Prison
Cat YOI, C
Key Concerns Identified
Positive Findings
Swinfen Hall
IMB Annual Report 2021 · Published 4 November 2021
The IMB reports on HMP/YOI Swinfen Hall for 2020-21, a period significantly impacted by Covid-19 restrictions. While aspects like healthcare provision and increased safety for some vulnerable prisoners were noted as positive, the report highlights serious concerns regarding property issues, the lack of crucial rehabilitation programs, increasing mental health referrals, and the disproportionate use of PAVA on BAME prisoners. The Board also noted challenges with staffing, poor refurbishment works, and prisoners' limited time out of cell, with many recommendations to Ministers, HMPPS, and the Governor.
Positive Findings
The Board commended the transfer of 53 prisoners to the Category D estate despite Covid-19 restrictions and reduced staff. There was a welcome improvement in OASys completion rates. The Enhanced Support Services (ESS) achieved a 53.8% decrease in disruptive behavior among targeted prisoners, showing excellent teamwork. Healthcare provision was generally good, with a successful flu vaccination program and only 91 positive Covid-19 cases. The chaplaincy team provided vital support, including iPad use for bereaved families and a successful Ramadan food initiative. Improvements were noted in ensuring YOs are no more likely to be in the CSU than adults, and progress was made in engaging prisoners in distance learning and the Story Book Dads initiative. Food was generally acceptable with few complaints.
Key Concerns
Estate/Conditions
Repeated
The operational capacity has been impacted by the poor workmanship in the refurbishment of A, B and C wings. Work has been sub-standard and has had to be repeated.
Mental Health
Repeated
Additional mental health services, healthcare clinics, work and education opportunities, as well as staffing to facilitate association and family visits are needed to mitigate the deprivations suffered by prisoners during the pandemic.
Other
Repeated
The Board remains deeply concerned at the loss of prisoners’ property when they transfer to Swinfen Hall.
Resettlement/Release
Repeated
The new offender flow process introduced in September 2020 means that newly sentenced prisoners now only reside at a Reception prison for a maximum of 10 days prior to being allocated to their longer-term establishment. This results in nearly all these prisoners coming to Swinfen Hall with no initial OASys assessment.
Education/Purposeful Activity
Repeated
Prisoners have been deprived of education and work, programmes essential for their rehabilitation, as well as daily association and family visits.
Safety
How will the prison maintain the increased level of safety felt by vulnerable prisoners as the regime opens up?
Equality/Diversity
The Board has concerns that there is a disproportionate use of PAVA against black, Asian, and minority ethnic prisoners
Safety
The Board has observed that entries made at night [in ACCTs] are more likely to be made at predictable times (e.g. hourly, on the hour) and to be repetitive.
Safety
There is some concern that POM/OMU (probation and offender management) are not always in attendance [at safer prisons/MASH/CSIP/SIM meetings].
Segregation
The increase in the number of prisoners in cellular confinement (CC) is the result of a “three strikes” policy with violence reduction intervention using CC as part of that process.
Equality/Diversity
Repeated
Black, Asian, and minority ethnic prisoners, both YOs and adults, are up to three times more likely than white prisoners to be in the CSU.
Equality/Diversity
The black, Asian, and minority ethnic population is under-represented on D and E wings. Discussions with staff suggest that this may be the result of a reluctance within that population to engage with mental health services.
Mental Health
Repeated
Mental health caseload and referrals ... in the final quarter there was a worrying increase to an average of 104 per month with the highest figure being 150 in April 2021.
Mental Health
Repeated
The Board’s concern about weekend and out of hours mental health cover has been partially addressed by the introduction of weekend and bank holiday cover shared across 10 prisons. The overnight mental health service is managed using ACCT documents or A&E as a place of safety, due to limited access to prisoners at night. The Board will continue to monitor this provision especially considering the pandemic and increasing mental health caseloads.
