Prison
Cat D open prison
Key Concerns Identified
Positive Findings
Ford
IMB Annual Report 2020 · Published 3 February 2021
HMP Ford is a Category D open prison focusing on resettlement, but the reporting year (ending October 2020) was severely impacted by COVID-19 restrictions. While staff are commended for managing the situation and keeping the prison COVID-free, the Board expresses significant concerns. These include the long-standing issue of poor accommodation, increased drug use, violence, and communication breakdowns exacerbated by the pandemic, all of which hinder the prison's resettlement function.
Positive Findings
The Governor and staff are commended for their management of the COVID-19 situation, particularly for measures taken to keep the prison free of the virus. Healthcare is highly regarded by prisoners, and the quality of service from the new provider, Practice Plus Group, has been consistently high. The chaplaincy provides excellent pastoral care, and the prison received an Excellence in Prison Libraries Award for its "Well-being Through Creative Writing" project. The business and community engagement manager is commended for assisting prisoners with furlough applications during a period of confusion.
Key Concerns
Resettlement/Release
Rehabilitation should be at the forefront of policy decisions relating to the open estate and your department’s handling of the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (“furlough”) was deplorable. Conflicting and misleading information has almost certainly led to some men leaving the prison system disadvantaged by significant amounts of money with which to re-enter the community at a time when they needed every penny to establish themselves in a life outside crime.
Regime/Time Out of Cell
Repeated
For the second year running the Board comments on your service’s apparent lack of understanding of Category D open prisons. The Prisons National Framework response to COVID-19 including the coloured Levels/Stages diagram and supporting text failed to mention ROTL, even at Levels 1 or 2 where it might be expected. The Board understands that the number one priority was the preservation of life but the omission of ROTL showed a complete lack of awareness of the vital part it plays in the resettlement of prisoners and in their sentence planning.
Estate/Conditions
Repeated
This is the 12th year running that we register our dismay at the parlous state of accommodation at HMP Ford. 50% of prisoners share rooms. Whilst this is bad enough during usual times, most prisoners are at least then engaged in education, training or employment during the daytime. During lockdown, however, men have been in their rooms for many more hours per day in close confined conditions. This has not been humane.
Education/Purposeful Activity
HMP Ford developed and extensively tested an innovative IT unit with limited and secure internet access which sat empty for two years. This unit could have been put to vital use during COVID-19 to enable prisoners to start the online registration for Universal Credit, search for employment in these trying times for the country prior to release as well as pursuing academic education.
Staffing
HMP Ford continues to have a workforce which in no way mirrors the ethnic makeup of the prisoner community. Only 2% of the staff describe themselves as Black Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME).
Safety
Unsettled atmosphere and increased tensions that have arisen as a consequence of COVID-19 and the impact on HMP Ford as a resettlement prison.
Staffing
Respondents to the Board’s exit survey and prisoners approaching Board members directly and through applications commented consistently on poor communication, especially between offender supervisors (OS) and prisoners.
Equality/Diversity
The Board would like to see effective action to address the consistent ethnic imbalance in the profiles of men working outside the prison.
Food/Catering
Repeated
The breakdown of the blast chiller in March meant that many of the menu options previously offered, particularly those containing lamb or beef, had to be withdrawn. A replacement blast chiller had still not arrived by the end of the reporting period and is now not expected till January 2021. In addition two new cookers have been sitting idle for most of the current year as they cannot be connected to the prison’s gas supply. This is the second year running that the Board has reported on kitchen equipment failures.
Regime/Time Out of Cell
Many of the six washers and four dryers in the prisoners’ laundry are regularly broken. This can mean prisoners going out to work and representing HMP Ford having no reliable source of clean, dry clothes.
Substance Misuse
For several months during COVID-19 restrictions mandatory drug testing (MDT) stopped altogether and drug use increased. ‘‘Throwovers’’ of contraband also increased significantly.
Safety
The inability to transfer unsuitable men to closed conditions saw an increase in illicit behaviour, prisoner on prisoner violence and prisoners stating that they felt unsafe.
Complaints/Property
Repeated
Property remains a problem. Prisoners are permitted some personal property but this is not consistently managed throughout the prison estate, resulting in issues when prisoners are transferred. There is also a lack of accountability in property handling. Complaints should be addressed within 20 days but in this reporting period the longest delay was 224 days.
Regime/Time Out of Cell
Repeated
The very high cost of PIN phones at HMP Ford. Calls cost considerably more than in prisons with in-cell telephones. This, together with low wages for many internal jobs, leaves men at a disadvantage when planning for release. In many billets the phones are located in a communal space giving no privacy.
