Prison
Cat B
Key Concerns Identified
Positive Findings
Garth
IMB Annual Report 2024 · Published 11 July 2025
HMP Garth, a Category B training prison, experienced a challenging year ending November 2024, marked by a 45% increase in violence and significant staffing shortages. These issues led to frequent regime changes, excessive prisoner time in cells, and difficulties in delivering purposeful activity. Key concerns include easy access to illicit drugs, the prolonged detention of mentally unwell prisoners in segregation, and the ongoing injustice faced by IPP prisoners, all compounded by critical issues in staff recruitment and retention and the deteriorating prison estate.
Positive Findings
The Board commends the good work done by staff to welcome new prisoners to reception, where prisoners invariably report being treated well and with respect. The professionalism of staff during use of force incidents is also noted, with considerable care taken to prevent injuries. Healthcare needs are generally well met, and the Mental Health Team is fully staffed. The Chaplaincy provides integral multi-faith support, and the incentives scheme generally works well. The prison's complaints process is also well managed. Good work is done to assist IPP prisoners towards release, and family contact is actively encouraged, including through social video calls and family days. The Offender Management Unit is ably managed and up to date with key assessments.
Key Concerns
Safety
The additional investment required to improve safety and security measures during 2022-2023 was agreed and actioned during 2024. However, measures taken have not been able to fully address the ever-increasing drone activity delivering drugs and illicit items, frequently arriving directly to prisoners at their cell windows.
Substance Misuse
There are major concerns that access to drugs is too easy. This is confirmed by random drug tests, where one-third of these tests prove positive.
Safety
Alarmingly, there has been an approximate 45% increase in violence, with many more serious assaults.
Regime/Time Out of Cell
Repeated
There have been regular changes to the regime, with prisoners having to be locked up unexpectedly due to staff sickness and absence of officers because of injuries. Sudden changes in regime on the day cause unrest and discontent when it happens, heightening risk to everyone in the prison.
Mental Health
Repeated
The CSU frequently houses prisoners who have severe mental health issues and/or severe personality disorders. These individuals are generally being held there for unacceptably longer periods than they should be. Many segregated prisoners are not able to be moved to alternative suitable accommodation, either in this prison or to specialist units or hospitals elsewhere.
Staffing
Repeated
Key work is not being applied consistently across the prison, mainly due to officers being re-deployed elsewhere from their own work to cover for staff who are not available, due to sickness or other causes.
Regime/Time Out of Cell
Repeated
It is unhealthy and unhelpful for prisoners to be confined in their cells for excessive periods of time. This requires urgent attention by maintaining an effective regime with sufficient good-quality work and employment for prisoners, as well as domestic time out of cell.
Other
Repeated
Major problems continue regarding the progression of property from sending prisons and then from the gate and the dedicated search team (DST) to reception. This frequently means that a prisoner is required to wait three weeks or more for his property, or perhaps months for catalogue purchases. Causes include the unwillingness of transporting companies to carry all prisoners’ property, compounding staffing problems within the prison.
Mental Health
The mental health team is frequently overburdened. The workload is such that it has been difficult for healthcare staff to have the time to attend essential segregation reviews.
Healthcare
The numbers of prisoners requiring medication is increasing and managing that demand was problematic during the year, resulting in a significant increase in the Board receiving healthcare applications.
Overcrowding
Progression to move prisoners from Garth to a Category C prison was almost at a standstill during winter and spring, due mainly to the national overcrowding problem.
Staffing
Due to continuing staff shortages library, workshops and education have been forced to reduce hours.
Staffing
Repeated
The whole policy and process of staff recruitment needs to be reviewed and revised as a matter of urgency, because many of the operational problems within the prison derive from the inadequacies of the current process.
Other
Repeated
The ongoing scandal of Imprisonment for Public Protection (IPP) needs to be finally resolved.
Safety
A recent unannounced inspection by HMIP reported that this prison was “of real concern” and “unsafe”, with a 45% increase in violence.
