Fosse Way

With the continuous high churn in the prison population, pressure on young and still inexperienced staff is high and, with staff levels fluctuating, the pressure and strain is continuous.

Although the number of workshops, open and operational, has increased significantly, they are still not working to capacity, with three still empty and, on average, only 63% of spaces allocated, with attendance 87% of planned.

With the high churn of prisoners, the pressure on the OMU (offender management unit) continues to be high, with a backlog of OASys (offender assessment system, used to assess the risks and needs of prisoners that are required for prisoner category C to D reviews.

Self-harm and violent incidents have increased year on year, mainly because of the increase of the prison population.

Positive mandatory drug tests (MDTs) remain a key concern in Fosse Way, although the levels are comparable to other prisons in the region. Drugs have a negative impact on the prison regime with increased levels of violence, mental health issues, self-harm and debt.

There is still no on-site health service after 8pm until 8am. There is also still no on-site in-patient health-care unit. Last year’s report identified the impact this is having on prisoners and staff.

Standards of cleanliness and hygiene in the house blocks/wings, in particular in the serveries and kitchen annexes, is poor. In addition, the covering of smoke detectors in these areas is common and is a potential fire risk.

There is still no central laundry, although we do understand that one has been designated for the industries building when the new house block H opens on 4 December 2025.

The washing machines, tumble driers, and other electrical items, such as fridges, microwaves, toasters, grills on the houseblocks are breaking down. Although of good, robust quality, with the volume of use they get, without the necessary regular servicing and maintenance (particularly the washing machines), breakdowns are occurring.

Houseblock lifts are now breaking down and taking too long to repair. Prisoner food, particularly lunch and dinner, is having to be carried up the stairs manually with health and safety risks. The lifts are designed to be passenger lifts, rather than goods lifts, meaning they are not fit for purpose for transporting food servery trollies. There are no contingency plans for when the lifts are out of order and, due to issues getting parts, that come from Germany, there is two-month delay in repairs at the present time.

Issues with the library still apply.

As identified previously, the furniture installed is primarily made of MDF and can be easily and quickly damaged and this is requiring more frequent repairs, often meaning that cells are uninhabitable whilst repairs are completed. Overall, the standard of furniture installed would not appear to be sufficiently robust or durable for a prison environment.

Issues previously identified on window design, care and separation unit (CSU) and fencing still apply.

The Board was disappointed that the Minister had not visited the prison and would welcome the opportunity to highlight some serious concerns, and to showcase the successful work and training offerings at Fosse Way, including GRAVITY, a prisoner-led initiative that gives advice, guidance and peer support to prisoners. HMP Fosse Way is the newest and one of the largest prisons in the Minister’s estate. The new build issues highlighted in the first and previous IMB report were almost exactly the same as had been identified by HMP Five Wells when it opened. HMP Fosse Way has an identical footprint to HMP Five Wells. If nothing is done, the Board is concerned that the next new build will have exactly the same issues. Whilst we understand and acknowledge that the Minister is very busy, we believe it important that he sees for himself how the taxpayer’s money has been spent and whether it is value for money, which we believe, it is not. This is due to a lack of facilities, such as a suitable gym and laundry and the cost of rectification and ongoing repairs to the fabric of the buildings and general equipment. When does the Minister plan to visit HMP Fosse Way?

The Board would also raise the issue of severe mental health. In the Board’s view many prisoners, who should be in secure mental health hospitals/establishments remain in the general prison population.

Prisoner property, particularly when transferring in from other prisons, is still erratic and still not fit for purpose. How does the prison service plan to address this issue?

The issue of severe mental health and the actions necessary to resolve, continue to be ignored. Too many prisoners should be in secure mental health hospitals/establishments and not remain in the general prison population. How will the prison service ensure prisoners with complex mental health challenges receive the support they need in appropriate facilities?

What are the current plans to tackle the building issues, including building and fabric design faults and inappropriate equipment?

