staffed library, and Shannon Trust activities. Virtual visits were successfully implemented during COVID-19 restrictions, and accommodation on release rates significantly improved to 86%.
Key Concerns
Overcrowding
Overcrowding, with more than 70% of prisoners sharing cells designed for one person, is in conflict with the requirements of decency and respect and in contravention of UN rules.
Estate/Conditions
Repeated
A persistent and unacceptable infestation of rats, mainly in wings A-D, continued throughout the reporting period, running freely in wings and found in serveries and exercise yards.
Complaints/Property
Significant delays in the resolution of prisoner complaints and a poor process for safeguarding prisoner property, leading to many applications about property going missing.
Healthcare
Insufficient psychiatric support, long waiting times for dental treatment, and difficulties in transferring mental health prisoners to more appropriate establishments.
Safety
High rates of self-harm (787 incidents), a 51% increase in prisoner-to-staff assaults, and failures in identifying prisoners at risk of self-harm and suicide on arrival.
Staffing
The low delivery rate of the key worker initiative (11%), resulting in most prisoners receiving no support, exacerbated by staffing shortages and staff reallocation to other duties.
Substance Misuse
The unavailability of reliable drug use data due to the cessation of mandatory drug testing, coupled with intelligence reports indicating continued availability of illegal drugs and contraband.
Board Commentary
Staffing
The prison faced significant staffing challenges, with many areas not always fully staffed, particularly impacting reception, healthcare (dentistry, psychiatry, pharmacy, nursing), and the equality and diversity department. A key concern was the inability of offender supervisors and key workers to perform their vital roles due to being reallocated to other duties, resulting in only 11% of prisoners receiving key worker support. This lack of resources also affected the efficient processing of prisoners' property.
Healthcare
Healthcare provision faced several challenges, including staff and agency shortages impacting dentistry, psychiatry, pharmacy, and nursing, leading to issues like medication distribution errors and significant dental waiting lists (20% of men). Psychiatric support was a major concern, with 15% of prisoners needing mental health support at one point, and healthcare beds being used for long-term mental health cases awaiting transfer. Communication with healthcare provider CRG was problematic, and their complaint forms were not readily available. Positively, healthcare-related IMB applications decreased by 32%, and prisoners had improved phone access to healthcare and pharmacy from their cells.
Regime & Daily Life
For much of the reporting year, the regime was severely restricted due to COVID-19, with new arrivals in strict isolation and most prisoners spending up to 23 hours a day in shared cells. This led to boredom and frustration, with reduced opportunities for purposeful activity, work, education, and social visits. While conditions improved with the easing of restrictions, allowing more time out of cells and reopening workshops and the gym, attendance at education remained low at 57%, and few prisoners could work. Some cells also lacked phone lines, impacting family contact.
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 | 5 | 5 | — |
| Canteen, facility list, catalogue(s) | 6 | 2 | |
| Discipline, including adjudications, IEP, sanctions | 6 | 2 | |
| Equality | 5 | 4 | |
| Finance, including pay, private monies, spends | 5 | 1 | |
| Food and kitchens | 6 | 3 | |
| Health, including physical, mental, social care | 30 | 27 | |
| Letters, visits, telephones, public protection restrictions | 17 | 15 | |
| Miscellaneous, including complaints system | 8 | 11 | |
| Property during transfer or in another establishment or location | 13 | 9 | |
| Property within this establishment | 36 | 16 | |
| Purposeful activity, including education, work, training, library, regime, time out of cell | 2 | 1 | |
| Sentence management, including HDC, release on temporary licence, parole, release dates, re-categorisation | 7 | 9 | |
| Staff/prisoner concerns, including bullying | 19 | 13 | |
| Transfers | 2 | 10 |
Recommendations (11)
Ministry of Justice: 3
Other: 1
HMPPS: 2
Governor / Director: 5
Recommendation 1
To make every effort to eliminate overcrowding, which is in conflict with the requirements of decency and respect and is in contravention of the United Nations Standard Minimum Rules for the treatment of prisoners.
Ministry of Justice
overcrowding
Recommendation 2
To ensure adequate funding for the ongoing improvement of the prison’s buildings and facilities.
Ministry of Justice
estate
Recommendation 3
To work with other government agencies to ensure that IS91 prisoners (those detained by the immigration authorities) are informed of the intention to deport at the earliest possible moment, not at the end of their term, which inevitably means that they are detained beyond the end of their sentence.
Other
(other)
resettlement
Recommendation 4
To exert influence to ensure provision of suitable permanent accommodation for prisoners upon release, so that no prisoner ends up on the street.
Ministry of Justice
resettlement
Recommendation 5
To support the Governor and staff in making the changes and improvements highlighted by Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Prisons’ inspection in August 2021, and those noted by us.
HMPPS
other
Recommendation 6
We would welcome a decrease in the OpCap and additional staffing during the transitional period to ensure that business as usual is not adversely affected by a concentration of effort on improvements.
HMPPS
overcrowding
Recommendation 7
To continue to take steps to reduce the levels of violence, self-harm, bullying, drug taking and drug smuggling.
Governor / Director
safety
Recommendation 8
To make it difficult for prisoners not to attend purposeful activity, so that they get the maximum opportunity to make themselves employable upon release.
Governor / Director
education
Recommendation 9
To ensure that offender supervisors and key workers are given the time to perform their vital role, rather than being allocated to other duties at a moment’s notice.
Governor / Director
staffing
Recommendation 10
To continue to make every effort to ensure a clean and decent environment, including the elimination of accumulated rubbish around the exterior of prison wings.
Governor / Director
estate
Recommendation 11
To ensure that when staff assess whether newly arrived prisoners should be put on an assessment, care in custody and teamwork (ACCT) document, they are guided not just by the prisoner’s presentation on the day but by an understanding of the prisoner’s known risk factors.
Governor / Director
safety
Other IMB Reports for Chelmsford
HMIP Inspections
Recent inspections by HM Inspectorate of Prisons for this establishment.
22 Jan 2024
Unannounced
Safety: 2
Respect: 2
Activity: 2
Release: 2
PPO Fatal Incidents
Prisons and Probation Ombudsman fatal incident investigations for this establishment.