Staffing
Repeated
Statistics suggest that staff turnover has been too high, particularly with uniformed staff leaving. The whole process of recruitment and retention needs to be addressed with the Governor and senior management being included in the process and able to determine suitability of individual applicants for this prison.
Complaints/Property
Applications containing complaints about staff have increased by 47%. Work is required by the prison to establish the cause of this rise and put in place any necessary remedial steps.
Estate/Conditions
Repeated
Many areas of the prison have been deteriorating badly with little or no remedial work being done. For six or seven years, flat roofs of the prison have developed leaks, particularly above the main secure corridor.
Estate/Conditions
Repeated
Applications were received from prisoners complaining about the poor ventilation which is a particular problem in the summer if they are locked in cells for up to 23 hours a day.
Estate/Conditions
Earlier in the year all the showers were assessed and found to be in poor condition and therefore in need of upgrading, but funding is unavailable, and the Governor had to find more creative means to gradually improve the situation (the quote from Amey, who run the works department, was deemed excessively high).
Food/Catering
The catering department receives a budget of £3.01 per day per prisoner to provide three meals: breakfast, a hot lunchtime meal, and a cold evening snack meal. This department has experienced frequent equipment failures, such as refrigerators and ovens requiring repair or replacement.
Healthcare
Repeated
For many years the Board has raised the issue of the very poor waiting facilities for prisoners in the healthcare department of the prison. It is a railed and gated area with poor quality seating and there is no toilet available.
Board Commentary
Staffing
Staff recruitment and retention remain major issues significantly impacting all aspects of prison life. There is a high turnover of uniformed staff, and a lack of staff confidence to intervene in incidents, exacerbated by a high number of inexperienced officers. Fluctuating staff numbers lead to frequent redeployments, making it difficult to achieve key work targets. The Board strongly advises an urgent review and revision of the recruitment system, advocating for face-to-face interviews with senior management and mandatory prison visits for applicants to ensure suitability and improve retention.
Healthcare
While healthcare needs are generally well met, wasted appointments occur due to limited staff availability for escorts. The mental health team is frequently overburdened, struggling to attend essential segregation reviews amidst increasing demand. The rising number of prisoners requiring medication has been problematic, leading to an increase in healthcare applications to the Board. A long-standing concern is the very poor waiting facilities in the healthcare department, described as a cramped, railed area with no toilet access, which the Board recommends addressing as a priority despite funding challenges.
Regime & Daily Life
The prison experiences regular, unexpected regime changes and lockdowns due to staff sickness and absence, causing unrest among prisoners and heightening risks. The daily planned regime has been inconsistent, leading to prisoners being confined to their cells for excessive periods, sometimes up to 23 hours a day, which the Board deems unhealthy. This situation impacts purposeful activity, with only part-time work and education often available, affecting prisoner pay and access to the library and gyms. The Governor is aware of these problems but is severely hampered by staffing issues.
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 | 17 | 14 | |
| Canteen, facility list, catalogues | 15 | 15 | — |
| Discipline, including adjudications, incentives scheme, sanctions | 4 | 8 | |
| Equality | 9 | 4 | |
| Finance, including pay, private monies, spends | 25 | 4 | |
| Food and kitchens | 4 | 5 | |
| Health, including physical, mental, social care | 39 | 48 | |
| Letters, visits, telephones, public protection, restrictions | 21 | 12 | |
| Property during transfer or in another facility | 33 | 21 | |
| Property within the establishment | 65 | 46 | |
| Purposeful activity, including education, work, training, time out of cell | 6 | 10 | |
| Sentence management, including HDC (home detention curfew), ROTL (release on temporary licence), parole, release dates, re-categorisation | 27 | 23 | |
| Staff/prisoner concerns, including bullying | 123 | 58 | |
| Total number of applications | 389 | 269 | |
| Transfers | 1 | 1 | — |
Recommendations (12)
Ministry of Justice: 7
HMPPS: 3
Governor / Director: 2
9 repeated
Recommendation 1
Repeated
Prev. unaddressed
The whole policy and process of staff recruitment needs to be reviewed and revised as a matter of urgency, because many of the operational problems within the prison derive from the inadequacies of the current process.