As identified, under point 5.1, a concern for the IMB is the catering operation at house block level. In our opinion health, safety, hygiene and food safety on individual wings, varies with no standard procedures in place. How will the Director ensure there are unified operational standards across the prison?

Communications could, in our view, be better with various committees/meetings cancelled or changed at short notice without the IMB being informed. This has resulted in situations where we have arrived at a meeting and it has not taken place.

As identified in 3.1, the health-care provision for getting prisoners to hospital on booked appointments had been erratic and resulted in a number having to be cancelled. Whilst appreciating that staff shortages, bed watches and EE (emergency escorts) are a major contributor to this situation, how will the Director ensure prisoners receive the necessary treatment at the appointed time?

Although actual violence against prisoners convicted of sexual offences was no greater than in the general prison population, the IMB received complaints and observed verbal threats being made to PCoSOs The prison carried out a survey of the PCoSOs and circa 420 of the 600 in Fosse Way confirmed they would like to be segregated due to not feeling safe mixed with the general prison population.

Due to the high number of arrivals and releases (up to 200 per week) the pressure on a small reception for the size of Fosse Way is high.

As commented on in the previous report, the fixtures and fittings in the cells are in the main made from MDF wood and are getting easily damaged and/or broken. In the Board’s view, this trend will only continue.

Because the CASU (Care and Separation Unit) at Fosse Way was not big enough for a prison of this size and population, it was extended into part of G block, with 18 cells being gated off for security and safety. This causes issues as prisoners have to be brought to the main CASU for rule 45 reviews and adjudications. This is not ideal and is time-consuming.

Rule 45 paperwork can be limited in information and does not always include previous review information. Having a dedicated assistant Director to chair the reviews would improve this.

Now that almost all of the experienced seconded officers have returned to their respective prisons, the current workforce is young and inexperienced, much more so than established prisons. Relationships with prisoners are generally more relaxed than longer established regimes. Some prisoners have commented to the IMB that they have more experience of the prison than the staff and do try and take advantage.

By the end of this reporting year, keywork quantity was only averaging around 74%.

Property, particularly when prisoners are transferred in, is the biggest issue the IMB has to deal with. The Board is very disappointed with the prison service’s failure to implement a robust system to ensure prisoners’ property remains with its owner. The HMPPS Prisoner Property Framework is not at all effective.

Throughout the current reporting year, the healthcare department has been understaffed, and it has relied on a third party to provide agency staff.

Some routine clinics are cancelled due to staff shortages, but the most pressing concern has been the significant increase in the level of routine hospital appointments being cancelled due to a lack of Serco staff to provide prison escorts.

Although included in the health care contract, Nottinghamshire healthcare has not been able to provide a nighttime service and in house healthcare ends at 8pm.

Despite several formal requests for quantitative data (e.g. number and type of health care complaints, response times for complaints, number of staff vacancies by staff role etc.) the healthcare provider has repeatedly failed to provide this data. This means that the IMB cannot reasonably monitor trends and performance in the health care provision.

Patients requiring secure mental health treatment under the Mental Health Act face significant delays in accessing this resource, which is a national commissioning issue. Many such patients are accommodated in the segregation unit whilst awaiting transfer to such facilities. Whilst the segregation unit can provide a quieter, safe space where staff have closer oversight of their medication and behaviour, this is not the most suitable environment for a person with complex mental health needs. These ongoing delays need to be addressed at a national level.

Several IMB applications refer to ongoing issues with medication dosages being reduced without consultation and lack of access to stronger pain relief post-discharge from hospital as medication is not on the safer prescribing list.

Ongoing staff shortages in the substance misuse services did impact the level of service provision. It should be noted that recruitment to psychosocial posts within the substance misuse service was paused by Nottinghamshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust for approximately one year while an options appraisal was undertaken. This pause had a significant impact on the team at HMP Fosse Way, who worked hard to maintain service delivery during this period.

