Prison
Cat D, YOI
Key Concerns Identified
Positive Findings
Thorn Cross
IMB Annual Report 2020 · Published 14 July 2020
HMP/YOI Thorn Cross is a high-performing open prison for adult males, offering a positive rehabilitative culture where prisoners generally feel safe and are treated humanely. While the prison demonstrates good healthcare provision and strong staff-prisoner relationships, key concerns include the unsatisfactory state of the OMU building, the unsuitability of new furniture, and issues surrounding prisoner transfers, particularly regarding drug status and medical needs. The Board also highlights the need for a re-evaluation of mobile phone use and the high cost of telephone calls to maintain family links.
Positive Findings
HMP/YOI Thorn Cross continues to be a high-performing prison, providing a positive and purposeful rehabilitative culture where prisoners feel safe and are known by the staff. The Governor and his team took decisive action to safeguard prisoners and staff during the COVID-19 emergency. Staff treat prisoners with courtesy and respect, and relationships between staff and prisoners are very good. The quality of healthcare provision is good, and the prison has a good balance of a calm, relaxed, yet purposeful atmosphere. The OMU team and partner agencies are co-located, facilitating easy information sharing for release planning.
Key Concerns
Regime/Time Out of Cell
Repeated
There is a need to consider the use of mobile phones by prisoners, albeit under strictly controlled conditions.
Resettlement/Release
Repeated
The relatively high cost of telephone calls remains an issue. This has an impact on prisoners’ ability to maintain contact with their families.
Estate/Conditions
Repeated
The state of the building that houses the offender management unit (OMU) is unsatisfactory. This is not new, and although action to secure a replacement has begun, it is by no means certain that a replacement will be found. It should be a high priority.
Estate/Conditions
Repeated
Following the sudden removal of chairs throughout the prison, replacement ones have now arrived. They are totally unsuitable. They look unattractive, easily tip up when you sit on the edge, and are uncomfortable. Prisoners have refused to use them, leaving many without a chair in their rooms. We are not convinced that a more suitable chair, at a reasonable cost, that meets fire standards, cannot be found.
Safety
The fire alarm system does not meet current standards. The installation of a new system, including smoke alarms in each room, has been dragging on for some time; however, although planning meetings and site surveys are carried out, nothing actually seems to be happening. A date for completion of the work should be set within the next year.
Substance Misuse
Over the year, a number of concerns have been raised by the Governor and officers regarding the assessment and transfer process from closed establishments to Thorn Cross. On transfer, a number of prisoners have tested positive for drugs on reception at the establishment, when they should have been drug free during their assessment period. This puts extra demand on existing resources dealing with rehabilitation, security and withdrawal within Thorn Cross.
Healthcare
An additional concern is the healthcare needs of prisoners who transfer to Thorn Cross while in the process of hospital and other clinical treatment at their current establishment. These prisoners, who require ongoing treatment at specialist centres, cannot easily or quickly be referred to local medical facilities. To enable these prisoners to continue their treatment, significant additional resource requirements are created in terms of escorts and transport from Thorn Cross. Several requests for a ‘medical hold’ process, to allow a deferment until treatment is completed, have been made but none have been approved.
Complaints/Property
Repeated
Prisoners’ belongings continue to go astray when they are being transferred from one establishment to another. The retrieval of property takes up too much time, and too much appears to be left to the discretion of the van driver. This is accompanied by an apparent intransigence on behalf of GeoAmey to play their part in rectifying the issue.
Safety
There have been 20 absconds during the reporting year. The prison responded by holding focus groups with prisoners and undertaking an analysis of those who had absconded, in an attempt to identify any shared underlying characteristics. The result of this work is that, on entry to Thorn Cross, some are identified for discrete monitoring to try to ‘nip in the bud’ matters that might lead to abscond. This initiative needs to be fully evaluated to see if it has been successful.
