Prison
Cat C resettlement
Key Concerns Identified
Positive Findings
Lancaster Farms
IMB Annual Report 2021 · Published 14 July 2021
HMP Lancaster Farms, a Category C resettlement prison, maintained a safe environment despite the COVID-19 pandemic, which significantly reduced violence and drug use through an emergency regime. However, this regime led to extensive confinement, severely impacting purposeful activity, education, and family contact, raising concerns about humane treatment and mental health. The Board highlighted persistent issues with self-harm, use of force, inadequate mental health staffing, property management, and accommodation, while also noting improvements in complaints handling and key worker interactions.
Positive Findings
The Board noted effective management of risks at safety intervention meetings and successful collaboration among staff. Measures taken during the pandemic, such as the emergency regime, were largely successful in controlling virus spread and led to a marked reduction in violence and substance misuse. Staff were commended for treating prisoners with decency and respect, offering support like extra pin credit and wellbeing checks. Primary healthcare services were maintained, and initiatives for exercise equipment were deployed. Progress was made in complaints handling, key worker interactions, and the start of in-cell telephony installation. The prison introduced daily welfare checks for vulnerable prisoners, increased use of body-worn cameras, and saw a decline in illicit substances. Psychological support and trauma therapy arrangements were also put in place.
Key Concerns
Safety
The continuation of high levels of self-harm among a minority of prisoners and particularly the high frequency of incidents of self-harm among a small number of prisoners, many of whom have challenging and complex mental health needs yet continue to be accommodated at HMP Lancaster Farms rather than transferred to specialist, secure mental health facilities.
Safety
Repeated
The number of instances of use of force by prison officers remains high.
Regime/Time Out of Cell
High levels of confinement to cells, with few in-cell activities, little or no in-person contact with families and highly restricted access to telephones, for periods of many months.
Estate/Conditions
Repeated
A minority of prisoners continue to be accommodated in double cells without screening of the toilet.
Estate/Conditions
Significant outstanding issues remain, notably the instances of poor ventilation in some cells and, within the CSU, the absence of electricity in some cells, bleak exercise yards and inadequate drainage.
Complaints/Property
In some cases responses to complaints are inappropriately delayed and that prisoners are not kept updated on progress.
Other
Repeated
The prison’s treatment of prisoner property, particularly on arrival at HMP Lancaster Farms, remained an issue of concern for the Board.
Mental Health
The overall level of staffing for mental health services and the lack of physical space for staff and therapy are matters of concern for the Board, as is the cessation of drug rehabilitation work and the difficulties in finding suitable alternative, specialist accommodation for prisoners facing serious mental health difficulties.
Education/Purposeful Activity
The withdrawal of staff by the education provider, NOVUS, and the gradual development of education via packs delivered to prisoners in cells, resulting in a marked reduction in prisoners’ progress through educational courses during the year.
Regime/Time Out of Cell
Most workplaces ceased, with the introduction of the emergency regime to manage infection risk, resulting in very limited progress towards the completion of vocational courses and the valuable work experience that is normally offered to prisoners.
Resettlement/Release
Offending behaviour programmes were ceased, alongside other educational and vocational courses, leading to significant obstacles for prisoners seeking progression to category D status during the year.
Regime/Time Out of Cell
Restrictions introduced to reduce COVID-19 infection risk also affected the availability of visits and hence the continuation of family contact. Whilst the alternative “Purple Visits” via online video meetings between prisoners and families were welcomed in principle, delays, technical difficulties and the lack of privacy offered to prisoners have limited their impact and effectiveness.
Equality/Diversity
The delay in sourcing individual wheelchairs (up to 15 weeks) is excessive and unacceptable, directly impacting on the fair treatment of prisoners with reduced mobility.
Food/Catering
The overwhelming majority of food hygiene logs are not being completed at the appropriate time.
Board Commentary
Staffing
Staff-prisoner relationships were generally positive, with increased key worker interactions, although the Board expressed doubts about the reliability of statistics and some prisoners reported infrequent contact. Mental health services faced significant staffing challenges, with ten staff providing less than five full-time posts, leading to long wait times and concern regarding the lack of physical space for staff and therapy. Staff absences due to the pandemic also affected the safer custody team.
