Prison
Cat YOI, C training
Key Concerns Identified
Positive Findings
Isis
IMB Annual Report 2024 · Published 3 June 2025
HMP/YOI Isis experienced a significant increase in violence in 2024, with both prisoner-on-prisoner and staff assaults rising, alongside a worrying over-representation of black prisoners in violence metrics and PAVA use. Key concerns include slow emergency cell bell response times, poor hygiene in living areas, and the holding of mentally unwell prisoners in segregation. Despite these challenges, there have been improvements in educational attainment and some healthcare attendance, though staffing shortages continue to impede a full regime and purposeful activity.
Positive Findings
HMP/YOI Isis has shown improvements in several areas, notably in educational attainment where 817 out of 954 prisoners successfully completed courses, achieving an 86% success rate in 2024. Communication between departments was effective in ensuring prisoners on early release schemes completed their education. The induction process has also seen gradual improvements, including a new informative booklet for arrivals. Furthermore, attendance at Friday prayers has significantly improved, and the prison's weekly Use of Force review meeting is commended for its thoroughness and objectivity.
Key Concerns
Safety
Violence in the prison increased markedly again this year. Data presented at the monthly safety, equalities and use of force meeting show 419 incidents of prisoner assaults and fights in 2024, compared with 319 recorded in 2023, an increase of 31%. Assaults on staff increased from 161 in 2023 to 207 in 2024, up 28%.
Equality/Diversity
The Board was concerned about the over-representation of black prisoners in these figures and undertook further analysis of the use of force data in “large” incidents involving four or more prisoners... This analysis provides a rationale for the over-representation, but we feel further investigation of the over-representation of black prisoners in violence and use of force, especially the significant over-representation in those affected by PAVA, is required, and the Board will be monitoring this more closely over the next year.
Safety
Repeated
IMB analysis showed that the average and median times to answer cell bells in the house blocks in August was beyond the five minutes required in the Notice to Staff (NTS 53.18) guidance - the most recent we could find. Furthermore, the analysis shows peaks in the times to answer at around 9am and 1pm - coinciding with morning meetings and lunchtime. We are concerned that this puts prisoners at risk if they are unwell or in danger.
Estate/Conditions
Repeated
The general standard of cleanliness of the spurs continued to be of concern. In particular, serveries were often left overnight with dirty pans and remnants of food from the previous day.
Mental Health
The Board remains concerned that prisoners with serious mental health problems were held in the Segregation Unit, often whilst waiting for an appropriate transfer to a specialist hospital, as the prison has no in-patient facility.
Regime/Time Out of Cell
Repeated
The amount of time that prisoners are locked in their cells remains a problem, with prisoners’ time out of cell typically being five hours a day from Monday to Thursday, and at most two and a half hours for the remaining three days. This is far less than the HMIP recommendation that prisoners should have a minimum of 10 hours out of cell each day. The Board was particularly concerned about prisoners who were on separate regimes... These prisoners were only allowed out of their cells when other prisoners were locked up, and so may be out of their cells for as little as 30 minutes a day.
Other
Repeated
Prisoner property remains a concern for the Board. Prisoner complaints about property were, at 28% of all complaints, by far the most common, and 22% (45) of IMB applications concerned property, with over half of them (12%) relating to property during transfer or in another facility.
Board Commentary
Staffing
Staffing shortages continue to significantly impact many aspects of the prison regime, including key work, offender management, and prisoners' access to education and training. While recruitment efforts have increased staffing levels, and initiatives like New Colleague Mentors and new induction processes aim to improve retention, high sickness levels persist. These shortfalls often prevent the prison from delivering a full and consistent regime, causing disruptions to purposeful activity.
Healthcare
Healthcare services noted a high but decreasing number of prisoners not attending appointments, with improvements attributed to new strategies like moving clinics to house blocks. However, coordination challenges exist in supporting neurodiverse prisoners due to healthcare's inability to share confidential information. A significant concern remains the holding of prisoners with serious mental health problems in the Segregation Unit, often awaiting transfer to specialist hospitals due to the absence of an on-site inpatient facility.
Regime & Daily Life
The daily regime at HMP/YOI Isis continues to be a significant concern, with prisoners typically spending only five hours out of cell on weekdays and two and a half hours on weekends, far short of HMIP recommendations. This issue is exacerbated for prisoners on separate regimes, who may have as little as 30 minutes out of their cells daily, leading to isolation. The prison initiated the Peaceful Prison Project to improve the regime and reduce violence, including the introduction of a Peace spur and Growth Spur.
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 | |
| Complaints (against staff) | 15 | 18 | |
| General enquiries/Other | 83 | 112 | |
| Medical | 14 | 25 | |
| Property | 45 | 23 | |
| Total | 202 | 216 |
Recommendations (12)
Ministry of Justice: 3
HMPPS: 4
Governor / Director: 5
7 repeated
Recommendation 1
What is the MoJ strategy for the management of young adults in the prison estate?
Ministry of Justice
Regime
Recommendation 2
What plans are there for a strategy that aims to reduce violence among young offenders in the community before they are sentenced, after sentencing and after their sentence is over?
Ministry of Justice
Safety
Recommendation 3
How will the Minister allocate the necessary resources for this age group in HMP/YOI Isis?
Ministry of Justice
Staffing
Recommendation 4
Repeated
Prev. unaddressed
What level of staffing is necessary to resource HMP/YOI Isis and what is being done to address any shortfall?
HMPPS
Staffing
Recommendation 5
Does the prison service have reoffending rates for specific prisons and, if not, what will the prison service do to obtain reoffending rates for different prisons?
HMPPS
Resettlement
Recommendation 6
Repeated
What research has been done into the reasons why black young men are disproportionately involved in violence including multiple prisoner fights and how can this be disseminated to prisons like HMP/YOI Isis, for whom this is a major factor in the levels of violence?
HMPPS
Safety
Recommendation 7
If similar schemes can be expected in the future, how will the MoJ ensure that staff in the prison and probation service are adequately supported such that the prisoners not within the scope of these schemes do not experience a reduction in the support available, due to limited resources being diverted elsewhere?
HMPPS
Staffing
Recommendation 8
Repeated
Prev. unaddressed
With regard to ECBs, how is the prison monitoring whether the guidance in the Prison Officers’ Guide 2023 is being followed?
Governor / Director
Safety
Recommendation 9
Repeated
Prev. unaddressed
What alternative methods are there for bringing urgent but not emergency issues to the attention of officers?
Governor / Director
Safety
Recommendation 10
Repeated
Prev. unaddressed
Who is responsible for attending when an ECB is rung over the lunch period or during morning briefings – times when our investigation shows that the time taken to answer is very long?
Governor / Director
Safety
Recommendation 11
Repeated
Will the Governor instigate a deep-dive study into the reasons for this?
Governor / Director
Equality
Recommendation 12
Repeated
Prev. unaddressed
When will the window repairs in the Segregation Unit be carried out? Should they be recognised as a priority, compared with other areas of the prison?
Governor / Director
Estate