Regime/Time Out of Cell
The drive to increase the number of prisoners working in the community is laudable and one we support. However, care needs to be taken that this is done in a timely manner that does not raise expectations among prisoners and does not place an undue burden on staff.
Education/Purposeful Activity
The courses lost have not been reintroduced and there is little prospect that they will be. Current courses on offer are geared towards supporting the prisoners to gain employment on release, if not before through release on temporary licence (ROTL).
Substance Misuse
Repeated
Contraband entering the prison. The introduction of a mobile phone designated area may help reduce this.
Mental Health
The MPQL survey raised concerns from prisoners about the level of mental healthcare in the prison and there was a slight increase in the number of prisoners admitting to suicidal thoughts while at Thorn Cross. In particular, respondents felt that additional support or counselling should be provided to help those prisoners struggling to adjust to the open regime. Low-level anxiety around release was also identified by the survey as a concern.
Regime/Time Out of Cell
The policing of smoking areas needs to be more assertive.
Board Commentary
Staffing
The prison benefits from a generally stable staffing complement, contributing to a calm and purposeful atmosphere. Staff sickness issues within healthcare have been resolved, with staffing now at full capacity, and increased staffing in the Offender Management Unit (OMU) has reduced delays in processing applications. Officers are skilled at supporting prisoners to resolve their own problems, fostering self-responsibility. The interactions between staff and prisoners are consistently observed to be respectful and good-humoured, indicating a strong understanding among officers of the prisoners in their care.
Healthcare
Healthcare provision at Thorn Cross is rated as good, with very few complaints and positive prisoner feedback. The on-site team effectively manages most primary healthcare needs, including GP and dentist visits, with waiting times mirroring those in the community. There is a dedicated mental health service, though an MPQL survey raised prisoner concerns about its level and a slight increase in suicidal thoughts. Challenges exist with 'medical hold' for prisoners transferring with ongoing treatment needs, straining prison resources. Staff sickness in primary care has been resolved, leading to full staffing capacity.
Regime & Daily Life
Thorn Cross maintains a purposeful rehabilitative culture, ensuring significant time out of cell for all prisoners, including new arrivals who have a dedicated exercise area. The prison encourages responsibility among prisoners, fostering a calm and relaxed atmosphere. While there is a laudable drive to increase community work placements, the Board cautions that this must be managed carefully to avoid raising unrealistic expectations or overburdening staff. There are concerns regarding the inconsistent policing of smoking areas and the suitability of recently introduced chairs, which prisoners have largely rejected.
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 | 2 | 0 | |
| Canteen, facility list, catalogue(s) | 0 | 2 | |
| Discipline, including adjudications, incentives, sanctions | 0 | 1 | |
| Equality | 0 | 2 | |
| Finance, including pay, private monies, spends | 5 | 6 | |
| Food and kitchens | 3 | 0 | |
| Health, including physical, mental, social care | 0 | 0 | |
| Letters, visits, telephones, public protection restrictions | 3 | 8 | |
| Miscellaneous, including complaints system | 1 | 14 | |
| Property during transfer or in another establishment or location | 14 | 11 | |
| Property within this establishment | 0 | 5 | |
| Purposeful activity, including education, work, training, library, regime, time out of cell | 2 | 3 | |
| Sentence management, including HDC, release on temporary licence, parole, release dates, re categorisation | 10 | 27 | |
| Staff/prisoner concerns, including bullying | 0 | 4 | |
| Total number of applications | 40 | 83 | |
| Transfers | 0 | 0 |
Recommendations (10)
Ministry of Justice: 2
HMPPS: 6
Governor / Director: 2
5 repeated
Recommendation 1
Repeated
Prev. unaddressed
As we reported last year, there is a need to consider the use of mobile phones by prisoners, albeit under strictly controlled conditions. Last year, we called for some ‘blue sky’ thinking on the matter. The answer was a firm ‘no’, without seemingly even considering the needs of prisoners in the open estate. The outbreak of COVID-19 towards the end of the reporting year has meant that some use of mobile phones is now to be permitted. Hopefully, this will prove to be a success and will be something that can continue post COVID-19.