Healthcare
Spectrum Community Health CIC provided primary healthcare, with mental health services sub-contracted to Tees, Esk and Wear Valleys NHS Foundation Trust. Healthcare services were stretched by the pandemic, but primary care was largely maintained. Non-urgent dental wait times reached 20 weeks, and non-urgent GP referrals took 10-14 days. Mental health services were particularly challenged by staffing levels (less than five FTE posts for ten staff), lack of space, and high thresholds for transfers, despite high levels of self-harm incidents. Arrangements for trauma therapy were welcomed.
Regime & Daily Life
The emergency regime, implemented in response to COVID-19, significantly reduced time out of cell, with prisoners often confined for 22 hours or more per day for many months, which the Board found inconsistent with humane treatment. This severely curtailed purposeful activities, education, work, offending behaviour programmes, and family visits. However, this regime did contribute to a marked reduction in violence and drug misuse and some prisoners reported more time out of cell than in other establishments.
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 | |
| Discrimination | 5 | 4 | |
| Healthcare | 13 | 19 | |
| Legal | 4 | 4 | — |
| Other (e.g. IEP, regime, visits, pay) | 22 | 24 | |
| Property | 13 | 11 | |
| Segregation | 4 | 2 | |
| Staff issues | 10 | 15 | |
| TOTAL | 116 | 117 |
Recommendations (14)
Ministry of Justice: 3
HMPPS: 2
Governor / Director: 9
1 repeated
Recommendation 1
To reconsider and improve the strategies available to the prison to manage and reduce the number of incidents of self-harm, particularly among the small number of prisoners who frequently self-harm and could be assessed as demonstrating severe mental health difficulties (paragraphs 4.2.2, 6.3.5).
Ministry of Justice
Safety
Recommendation 2
To review the level of staffing and facilities associated with the provision of mental health services within the prison (6.3.2).
Ministry of Justice
Mental Health
Recommendation 3
To conduct a wide-ranging review of all aspects of the response by the Prison Service to the pandemic, aiming to improve the fair and humane treatment of prisoners and their preparation for release by addressing a number of key issues raised in this report such as the provision of (and incentivisation of) in-cell education (7.1.4), the availability and effectiveness of “Purple Visits” (7.4.5), and the rapid deployment of PPE, testing and other measures to reduce infection risk (3.1.2).
Ministry of Justice
Regime
Recommendation 4
To review the suitability and implications of making transfers between prisons on Fridays (4.1.2).
HMPPS
Transfers
Recommendation 5
To complete the ongoing review of the management of prisoner property (5.8.5).
HMPPS
Property
Recommendation 6
Repeated
Prev. unaddressed
To ensure that work previously planned to introduce screening of toilets within double cells is completed as soon as possible (paragraph 5.1.2).
Governor / Director
Estate
Recommendation 7
Prev. unaddressed
To review and progress improvements and repairs to accommodation, including the improvements to ventilation in the FNU and to the exercise yards, drainage and provision of electricity to all cells within the CSU (paragraphs 5.1.5, 5.2.1).
Governor / Director
Estate
Recommendation 8
To review and improve communication with prisoners in key areas such as the progress towards resolving or responding to complaints, decisions relating to IEP and the reasons for re-categorisation (paragraphs 5.6.5, 5.7.6, 7.3.2).
Governor / Director
Communication
Recommendation 9
To ensure that the equality action team (paragraph 5.4.1) and prisoner council meetings (paragraph 5.4.2) are re-started as soon as possible.
Governor / Director
Equality
Recommendation 10
To arrange for the training for new Listeners to be arranged and completed as soon as possible (paragraph 4.2.5).
Governor / Director
Safety
Recommendation 11
Prev. unaddressed
To confirm that processes previously agreed with the Board, such as that the Board will be notified immediately following the deployment of PAVA or the use of the special cell, remain in force (paragraph 5.2.5).
Governor / Director
Safety
Recommendation 12
To ensure that the recent trend of increased contact between prisoners and their key workers is continued and evidenced by feedback from prisoners (paragraph 5.3.2).
Governor / Director
Staff-prisoner relationships
Recommendation 13
Prev. unaddressed
To review and increase the availability of wheelchairs for those prisoners with restricted mobility (paragraph 6.4.3).
Governor / Director
Healthcare
Recommendation 14
Prev. unaddressed
To take further steps to ensure that food hygiene logs are completed for each wing at each meal (paragraph 5.1.8).
Governor / Director
Food
Other IMB Reports for Lancaster Farms
PPO Fatal Incidents
Prisons and Probation Ombudsman fatal incident investigations for this establishment.