Prison
Cat B adult male establishment and young offender inst
Key Concerns Identified
Positive Findings
Nottingham
IMB Annual Report 2020 · Published 6 August 2020
HMP Nottingham saw overall improvements in fairness and safety during the reporting year, including a reduction in violence against staff and deaths in custody. However, self-harm incidents rose significantly, and concerns persist regarding long delays for mental health transfers and the high number of prisoners released without accommodation. The Board also highlighted issues with purposeful activity uptake and the key worker scheme's inconsistent implementation.
Positive Findings
The Board welcomes overall improvements in the prison's running, leading to better fairness and progress in reducing stress, self-harm, and violence. There was a significant drop in property-related complaints and improvements in ACCT processes and mental health service referral times. Violence against staff and fires decreased, and the quantity of circulating drugs appeared to reduce. The prison strengthened equality and diversity management, leading to quicker resolution of discrimination incidents and improved provision for disabled prisoners and those with protected characteristics. Healthcare also reported marked improvements in missed appointments and better management of appointments for vulnerable prisoners.
Key Concerns
Mental Health
Repeated
Difficulties encountered in transferring prisoners with severe mental health issues to an environment where they can be effectively treated.
Resettlement/Release
Repeated
The number of prisoners released without accommodation, and the inadequacy of bail hostel accommodation availability, preventing prisoners from securing home detention curfew (HDC) for which they might otherwise have been eligible.
Estate/Conditions
Difficulties within the service of moving prisoners for whom a category B local prison is not an appropriate location on to parts of the estate more appropriate to their categorisation, sentence plans or personal circumstances.
Safety
Concerns regarding the wider circumstance of a falling population of those convicted of a sexual offence, resulting in wings for these prisoners also being used to house prisoners who are vulnerable because of other issues.
Education/Purposeful Activity
Many prisoners who do not participate [in purposeful activity], with opportunities often unsuitable for those on remand or with short sentences, or not considered worthwhile by prisoners.
Safety
The prevalence of acts of self-harm continued to be a considerable concern to the Board, and levels of self-harm rose in the second half of the reporting year.
Safety
Incidents of violence against prisoners have remained stubbornly high.
Substance Misuse
The new mix of prisoners on the vulnerable prisoner wing has meant that there are now drugs circulating there, which in the past has not, to our knowledge, been the case.
Regime/Time Out of Cell
Some prisoners spent many days, and sometimes weeks, in the FNC, which meant that they could not access normal regime activities.
Other
Repeated
Delays to the registration of PIN telephone numbers.
Other
Mail not being delivered because of indications of contamination on the Rapiscan drug detection equipment.
Food/Catering
Isolated instances where efforts to cut costs have resulted in reduced food quantities, and led to prisoner complaints.
Food/Catering
Repeated
The management of serveries requires sustained attention to prevent unfairness.
Other
Repeated
The provisioning of kit and equipment has been a persistent source of complaint.
Staffing
The key worker scheme was vulnerable to staff being diverted to other operational roles and prisoners often reporting not having one or rarely seeing them.
Segregation
Repeated
Many people with mental health problems and/or personality disorders are placed in the segregation unit because there is no alternative place to keep them and others safe while they are in the prison.
Board Commentary
Staffing
The prison maintained a steady and predictable wing regime due to adequate staffing, leading to fewer complaints about inconsistent approaches. Staff confidence increased, and individual staff showed prompt and caring responses. However, the key worker scheme's implementation was patchy, with staff being diverted and prisoners often reporting not having a key worker or rarely seeing them. While improvements were made, the scheme was suspended due to the pandemic, replaced by a welfare office scheme that supported prisoners during this difficult time.
Healthcare
Prisoners at HMP Nottingham, with a significant proportion having disabilities (27%), face considerable health needs. While challenges persist in meeting external appointments due to transfers or operational issues, there were marked improvements in reducing missed appointments, down to 8.4% in February 2020. Appointments for vulnerable prisoners are now better managed. Mental health services operate seven days a week, reducing referral times from a month to less than a week, but long delays, up to six months, persist for transfers to specialist hospitals under the Mental Health Act.
Regime & Daily Life
The prison maintained a steady and predictable wing regime due to adequate staffing, ensuring prisoners were unlocked at expected times. While some improvements in purposeful activity availability were noted, many prisoners, particularly those on remand or with short sentences, do not participate, finding opportunities unsuitable or not worthwhile. A locked door policy was introduced to improve safety and reduce violence, which has been accepted by prisoners and, along with better recreation equipment, has helped minimise undetected violence. The First Night Centre occasionally had prisoners spending many days, sometimes weeks, unable to access normal regime activities due to accommodation shortages.
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 | |
| Communications | 37 | 36 | |
| Discrimination (Other) | 3 | 5 | |
| Discrimination (Protected Characteristics) | 2 | 3 | |
| Food | 23 | 19 | |
| Healthcare | 48 | 68 | |
| IEP, awards and incentives | 4 | 6 | |
| Pay and debt | 30 | 32 | |
| Property | 25 | 57 | |
| Security | 10 | 16 | |
| Segregation | 13 | 15 | |
| Sentence calculation | 11 | 17 | |
| Staff conduct | 4 | 6 | |
| TOTALS | 279 | 346 | |
| Unspecified | 7 | 9 | |
| Visits | 16 | 14 | |
| Work, vocational training & education | 1 | 3 |
Recommendations (5)
Other: 2
HMPPS: 2
Governor / Director: 1
2 repeated
Recommendation 1
Repeated
Yet again, we remain concerned about the difficulties encountered in transferring prisoners with severe mental health issues to an environment where they can be effectively treated. Once again, the Board would like to see greater availability of more suitable locations for these prisoners.
Other
(minister)
Mental Health
Recommendation 2
Repeated
We also report the significant Board concern in relation to the number of prisoners released without accommodation, and the inadequacy of bail hostel accommodation availability, preventing prisoners from securing home detention curfew (HDC) for which they might otherwise have been eligible. This situation results from failings in the wider community and is beyond the control of the prison and the CRC, and we therefore refer the matter specifically to the minister to raise within government.
Other
(minister)
Resettlement
Recommendation 3
We note with concern the difficulties within the service of moving prisoners for whom a category B local prison is not an appropriate location on to parts of the estate more appropriate to their categorisation, sentence plans or personal circumstances. The Board would like to see service-wide efforts to address these difficulties.
HMPPS
Estate
Recommendation 4
We have concerns regarding the wider circumstance of a falling population of those convicted of a sexual offence, resulting in wings for these prisoners also being used to house prisoners who are vulnerable because of other issues. Given that this is a service-wide circumstance, it may be an area that merits strategic reconsideration by the Director-General of Prisons.
HMPPS
Safety
Recommendation 5
While we have noted improvements in the availability of purposeful activity (education, training and work) and understand the constraints of a local prison without training status, we do note that there remain many prisoners who do not participate. We acknowledge that often the opportunities available are not suitable for those on remand or with short sentences, or they are not considered worthwhile by prisoners. The Board wonders if the opportunities that are more appropriate and popular could be expanded to benefit more prisoners.
Governor / Director
Purposeful Activity
Other IMB Reports for Nottingham
HMIP Inspections
Recent inspections by HM Inspectorate of Prisons for this establishment.
13 May 2024
Unannounced
Safety: 2
Respect: 3
Activity: 1
Release: 2
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.