Prison
Cat B, C, D, local, YOI
Key Concerns Identified
Positive Findings
Norwich
IMB Annual Report 2021 · Published 23 July 2021
HMP/YOI Norwich, a multi-functional category B, C, D, and YOI prison, experienced significant operational challenges during the COVID-19 pandemic, leading to severely restricted regimes. Key concerns include persistent overcrowding with inadequate toilet privacy, a severe rat infestation, and the lack of rehabilitative programmes for IPP prisoners. Despite strong local leadership and staff teamwork, issues such as staffing shortages, poor healthcare access, and inadequate induction processes remain pressing concerns for the Board.
Positive Findings
The Board commends the strong and effective local leadership during Covid at HMP/YOI Norwich, noting successful teamwork between prison and civilian staff who often went above and beyond. The compliance of the majority of prisoners with restrictions was commendable, and various initiatives to alleviate boredom were appreciated. The Board welcomes recent funded restoration plans for A wing and further expansion projects, alongside promising progress on the clean and decent agenda, enabling environments, and drug-free wings. Improvements in security measures, including a new enhanced gate and detection equipment, have aided in finding illicit substances.
Key Concerns
Overcrowding
Repeated
The prison is overpopulated and toilet facilities in doubled-up cells lack essential privacy.
Estate/Conditions
It is unacceptable to have an infestation of rats.
Regime/Time Out of Cell
locking up prisoners for so much of the day (for about 22 hours) is inhumane.
Staffing
Repeated
The Board continues to question the ability to run safe and stable regimes dedicated to the rehabilitation of offenders with the ongoing inadequacy in the number of officers, inadequate resources and lack of sufficient suitable programmes in prisons.
Healthcare
Prisoners identify dental provision as inadequate with limited or no access to a dentist, even in an emergency.
Mental Health
Caseloads for the mental health team are very heavy.
Education/Purposeful Activity
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.
Regime/Time Out of Cell
Current induction processes during Covid are brief and inadequate, confusing some new prisoners.
Other
the Board has concerns that the destruction of all of the private correspondence of prisoners is arguably an infringement of Article 8 of the Human Rights Act
Board Commentary
Staffing
The prison faced huge and unpredictable shortfalls in staffing due to COVID-19, which led to the curtailment of the useful key worker programme. Staffing inadequacy impacts the ability to run stable regimes and complete essential duties like Accommodation Fabric Checks. However, all staff demonstrated strong teamwork, with physical education instructors and civilian staff assisting in multiple roles.
Healthcare
Healthcare provision, while broadly equivalent to community standards (except dentistry), was difficult for the Board to monitor due to COVID-19. Prisoners reported poor GP access but good nursing care. Dental provision is inadequate, with limited or no emergency access. Mental health caseloads are heavy, and access to dispensary hatches and an accessible shower in the healthcare unit are issues.
Regime & Daily Life
Covid-19 severely restricted the regime, leading to prisoners being locked in their cells for approximately 22 hours daily, which the Board considers inhumane. Time out of cell and activities were very limited, primarily for those working. Education was confined to in-cell packs and TV, and gym classes were suspended. This significantly impacted prisoners' wellbeing and mental health.
Recommendations (38)
Ministry of Justice: 11
HMPPS: 10
Governor / Director: 17
1 repeated
Recommendation 1
Will the Minister explain why the allocation of visits to the IMB at HMP/YOI Norwich has been reduced to 455 when in recent years over 800 visits were considered necessary to monitor effectively this 'important and complex prison' (HMIP 2019)? e .g. 835 visits were recorded in the 2019 annual report (see section 8).
Ministry of Justice
Board Activity
Recommendation 2
Will the Minister explain why there were 18 prisoners serving indeterminate sentences for public protection (IPP) and 17 life sentenced prisoners in HMP/YOI Norwich in February 2021 without provision of any offending behaviour programmes or accredited interventions to allow progression towards release?(see section 7.3)
Ministry of Justice
Resettlement
Recommendation 3
Will the Minister confirm that the plan for an increased prison population will ensure sufficient, decent prison spaces alongside adequate provision of rehabilitative programmes and interventions?
Ministry of Justice
Overcrowding
Recommendation 4
will the Minister share research evidencing the benefit of lengthier imprisonment against the well documented evidence that indicates long-term imprisonment can produce 'a specific cluster of mental health symptoms: in addition to PTSD, this cluster was characterised by institutionalised personality traits, social-sensory disorientation and alienation' and 'post-incarceration syndrome (which) constitute a discrete subtype of PTSD'.
Ministry of Justice
Mental Health
Recommendation 5
The Board asks if the Minister will confirm the Government's commitment to immediate implementation of this proposal?
Ministry of Justice
Mental Health
Recommendation 6
The Board recognises the need for security screening of correspondence but asks the Minister to comment upon the possible implications of Article 8 of the Human Rights Act regarding proportionality in respect of the destruction of personal correspondence (see section 4.6).
Ministry of Justice
Respect
Recommendation 7
Will the recognition of local need carry through to priority allocation of drug rehabilitation services in HMP/YOI Norwich?
Ministry of Justice
Substance Misuse
Recommendation 8
How is the Government planning to build on the regional homelessness prevention taskforce (HPT) to eradicate homelessness for released prisoners and ensure that there is equity of accommodation provision for the homeless throughout the UK?
Ministry of Justice
Resettlement
Recommendation 9
Will the Minister outline the Government's further strategies to realise this goal as five years on, staff at HMP/YOI Norwich still do not have adequate resources, authority and tools?
