Prison
Cat D, YOI, open
Key Concerns Identified
Positive Findings
Sudbury
IMB Annual Report 2020 · Published 26 November 2020
HMP/YOI Sudbury, an open Category D resettlement prison, generally maintained a safe environment with low self-harm and violence rates during a challenging reporting year ending May 2020, impacted significantly by the COVID-19 pandemic. While the prison demonstrated strong commitment to family ties and successful accommodation on release, it faced considerable disruption in education provision and concerns regarding resettlement planning for prisoners with shorter sentences. The Board also highlighted issues around accessibility for disabled prisoners and the need for more robust policies for managing future public health crises.
Positive Findings
The prison generally provides a safe environment with low self-harm and violence incidents, and good support for ACCT cases. The IMB commends the prison's efforts in supporting family ties and securing accommodation for released prisoners, with a very low number of no fixed abode releases. Significant improvements were made to residential areas, and the food quality is good.
Key Concerns
Safety
Given the ongoing threat to prisoner safety posed by COVID-19, will the minister produce a more robust policy on early release under licence?
Estate/Conditions
Given the expectation that COVID-19 or similar new diseases are likely to pose problems for prisons in the medium to long term, are there plans to fund the extension of single room provision on a more permanent basis?
Resettlement/Release
What measures are proposed to ensure that the return of probation services to the public sector will be managed more smoothly than the privatisation, which led to huge disruption in release on temporary licence (ROTL) planning for many prisoners?
Equality/Diversity
Will the temporary single accommodation introduced as part of the COVID-19 measures be fully accessible?
Equality/Diversity
Prisoners with physical and mental health disabilities are sometimes disadvantaged, in terms of accessing employment and educational opportunities within the prison. How does the prison plan to address this?
Education/Purposeful Activity
Problems in education provision, which have been exacerbated by the pandemic, were noted and recorded by Board members following the change of contract. This is particularly disappointing for a prison which focuses on resettlement.
Resettlement/Release
A significant proportion of prisoners arrive with very little time to access and benefit from the resettlement opportunities which are designed to support them in effective transition to life after release, with 56% having less than six months to serve.
Resettlement/Release
Lack of information, advice and guidance for prisoners in relation to securing education, training and employment on release.
Board Commentary
Staffing
Healthcare staff demonstrate resilience in coping with fluctuating staffing levels, though GP recruitment remains challenging for the prison. The library service experienced staff shortages. The IMB itself has been operating with a low number of members and had recruitment put on hold due to external events.
Healthcare
Overall, the prison effectively meets health and wellbeing needs, offering a wide range of clinics and nurse-led therapies. Healthcare staff manage well despite changing staffing levels, with GP waiting times averaging one week for routine appointments. Mental health services are robust, with 41% of the population having a diagnosis, and urgent referrals seen within two days.
Regime & Daily Life
HMP Sudbury operates an open regime where prisoners are not locked in cells, allowing access to work, dining, and extensive indoor and outdoor recreation, including gym facilities, throughout the day. However, the COVID-19 lockdown severely disrupted the regime, leading to the cessation of classroom lessons, library services, and most ROTL, impacting purposeful activity.
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 | 3 | — |
| Canteen, facility list, catalogue(s) | 1 | 2 | |
| Discipline, including adjudications, IEP, sanctions | 0 | 0 | |
| Equality | 1 | 0 | |
| Finance, including pay, private monies, spends | 3 | 0 | |
| Food and kitchens | 0 | 1 | |
| Health, including physical, mental, social care | 2 | 4 | |
| Letters, visits, telephones, public protection restrictions | 1 | 2 | |
| Miscellaneous, including complaints system | 4 | — | |
| Property during transfer or in another establishment or location | 2 | 7 | |
| Property within this establishment | 0 | 1 | |
| Purposeful activity, including education, work, training, library, regime, time out of cell | 1 | 3 | |
| Sentence management, including HDC, ROTL licence, parole, release dates, recategorisation | 3 | 4 | |
| Staff/prisoner concerns, including bullying | 0 | 2 | |
| Transfers | 1 | 0 |
Recommendations (5)
Ministry of Justice: 2
HMPPS: 1
Governor / Director: 2
Recommendation 1
Given the ongoing threat to prisoner safety posed by COVID-19, will the minister produce a more robust policy on early release under licence?
Ministry of Justice
Safety
Recommendation 2
Given the expectation that COVID-19 or similar new diseases are likely to pose problems for prisons in the medium to long term, are there plans to fund the extension of single room provision on a more permanent basis?
Ministry of Justice
Estate
Recommendation 3
What measures are proposed to ensure that the return of probation services to the public sector will be managed more smoothly than the privatisation, which led to huge disruption in release on temporary licence (ROTL) planning for many prisoners?
HMPPS
Resettlement
Recommendation 4
Will the temporary single accommodation introduced as part of the COVID-19 measures be fully accessible?
Governor / Director
Equality
Recommendation 5
Prisoners with physical and mental health disabilities are sometimes disadvantaged, in terms of accessing employment and educational opportunities within the prison. How does the prison plan to address this?
Governor / Director
Equality
Other IMB Reports for Sudbury
PPO Fatal Incidents
Prisons and Probation Ombudsman fatal incident investigations for this establishment.