Board Commentary
Staffing
The staffing position was exacerbated by prisoners remaining in the prison due to ROTL cessation, nearly doubling the effective population without additional staff. Staff shortages also reduced time spent on safer custody duties. The Board noted that only 2% of staff identify as BAME, significantly out of step with the prisoner population, urging more imaginative recruitment. Poor communication between offender supervisors and prisoners was a consistent complaint, partly due to OS having diverse duties including night work.
Healthcare
Healthcare transitioned to Care UK (rebranded to Practice Plus Group) in April 2020, with the service maintaining consistently high quality. A weekend service with a general health and mental health nurse was introduced during lockdown. Only one prisoner tested positive for COVID-19 and recovered fully. The mental health team manages an average of 60-65 active cases per month, and dementia care is managed within the prison, with good links to external support for older prisoners on release.
Regime & Daily Life
The COVID-19 lockdown profoundly altered the open prison regime, stopping outside work, education, and family visits, effectively converting Ford into a closed prison without corresponding staffing. This led to prisoners spending many more hours in their small, often shared, cells under inhumane conditions. Purposeful activity was severely curtailed, with 270 men not working for seven months. Exercise was limited to two daily slots for walking in designated grounds, with some gym equipment moved outside.
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 | 3 | 1 | |
| Canteen, facility list, catalogue(s) | 2 | 0 | |
| Discipline, including adjudications, IEP, sanctions | 1 | 1 | — |
| Equality | 1 | 1 | — |
| Finance, including pay, private monies, spends | 3 | 8 | |
| Food and kitchens | 0 | 0 | |
| Health, including physical, mental, social care | 4 | 9 | |
| Letters, visits, telephones, public protection restrictions | 5 | 0 | |
| Miscellaneous, including complaints system | 2 | 7 | |
| Property during transfer or in another establishment or location | 7 | 28 | |
| Property within this establishment | 3 | 2 | |
| Purposeful activity, including education, work, training, library, regime, time out of cell | 2 | 11 | |
| Sentence management, including HDC, release on temporary licence, parole, release dates, recategorisation | 12 | 31 | |
| Staff/prisoner concerns, including bullying | 3 | 1 | |
| Transfers | 0 | 3 |
Recommendations (8)
HMPPS: 4
Governor / Director: 3
Ministry of Justice: 1
2 repeated
Recommendation 1
Repeated
For the second year running the Board comments on your service’s apparent lack of understanding of Category D open prisons. The Prisons National Framework response to COVID-19 including the coloured Levels/Stages diagram and supporting text failed to mention ROTL, even at Levels 1 or 2 where it might be expected. The Board understands that the number one priority was the preservation of life but the omission of ROTL showed a complete lack of awareness of the vital part it plays in the resettlement of prisoners and in their sentence planning.
HMPPS
Regime
Recommendation 1
We are concerned with the unsettled atmosphere and increased tensions that have arisen as a consequence of COVID-19 and the impact on HMP Ford as a resettlement prison.
Governor / Director
Safety
Recommendation 2
Repeated
Prev. unaddressed
This is the 12th year running that we register our dismay at the parlous state of accommodation at HMP Ford. 50% of prisoners share rooms. Whilst this is bad enough during usual times, most prisoners are at least then engaged in education, training or employment during the daytime. During lockdown, however, men have been in their rooms for many more hours per day in close confined conditions. This has not been humane.
HMPPS
Estate
Recommendation 2
Respondents to the Board’s exit survey and prisoners approaching Board members directly and through applications commented consistently on poor communication, especially between offender supervisors (OS) and prisoners. This caused particular frustration at a time when prisoners’ movements were restricted.
Governor / Director
Staffing
Recommendation 3
You may remember that HMP Ford developed and extensively tested an innovative IT unit with limited and secure internet access which sat empty for two years. This unit could have been put to vital use during COVID-19 to enable prisoners to start the online registration for Universal Credit, search for employment in these trying times for the country prior to release as well as pursuing academic education. The Board would urge the Prison Service to reconsider this for the future as prisoners on release are faced with an “online” world.
HMPPS
Education
Recommendation 3
The Board would like to see effective action to address the consistent ethnic imbalance in the profiles of men working outside the prison.
Governor / Director
Equality
Recommendation 4
In June 2020 the Director General of Prisons wrote: ‘We are making changes to improve the fairness of our processes and to improve the representation of ethnic minority people in our workforce’. HMP Ford continues to have a workforce which in no way mirrors the ethnic makeup of the prisoner community. The Board urges you to recruit more imaginatively in 2021 or find other ways to improve this situation.
HMPPS
Staffing
Recommendation 8
Rehabilitation should be at the forefront of policy decisions relating to the open estate and your department’s handling of the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (“furlough”) was deplorable. Conflicting and misleading information has almost certainly led to some men leaving the prison system disadvantaged by significant amounts of money with which to re-enter the community at a time when they needed every penny to establish themselves in a life outside crime.
Ministry of Justice
Resettlement