Ministry of Justice
Staffing
Recommendation 10
When expert opinion suggests that prisons should have been chosen for vaccine prioritisation, will the Minister explain why prisons were not selected as a priority group?
Ministry of Justice
Healthcare
Recommendation 11
Will the Minister advise the action that will be taken to mitigate the effects of delayed hearings on remand prisoners in reception prisons, caused by the growing backlogs in courts? (see section 6.2).
Ministry of Justice
Regime
Recommendation 12
The Board requests that the prison service looks into the case of the prisoner referred to in section 5.2 (Segregation/Special Accommodation) as his treatment is inhumane and there are fears for his wellbeing. This does not in any way reflect upon the care for this prisoner given by HMP/YOI Norwich which continues to be fair, but on the individual specifics of this prisoner and the impropriety of him being imprisoned at HMP/YOI Norwich.
HMPPS
Humane Treatment
Recommendation 13
Repeated
The Board reiterates the concerns of Dame Anne Owers in her letter of 11 November 2020 to the Director General of Prisons regarding the decision that the making of a ligature by prisoners is no longer a nationally reportable self-harm incident.
HMPPS
Safety
Recommendation 14
Following the Covid pandemic and the undeniable impact on the wellbeing of prisoners and staff, how is the Prison Service planning to ameliorate this situation?
HMPPS
Wellbeing
Recommendation 15
Will HMPPS explain why the prisoners in L wing were not treated like care-home residents in terms of priority for Covid vaccine when they are equally at 'higher clinical risk of severe disease and mortality' (Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) 26 January 2021), and their environment is comparable?
HMPPS
Healthcare
Recommendation 16
Following the noted decrease in violent incidents in prisons during Covid, can HMPPS assure the Board that a reduction in time out of cell will not be considered as a viable long-term solution for reducing violence? Can HMPPS further assure the Board that increasing the quality of the management of prisoners while they are out of their cells will take precedence?
HMPPS
Safety
Recommendation 17
The Board asks HMPPS for evidence of an improvement for prisoners and their property through the new prisoner escort and custody service (PECS) contract. How is this improving the tracking of prisoners' property between prisons?
HMPPS
Property
Recommendation 18
Are there plans for refurbishment of the healthcare unit and L Wing to provide a more suitable environment for the ill and elderly?
HMPPS
Estate
Recommendation 19
Are there plans for the replacement/refurbishment of the segregation unit to provide a unit with the scope to allow staff to 'focus on helping prisoners manage their behaviour and problems rather than simply on punishment' (PSO 1700, Introduction)?
HMPPS
Segregation
Recommendation 20
Since the contract was changed, dental services have not been equal to those in the community. Will HMPPS ensure that satisfactory provision of dental care is available at HMP/YOI Norwich?
HMPPS
Healthcare
Recommendation 21
The daily budget for food of £2.02 has not been increased since 2014. Will HMPPs give an indication of when this might be reviewed?
HMPPS
Food
Recommendation 22
The Board asks the Governor to comment upon plans for the following: 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
Governor / Director
Communication
Recommendation 23
The Board asks the Governor to comment upon plans for the following: improving the safety of prisoner movement and meal collection times
Governor / Director
Safety
Recommendation 24
The Board asks the Governor to comment upon plans for the following: further emphasis on the debt framework and bullying reduction
Governor / Director
Safety
Recommendation 25
The Board asks the Governor to comment upon plans for the following: maintaining the focus on decency and provision of basic essentials
Governor / Director
Humane Treatment
Recommendation 26
The Board asks the Governor to comment upon plans for the following: continued emphasis on induction
Governor / Director
Regime
Recommendation 27
The Board asks the Governor to comment upon plans for the following: ensuring that scheduled forums take place and minutes are available
Governor / Director
Regime
Recommendation 28
The Board asks the Governor to comment upon plans for the following: continued emphasis on AFCs
Governor / Director
Estate
Recommendation 29
The Board asks the Governor to comment upon plans for the following: ensuring prisoners feel safe upon the wings
Governor / Director
Safety
Recommendation 30
The Board asks the Governor to comment upon plans for the following: managing prisoners' property effectively, particularly during cell clearances
Governor / Director
Property
Recommendation 31
The Board asks the Governor to comment upon plans for the following: developing the enabling environments
Governor / Director
Regime
Recommendation 32
The Board asks the Governor to comment upon plans for the following: construction of the workshop, category C site
Governor / Director
Education
Recommendation 33
The Board asks the Governor to comment upon plans for the following: restoring the intended role of key worker
Governor / Director
Staffing
Recommendation 34
The Board asks the Governor to comment upon plans for the following: growth and efficacy of the prisoner information desk (PID) scheme
Governor / Director
Regime
Recommendation 35
The Board asks the Governor to comment upon plans for the following: elimination of rats throughout the sites
Governor / Director
Estate
Recommendation 36
The Board asks the Governor to comment upon plans for the following: guaranteeing that governors ensure that complaints and IMB application forms are always readily available on the wings and not only on request from the officers
Governor / Director
Complaints
Recommendation 37
The Board asks the Governor to comment upon plans for the following: Norwich's role in the new HMPPS project which is testing new approaches to reducing re-offending
Governor / Director
Resettlement
Recommendation 38
The Board asks the Governor to comment upon plans for the following: the amended deadlines for completion of actions in HMIP action plan
Governor / Director
Other
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.