Ministry of Justice
Staffing
Response
It was confirmed that the current centralised model for recruitment would continue. Prisons are encouraged locally to engage with applicants and to facilitate on site visits to the prison during the selection process.
Recommendation 2
Repeated
Prev. unaddressed
The ongoing scandal of Imprisonment for Public Protection (IPP) needs to be finally resolved. This continues to be a problem with numerous IPP prisoners who have either never been released or who have been recalled. At the end of November 2024, there were 39 IPP prisoners in Garth, including eight recalls. The problems created by the sentence and the release process are understood, but the very injustice of this sentence continues to be ignored by the Government.
Ministry of Justice
Other
Response
Some changes to work with IPP prisoners in custody and to licence requirements.
Recommendation 3
It is requested that the recommendations made in the recent HM Inspectorate of Prisons (HMIP) inspection be fully funded in order that they may be implemented.
Ministry of Justice
Other
Recommendation 4
Repeated
Prev. unaddressed
The whole process of recruitment and retention needs to be addressed with the Governor and senior management being included in the process and able to determine suitability of individual applicants for this prison.
HMPPS
Staffing
Response
No direct response to this comment.
Recommendation 5
Work is required by the prison to establish the cause of this rise [47% increase in complaints about staff] and put in place any necessary remedial steps.
Governor / Director
Complaints
Recommendation 6
Repeated
Prev. unaddressed
it is strongly recommended that applicants who are interest in joining the staff at Garth should visit the prison before interview and should be interviewed face-to-face by a panel that includes senior staff of the prison. It is essential that applicants fully understand what they are coming into and that management are as sure as possible that they have the right attributes.
Ministry of Justice
Staffing
Response
It was confirmed that the current centralised model for recruitment would continue. Prisons are encouraged locally to engage with applicants and to facilitate on site visits to the prison during the selection process.
Recommendation 7
Repeated
Prev. unaddressed
Staffing levels, and therefore regime problems, need to enable this system [Key Worker system] to work regularly and effectively. The Key Worker should be the prisoner’s first support and guide.
Ministry of Justice
Staffing
Response
Minister accepted that daily staff shortages and sickness absences had impacted on the Key Worker scheme. He expects the 2023 recruitment to improve the staffing issues.
Recommendation 8
Repeated
Prev. unaddressed
it is recommended the Minister properly addresses the ongoing scandal of the IPP. This injustice needs to be resolved immediately. This prison currently holds around 40 IPP prisoners many of whom have been seriously damaged by the sentence. Tinkering with the licence and improving support and treatment during custody does not address the injustice of this sentence.
Ministry of Justice
Other
Response
Some changes to work with IPP prisoners in custody and to licence requirements.
Recommendation 9
Repeated
Prev. unaddressed
The Board recommends that this situation [the very poor waiting facilities for prisoners in the healthcare department of the prison] is addressed as a priority. It is understood that improving this waiting area would require substantial funding and work but, after so many years of complaints, it is time that the problem is resolved.
HMPPS
Healthcare
Response
More clinics are held on residential units to address this issue, as there is no room to expand the waiting area.
Recommendation 10
Repeated
Prev. unaddressed
It is recommended that this plan [to install stair lifts in some of the stair wells] be re-established.
HMPPS
Equality
Recommendation 11
The Board recommends that library visits are included in future regime plans.
Governor / Director
Education
Recommendation 12
Repeated
Prev. unaddressed
the rights of these prisoners [IPP] should be respected, and it is recommended that legislation be introduced to release them forthwith.
Ministry of Justice
Other
Other IMB Reports for Garth
HMIP Inspections
Recent inspections by HM Inspectorate of Prisons for this establishment.
29 Jul 2024
Unannounced
Safety: 2
Respect: 2
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.