Education/Purposeful Activity
Repeated
The pandemic has had a significant impact on the delivery of education programmes to prisoners, as for many months the provider, Novus, was not active in the prison.
Staffing
Repeated
Resource has been an issue during this year with official staffing figures estimated at 75%.
Resettlement/Release
Repeated
Programmes... most affected by the restrictions... no opportunity to deliver any programme to any group of prisoners and it could take some time to recover from the resulting impact on progression for prisoners.
Board Commentary
Staffing
The prison experienced an increase in staff, with 303 directly employed at the end of the year, up from 284. However, 60% of staff have less than five years' service, leading to inexperienced officers learning quickly on the job and often being unsure of procedures. Staffing levels were estimated at 75% operational, with challenges from long-term sick leave and isolation requirements. The key worker program was reinstated for vulnerable prisoners and care leavers. The programmes team faced significant challenges, with six of nine members resigning before lockdown, leading to delays in training new facilitators and a growing backlog of prisoners awaiting rehabilitation programs.
Healthcare
Healthcare provision, delivered by Practice Plus Group and Midland Partnership NHS Foundation Trust, was generally good despite Covid-19 disruptions. Services were realigned to focus on essential care and emergency treatment. While mental health caseloads initially reduced, they saw a worrying increase to an average of 104 per month in the final quarter. Emergency escorts to A&E and unplanned bed watch hours also peaked. Concerns regarding weekend and out-of-hours mental health cover were partially addressed, but the Board will continue to monitor this provision closely given increasing caseloads. Dental, physio, podiatry, and optician services experienced disruptions, with dentistry particularly impacted due to national restrictions.
Regime & Daily Life
The Covid-19 pandemic severely restricted the regime, leading to prisoners spending up to 23.5 hours per day in compact cells with minimal facilities and no in-cell telephones for much of the period. Time out of cell was limited, usually to 45 minutes for domestic tasks and telephone access in small 'bubbles.' While some prisoners reported feeling safer due to reduced contact, this significantly impacted mental health, education, work, and family visits. The key worker program was suspended and later reinstated for vulnerable prisoners. The basic IEP status was suspended, and prisoners were given in-cell TVs as a mitigation. Vocational training places were drastically reduced, with only essential activities continuing with limited numbers and extra pay for 'essential workers.'
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) | 45 | 38 | |
| Food | 2 | 6 | |
| Medical / Dental | 15 | 13 | |
| Other | 31 | 23 | |
| Property | 32 | 50 | |
| Sentence / Parole | 37 | 38 | |
| Staff/Prisoner Concern (incl bullying) | 24 | 32 | |
| Total | 214 | 229 | |
| Visits | 17 | 11 | |
| Work / Education / Programmes | 11 | 18 |
Recommendations (7)
Ministry of Justice: 2
HMPPS: 3
Governor / Director: 2
6 repeated
Recommendation 1
Repeated
Prev. unaddressed
Will the Minister assure the Board that there will be an improvement in contract monitoring and adequate supervision of works carried out in the prison estate?
Ministry of Justice
Estate
Recommendation 2
Repeated
Will the necessary funding be made available to the prison to facilitate these mitigations?
Ministry of Justice
Funding
Recommendation 3
Repeated
Prev. unaddressed
How is the effectiveness of the current contract being evaluated?
HMPPS
Complaints
Recommendation 4
Repeated
Prev. unaddressed
What measures will be put in place to enable Swinfen Hall to continue to manage the increased number of prisoners arriving without a completed OASys assessment?
HMPPS
Resettlement
Recommendation 5
Repeated
How will staffing and services be bolstered to make up for the losses suffered by prisoners?
HMPPS
Staffing
Recommendation 6
Repeated
How will funding be made available to provide additional staffing and services to mitigate the deprivation suffered by prisoners during the pandemic?
Governor / Director
Funding
Recommendation 7
How will the prison maintain the increased level of safety felt by vulnerable prisoners as the regime opens up?
Governor / Director
Safety