Although discussions have taken place about opening a new designated substance free and drug recovery house block section, to date this has not happened. The previous drug free unit was shut down in late 2024 due to staff shortages.

The library is too small for over 1,700 prisoners and its location in the health/education atrium has led to misuse of the access system. Prisoners are signing up for library visits and not attending and there are no quiet areas available for individual study. Shannon Trust is not well established in the prison for a number of reasons, including a lack of meeting spaces for mentoring or training sessions, as well as the changing demographic of the prison population.

There are some issues with the provision of education by MKC due to ongoing unfilled vacancies. This has resulted in MKC not being able to offer the full quota of courses they are contracted to provide.

OASys (the offender assessment system, used to assess the risks and needs of prisoners) – there is a backlog of prisoners arriving at Fosse Way without an up-to-date OASys, which impacts negatively on sentence planning and progression.

Offender management unit (OMU) – a lack of POMs (prison offender managers) has meant that staff to prisoner ration is circa 1 to 120 versus a target of circa 1 to 65. In addition, there are five vacancies for qualified probation officers. With the early release schemes, the pressure on OMU resources has been intense and contributed to the back-log of OASys.

Imprisonment for public protection (IPP) prisoners are still a major concern due to the numbers post tariff still awaiting re-sentencing

Recommendation 1 Repeated Prev. unaddressed

The Board was disappointed that the Minister had not visited the prison and would welcome the opportunity to highlight some serious concerns, and to showcase the successful work and training offerings at Fosse Way, including GRAVITY, a prisoner-led initiative that gives advice, guidance and peer support to prisoners. HMP Fosse Way is the newest and one of the largest prisons in the Minister’s estate. The new build issues highlighted in the first and previous IMB report were almost exactly the same as had been identified by HMP Five Wells when it opened. HMP Fosse Way has an identical footprint to HMP Five Wells. If nothing is done, the Board is concerned that the next new build will have exactly the same issues. Whilst we understand and acknowledge that the Minister is very busy, we believe it important that he sees for himself how the taxpayer’s money has been spent and whether it is value for money, which we believe, it is not. This is due to a lack of facilities, such as a suitable gym and laundry and the cost of rectification and ongoing repairs to the fabric of the buildings and general equipment. When does the Minister plan to visit HMP Fosse Way?

Ministry of Justice Estate

Recommendation 2

The Board would also raise the issue of severe mental health. In the Board’s view many prisoners, who should be in secure mental health hospitals/establishments remain in the general prison population.

Ministry of Justice Mental Health

Recommendation 3 Repeated Prev. unaddressed

Prisoner property, particularly when transferring in from other prisons, is still erratic and still not fit for purpose. How does the prison service plan to address this issue?

HMPPS Resettlement

Recommendation 4

The issue of severe mental health and the actions necessary to resolve, continue to be ignored. Too many prisoners should be in secure mental health hospitals/establishments and not remain in the general prison population. How will the prison service ensure prisoners with complex mental health challenges receive the support they need in appropriate facilities?

HMPPS Mental Health

Recommendation 5 Repeated Prev. unaddressed

What are the current plans to tackle the building issues, including building and fabric design faults and inappropriate equipment?

HMPPS Estate

Recommendation 6

As identified, under point 5.1, a concern for the IMB is the catering operation at house block level. In our opinion health, safety, hygiene and food safety on individual wings, varies with no standard procedures in place. How will the Director ensure there are unified operational standards across the prison?

Governor / Director Food

Recommendation 7

Communications could, in our view, be better with various committees/meetings cancelled or changed at short notice without the IMB being informed. This has resulted in situations where we have arrived at a meeting and it has not taken place.

Governor / Director Other

Recommendation 8

As identified in 3.1, the health-care provision for getting prisoners to hospital on booked appointments had been erratic and resulted in a number having to be cancelled. Whilst appreciating that staff shortages, bed watches and EE (emergency escorts) are a major contributor to this situation, how will the Director ensure prisoners receive the necessary treatment at the appointed time?

Governor / Director Healthcare