Ministry of Justice
Regime
Response
The outbreak of COVID-19 towards the end of the reporting year has meant that some use of mobile phones is now to be permitted.
Recommendation 2
Repeated
As we highlighted last year, the relatively high cost of telephone calls remains an issue. This has an impact on prisoners’ ability to maintain contact with their families.
Ministry of Justice
Resettlement
Recommendation 3
Repeated
Prev. unaddressed
The state of the building that houses the offender management unit (OMU) is unsatisfactory. This is not new, and although action to secure a replacement has begun, it is by no means certain that a replacement will be found. It should be a high priority.
HMPPS
Estate
Recommendation 4
Repeated
Prev. unaddressed
Following the sudden removal of chairs throughout the prison, replacement ones have now arrived. They are totally unsuitable. They look unattractive, easily tip up when you sit on the edge, and are uncomfortable. Prisoners have refused to use them, leaving many without a chair in their rooms. We are not convinced that a more suitable chair, at a reasonable cost, that meets fire standards, cannot be found.
HMPPS
Estate
Recommendation 5
The fire alarm system does not meet current standards. The residential units have now had adaptations to an external door, which can be opened by the prisoners in an emergency, allowing their exit. The installation of a new system, including smoke alarms in each room, has been dragging on for some time; however, although planning meetings and site surveys are carried out, nothing actually seems to be happening. A date for completion of the work should be set within the next year.
HMPPS
Safety
Recommendation 6
Over the year, a number of concerns have been raised by the Governor and officers regarding the assessment and transfer process from closed establishments to Thorn Cross. On transfer, a number of prisoners have tested positive for drugs on reception at the establishment, when they should have been drug free during their assessment period. This puts extra demand on existing resources dealing with rehabilitation, security and withdrawal within Thorn Cross.
HMPPS
Substance Misuse
Recommendation 7
An additional concern is the healthcare needs of prisoners who transfer to Thorn Cross while in the process of hospital and other clinical treatment at their current establishment. These prisoners, who require ongoing treatment at specialist centres, cannot easily or quickly be referred to local medical facilities. To enable these prisoners to continue their treatment, significant additional resource requirements are created in terms of escorts and transport from Thorn Cross. Several requests for a ‘medical hold’ process, to allow a deferment until treatment is completed, have been made but none have been approved.
HMPPS
Healthcare
Recommendation 8
Repeated
Prev. unaddressed
Prisoners’ belongings continue to go astray when they are being transferred from one establishment to another. The retrieval of property takes up too much time, and too much appears to be left to the discretion of the van driver. This is accompanied by an apparent intransigence on behalf of GeoAmey to play their part in rectifying the issue.
HMPPS
Complaints
Recommendation 9
There have been 20 absconds during the reporting year. The prison responded by holding focus groups with prisoners and undertaking an analysis of those who had absconded, in an attempt to identify any shared underlying characteristics. The result of this work is that, on entry to Thorn Cross, some are identified for discrete monitoring to try to ‘nip in the bud’ matters that might lead to abscond. This initiative needs to be fully evaluated to see if it has been successful.
Governor / Director
Safety
Recommendation 10
The drive to increase the number of prisoners working in the community is laudable and one we support. However, care needs to be taken that this is done in a timely manner that does not raise expectations among prisoners and does not place an undue burden on staff.
Governor / Director
Regime
Other IMB Reports for Thorn Cross
HMIP Inspections
Recent inspections by HM Inspectorate of Prisons for this establishment.
2 May 2023
Unannounced
Safety: 4
Respect: 3
Activity: 4
Release: 4
PPO Fatal Incidents
Prisons and Probation Ombudsman fatal incident investigations for this establishment.