Prison
Cat B local, C resettlement, YOI
Key Concerns Identified
Positive Findings
Winchester
IMB Annual Report 2020 · Published 6 October 2020
HMP/YOI Winchester made consistent progress in improving performance during a turbulent year, moving from 'serious concern' to 'concern'. The Board commended efforts in operational grip, cleanliness, and staff-prisoner interaction, alongside improvements in self-harm management and a new reception scheme. However, the dilapidated Victorian infrastructure, especially the CSU, posed significant safety and humane treatment challenges, while high rates of violence and issues with healthcare access due to staff shortages and escort availability remained key concerns.
Positive Findings
The Board noted consistent and steady progress in the running of the prison, despite challenging circumstances, and commended improvements in operational grip, cleanliness, staff-prisoner interaction, and management planning. Key achievements included a period of 12 months with no self-inflicted deaths (prior to May 2020), improved management of equality issues with a dedicated officer, and the positive impact of key working on staff-prisoner relationships. The prison also introduced effective new drug detection equipment, improved responses to emergency cell bells and prisoner complaints, and developed a new reception and induction scheme. The education department showed progress with higher student numbers and attendance, and GFSL's facilities maintenance service significantly improved its performance.
Key Concerns
Estate/Conditions
Repeated
The totally unsatisfactory conditions in the Care and Separation Unit (CSU) have not changed since the last Board report, and the plan to build a new CSU has been approved but funding has not yet been secured.
Safety
The dated construction and fabric of the prison’s buildings make it intrinsically unsafe, having already contributed to one major incident (B wing riot).
Safety
HMP/YOI Winchester has one of the highest rates of prisoner-on-prisoner assault, and assaults on staff, despite some reductions, are still high.
Equality/Diversity
Repeated
Prisoners with physical disabilities are still disadvantaged because they cannot always gain access to facilities, including reception, exercise yards, and only one cell is wide enough for a wheelchair.
Estate/Conditions
Repeated
The CSU is dungeon-like and not conducive to the care and rehabilitation of the prison’s most challenging prisoners, with repeated delays in funding and starting a promised replacement building, despite Ministerial assurances.
Healthcare
Making sufficient escorts and runners reliably available remains a considerable challenge, causing medical provision to be 'hit-and-miss' and contributing to high 'did not attend' (DNA) rates for appointments.
Healthcare
The lack of decent and appropriately located clinical space creates a barrier to providing high-quality and safe clinical care.
Resettlement/Release
There are still instances of prisoners being released from prison onto the street with nowhere to go.
Equality/Diversity
An immigration detainee is being held indefinitely in the CSU under IS91, with complex asylum applications issued in a language he can barely speak and no legal representation.
Safety
The exercise yard for vulnerable prisoners is overlooked by the general population in B and C wings, leading to threats, verbal abuse, and refusal to take outside exercise.
Safety
The Emergency Cell Bell (ECB) system remains prone to abuse by prisoners, and a number of calls were not answered for over 30 minutes, with some response times alarmingly high.
Substance Misuse
Drugs entering the prison are still a major problem, with reports of increased cannabis use, drug parcels thrown over walls, and letters soaked in new psychoactive substances.
Overcrowding
Many of the cells designed for single occupancy contain two prisoners, leading to cramped conditions, lack of privacy for ablutions, and insufficient room for two chairs.
Estate/Conditions
Furniture within cells is a constant problem due to regular vandalism, leading to frequent replacement needs and shortages of essential items like televisions, kettles, and pillows.
Mental Health
The unpleasant environment of the CSU has a negative impact on prisoners housed there over long periods, sometimes for more than 50 days, leading them to appear listless and hostile to the Board.
Staffing
Administrative recruitment and retention are difficult, and resources are often insufficient, with the prison competing with local council roles that offer considerably better pay and conditions.
Regime/Time Out of Cell
Staff are often reluctant to place prisoners on report, as some adjudication awards do not reflect the seriousness of the offence, compounded by inconsistent enforcement of the Incentives and Earned Privileges (IEP) system.
Healthcare
The security of medicines remains a concern, following the ease with which prisoners accessed drugs from a wing dispensary during a cell break.
Board Commentary
Staffing
Staffing levels generally held to previous year's improved figures with a good retention rate, though new recruits were sometimes inexperienced. Key working was introduced and had a positive impact on prisoner/staff relationships, though it was suspended due to COVID-19 before an exceptional delivery model was introduced for vulnerable prisoners. Administrative recruitment and retention remain difficult, with the prison competing with higher-paying local council roles, suggesting a market force supplement is needed to secure full administrative resourcing.
