Prison
Cat Category A, Category B
Key Concerns Identified
Positive Findings
Full Sutton
IMB Annual Report 2024 · Published 5 June 2025
HMP Full Sutton, a high-security prison, maintained a generally calm environment in 2024 despite significant challenges posed by daily staff shortages, which led to rotational lockdowns and impacted regime delivery. The report highlights a concerning increase in serious assaults on staff and self-harm incidents. New healthcare contracts resulted in an unacceptable deterioration in prisoner access to services, especially mental health, while insufficient work opportunities and delays in new workshops remained key issues.
Positive Findings
HMP Full Sutton maintained a generally calm and safe environment despite staffing challenges, with commendations for proportionate approaches to security and welfare. Positive developments include the success of in-cell telephony, improved support for vulnerable prisoners, good food provision, and the re-start of Storybook Dads and Alcoholics Anonymous sessions. The neurodiversity support manager has significantly raised awareness and understanding of prisoner behaviours, and the CSC unit received a commendation for its horticultural activities.
Key Concerns
Staffing
Repeated
daily shortages of staff, through sickness and other absences, played a major part in the prison regularly not being able to deliver the desired regime levels and required the introduction of rotational lockdowns throughout the year
Safety
There was a significant increase in the number of incidents of serious assaults on staff.
Segregation
The segregation unit roll remained high throughout the year and transferring prisoners to other establishments remained a challenge.
Safety
there was a further increase in 2024 of the number of prisoners who self-harmed.
Substance Misuse
Repeated
drug testing capacity remained reduced. The Board is concerned that the number of suspicion tests in 2024 fell in comparison with the figure for 2023 and that, despite passing the intelligence threshold for testing, not all tests were carried out that could have been.
Estate/Conditions
cell flooring and shower recess areas require replacement/repairs in many areas.
Healthcare
New healthcare contracts, which split primary care and mental health provision into separate contracts, significantly affected prisoners’ access to healthcare services for an unacceptable period after the contracts commenced
Education/Purposeful Activity
Repeated
There still remains insufficient work for prisoners, although significant efforts have gone into providing extra work places and workshop activity
Education/Purposeful Activity
Repeated
The long-planned woodworking workshops failed, again, to open in 2024 and are unlikely now to become operational before the summer of 2025.
Resettlement/Release
impending changes to treatment programmes will delay some prisoners’ access to such courses until they start in mid-2025.
Staffing
concerns about the training provided for new staff, in particular their preparedness for communicating effectively and confidently with prisoners
Mental Health
facilitate additional funding to allow for the proper provision of mental health services in the segregation unit, as this opportunity was missed with the new healthcare contracts, which commenced on 1 June 2024
Regime/Time Out of Cell
Repeated
STEP unit... is not able to achieve this, as it cannot provide a full regime with purposeful activity, and psychological intervention time is limited.
Healthcare
facilitate the purchase, by prisoners, of healthcare-related items via the DHL canteen or the facilities list, which were available previously through the pharmacy, such as interdental toothbrushes for prevention of gum disease, which are not now available
Board Commentary
Staffing
While target staffing levels were reached in 2024, daily shortages due to sickness and other absences significantly hindered regime delivery, leading to rotational lockdowns and impacting services like safer custody, drug testing, and key worker sessions. The Board also noted that some newly qualified officers lacked confidence in interacting with prisoners, potentially missing de-escalation opportunities, and that sustained staff absences affected key worker session delivery.
Healthcare
New healthcare contracts for primary care and mental health, implemented in June 2024, caused significant disruptions and failures in service provision due to a lack of senior professional staff. This led to missed appointments, delays, and a lack of mental health contact time in segregation. Transparency issues and administrative shortcomings also resulted in slow responses to prisoner complaints, with the Board remaining concerned that services were not functioning adequately by year-end, despite some improvements in dental waiting times.
Regime & Daily Life
The prison's regime was significantly affected by staff shortages, leading to the introduction of rotational lockdowns from mid-June, particularly impacting evening duties and weekend activities for some units and wings. While core weekday activities like work and education were generally maintained, frustration grew among prisoners due to the lockdowns and restricted access to facilities, particularly in segregation and the STEP unit, resulting in reduced time out of cell.
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 | |
| Activities and education | 15 | 11 | |
| Complaints | 3 | 0 | |
| Discipline and adjudications | 7 | 12 | |
| Equality | 3 | 6 | |
| Food | 0 | 0 | |
| General applications | 136 | 104 | |
| Grand total | 312 | 253 | |
| Healthcare | 26 | 18 | |
| Legal | 4 | 5 | |
| Money | 19 | 9 | |
| Property | 27 | 18 | |
| Resettlement | 8 | 8 | — |
| Staff concerns | 18 | 22 | |
| Total applications (excluding general) | 176 | 149 | |
| Visits | 1 | 2 |
Recommendations (7)
Other: 2
HMPPS: 3
Governor / Director: 2
2 repeated
Recommendation 1
Will the Minister ensure that the introduction of the new ‘Building Choices’ suite of treatment programmes is introduced in a timely manner to prevent delays in prisoners being able to access required elements of their sentence plan?
Other
(minister)
Resettlement
Recommendation 2
Can the Minister address concerns about the training provided for new staff, in particular their preparedness for communicating effectively and confidently with prisoners? The Board has seen examples of staff being hesitant in their dealings with prisoners. We have also heard comments from prisoners about this aspect of staff and prisoner relations, who feel that situations may be de-escalated or prevented if some newly operational staff had more confidence in this area.
Other
(minister)
Staffing
Recommendation 3
Will the Prison Service review the healthcare contracts introduced this year and facilitate additional funding to allow for the proper provision of mental health services in the segregation unit, as this opportunity was missed with the new healthcare contracts, which commenced on 1 June 2024?
HMPPS
Healthcare
Recommendation 4
Will HMPPS review the finance manual restrictions on the maximum weekly transfer of monies from prisoners’ private cash to spends accounts in order to alleviate the effect of DHL price rises of prison shop purchase items?
HMPPS
Other
Recommendation 5
Repeated
Prev. unaddressed
Will the Prison Service review, again, the funding for the STEP unit at Full Sutton, which is a national resource, to encourage re-integration of prisoners into a mainstream location after long-term segregation. It is not able to achieve this, as it cannot provide a full regime with purposeful activity, and psychological intervention time is limited.
HMPPS
Regime
Recommendation 6
Repeated
Prev. unaddressed
In view of the rising numbers of ACCT documents, incidents of violence and reducing drugs testing activity (especially suspicion testing), will the Governor consider ring-fencing the deployment hours of the safer custody team and MDT staff teams when staffing levels allow?
Governor / Director
Safety
Recommendation 7
Will the Governor take steps to facilitate the purchase, by prisoners, of healthcare-related items via the DHL canteen or the facilities list, which were available previously through the pharmacy, such as interdental toothbrushes for prevention of gum disease, which are not now available?
Governor / Director
Healthcare
Other IMB Reports for Full Sutton
HMIP Inspections
Recent inspections by HM Inspectorate of Prisons for this establishment.
11 Mar 2024
Unannounced
Safety: 3
Respect: 3
Activity: 2
Release: 3
PPO Fatal Incidents
Prisons and Probation Ombudsman fatal incident investigations for this establishment.