Healthcare
Healthcare services, provided by CNWL NHS Foundation Trust, made huge efforts to deliver high-quality care despite a poor physical environment and challenging patient group. However, high staff vacancies (48%) necessitated reliance on bank and agency staff, and a significant challenge was ensuring sufficient escorts and runners, leading to high 'did not attend' (DNA) rates for GP (18%) and dental (over 30%) appointments. The lack of clinical space on wings also created barriers to care, and the waiting list for optician appointments was long. The security of medicines remains a concern.
Regime & Daily Life
The dated Victorian infrastructure, particularly the Care and Separation Unit (CSU), continues to prevent humane treatment of prisoners, being described as dungeon-like and unsuitable for care. Many single-occupancy cells still house two prisoners, lacking privacy for ablutions and space for two chairs. During COVID-19, prisoners were confined to cells for longer, with vulnerable prisoners' exercise yards overlooked and subject to abuse. Vandalism contributes to constant shortages of cell furniture like televisions, kettles, and mattresses, highlighting issues with both facilities and prisoner frustration.
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 | |
| Catering | 5 | 8 | |
| Disciplinary issues | 3 | 12 | |
| Drugs | 0 | 0 | |
| Education, training and employment | 2 | 2 | — |
| Family issues | 2 | 3 | |
| Healthcare (including mental health) | 16 | 13 | |
| Legal | 15 | 23 | |
| Other | 12 | 19 | |
| Pay/money/debt | 4 | 5 | |
| Personal property | 41 | 38 | |
| Staff/prisoner relationships | 0 | 0 | |
| Total | 151 | 169 | |
| Visits | 1 | 3 | |
| Vulnerable prisoners (including segregation) | 5 | 5 | — |
Recommendations (10)
Ministry of Justice: 2
Home Office: 1
HMPPS: 2
Governor / Director: 5
2 repeated
Recommendation 1
Repeated
Prev. unaddressed
Despite the Board informing ministers for several years that the CSU in HMP/YOI Winchester is unfit for habitation, unsafe and prevents the humane treatment of prisoners, there is still no definite date or funding for the start of a promised replacement building (see sections 2, 3.1, 3.2, 3.5, 4.4, 5.2, 6.2, 6.3). When will this unacceptable and dangerous situation be resolved?
Ministry of Justice
Estate
Recommendation 2
In the 2019/20 annual prison performance ratings, HMPPS identified HMP/YOI Winchester as one of many male local prisons with unsatisfactory infrastructure and poor performance (see section 3.1). What will the minister do to make improvements and raise standards in Winchester, as part of the local prison cohort?
Ministry of Justice
Overall Performance
Recommendation 3
We ask the minister to investigate, with the Home Office, why a prisoner who has served his prison sentence appears to be being held indefinitely in HMP/YOI Winchester under IS91? Why are foreign nationals issued with complicated asylum applications written in a language they do not speak (see section 4.4)?
Home Office
Resettlement
Recommendation 4
A pay supplement for prison administrative staff would ease recruitment difficulties. Can this be considered (see section 5.9)?
HMPPS
Staffing
Recommendation 5
Repeated
Prev. unaddressed
There is still no access to the prison’s reception area for prisoners who are physically disabled and/or in wheelchairs, and only one cell on the wings that can admit a wheelchair (see section 3.2). Can this be resolved please?
HMPPS
Equality
Recommendation 6
Will the Governor ensure that runners and escorts are reliably available to enable healthcare staff to deliver the required provision (see sections 3.2 and 6.2)?
Governor / Director
Healthcare
Recommendation 7
Will the Governor make clinical space available on the wings? It would transform outpatient appointments and reduce the need for runners (see section 6.2).
Governor / Director
Healthcare
Recommendation 8
Will the Governor ensure that the property office has sufficient staffing to resolve prisoners’ issues promptly and efficiently (see section 5.8)?
Governor / Director
Other
Recommendation 9
Will the Governor endeavour to solve the problem of the exercise yard for vulnerable prisoners being overlooked by B and C wings (see section 4.4)?
Governor / Director
Safety
Recommendation 10
Will the Governor provide the Board with clerking support that meets, more closely, the tasks agreed in the memorandum of understanding between the IMB and the Ministry of Justice (see section 8)?
Governor / Director
Other
Other IMB Reports for Winchester
HMIP Inspections
Recent inspections by HM Inspectorate of Prisons for this establishment.
23 Oct 2024
Urgent Notification
7 Oct 2024
Unannounced
Safety: 1
Respect: 1
Activity: 1
Release: 3
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.