Prison
Cat B
Key Concerns Identified
Positive Findings
Gartree
IMB Annual Report 2024 · Published 28 May 2025
HMP Gartree, a Category B prison, maintains an ordered environment despite an aging infrastructure. Key concerns include deteriorating buildings, inadequate healthcare provision leading to increased complaints, and persistent issues with drug influx and obscured observation panels. The Board also highlights insufficient purposeful activity and support for rehabilitation, alongside challenges in mental health service access and long-term segregation.
Positive Findings
The Board acknowledges the continued drive to provide a consistent regime at Gartree through stable leadership and improved uniformed staffing levels. Overall, the prison provides an ordered environment where prisoners generally report feeling safe. There have been positive initiatives in the library, and commendable work to improve social visits and family days. Staffing levels have improved, and the chaplaincy team provides good pastoral care, fostering a sense of community.
Key Concerns
Estate/Conditions
Repeated
The ageing fabric and building infrastructure at Gartree, particularly the issue with heating and leaking roofs and broken showers, etc.
Healthcare
Repeated
Healthcare provision, generally, and lack of response to prisoners’ complaints about this service.
Mental Health
Repeated
Inadequate access to mental health services.
Substance Misuse
Repeated
The continued influx of drugs and illicit items.
Safety
Repeated
Prisoners being allowed to keep observation panels obscured, which is not challenged by staff or they don’t seem to feel confident to challenge
Equality/Diversity
Repeated
Inadequate facilities for some of the older and/or disabled prisoners.
Regime/Time Out of Cell
Repeated
Access to truly purposeful activities for all.
Resettlement/Release
The support and help available to rehabilitate prisoners prior to release.
Segregation
The segregation unit at Gartree is small compared with other LTHSE sites and leads to the segregation of prisoners on residential wings remaining high; there are still prisoners held in the SAPU for many months, due to the lack of suitable alternative accommodation within the prison estate or secure mental health units/hospitals.
Board Commentary
Staffing
Staffing levels have improved and become more stable over the past year, with officers trained and appointed, alongside a high number of OSG staff, helping to deliver a consistent regime. However, key worker support remains an issue at times, with officers reporting insufficient time to fully carry out this role, although there has been a visible attempt to allocate specific time for these activities towards the end of the reporting period. HMPPS has created a retention strategy to address staffing challenges.
Healthcare
The Board has significant concerns regarding healthcare provision, particularly following the change of provider to Practice Plus Group (PPG), which has led to a significant increase in complaints. The department is understaffed, relying heavily on agency staff with frequent gaps in night-time cover. PPG unilaterally extended complaint response times from 20 to 60 working days and has failed to provide quantitative data for monitoring, leading the Board to believe they are failing contractual obligations. Access to mental health services and assessments remains inadequate, with long waits for transfers of prisoners with serious mental health issues to suitable secure hospitals.
Regime & Daily Life
The prison is committed to providing an effective and fair regime, with changes made over the past year to increase access to work, education, gym sessions, and time out of cell. The published regime offers up to 8.5 hours out of cell for those engaged in purposeful activity, reducing to 2.5-3.5 hours for others. Prisoners receive 45 minutes of daily outdoor exercise, though this can conflict with core activity times. While smaller units offer a good range of leisure activities, options on larger wings are more limited, and facilities on the SAPU are stark. The lift to the upper floor of the gym has been broken for over a year, impacting accessibility for less able prisoners.
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) | 30 | 25 | |
| Adjudications | 15 | 21 | |
| Canteen/Money/Property/Pay | 83 | 112 | |
| Disability/Equality/Diversity | 9 | 13 | |
| Drugs | 2 | 1 | |
| Healthcare | 153 | 61 | |
| Offending Behaviour Work/Sentence Progression | 21 | 27 | |
| Other/Various | 35 | 29 | |
| Purposeful Activity/Regime | 33 | 25 | |
| Religious/Faith/Pastoral Care | 4 | 6 | |
| Safety (including self-harm) | 3 | 4 | |
| Social Visits/Family Contact | 17 | 23 | |
| Staff/Prisoner Concerns (including bullying) | 41 | 13 |
Recommendations (22)
Ministry of Justice: 7
HMPPS: 8
Governor / Director: 7
18 repeated
Recommendation 1
Repeated
Prev. unaddressed
Will the Minister confirm when funding will be allocated to address the seriously deteriorating fabric and infrastructure of Gartree, including the unacceptable state of the residential blocks, showers and heating? The prison infrastructure is now so degraded that effective routine maintenance is no longer possible.
Ministry of Justice
Estate
Recommendation 2
Repeated
Prev. unaddressed
Last year after the Board again raised concerns about the ageing fabric of Gartree, the Minister advised that: ‘Over the past year, improvements have been made to the heating and hot water pumps and valves linked to a new Building Management System continuing to be changed to improve control of these systems across HMP Gartree.’ It is disappointing to report there remain major issues with the heating systems throughout the prison, suggesting that the original fix has not worked. Is it reasonable for prisoners, including those on the over 50s wing, to be left for weeks with no heating? Can the Minister confirm that overall responsibility for the fabric lies outside of the control of the Governor and with the LTHSE? When issues arise that cannot be resolved in a timely or satisfactory manner, who is accountable?
Ministry of Justice
Estate
Recommendation 3
Repeated
Prev. unaddressed
As the age of the prison population continues to rise, the fabric of the buildings continue to cause problems with a lack of suitable access for elderly and disabled prisoners. What alternative provisions are being considered for this group of prisoners?
Ministry of Justice
Equality
Recommendation 4
Repeated
Prev. unaddressed
The Board raised questions with the Minister last year about the quality and performance of service providers and remains concerned, particularly with regard to healthcare. So, we ask, again, how the Minister plans to address these issues?
Ministry of Justice
Healthcare
Recommendation 5
Repeated
Prev. unaddressed
The Minister has previously advised that healthcare provision is monitored and reviewed by NHS England Midlands Clinical and Quality Team. Despite numerous requests by the Board, the healthcare provider has steadfastly declined to provide any meaningful quantitative data for monitoring the healthcare provision and benchmark against the community equivalent. Again, we ask the Minister to explain how the Ministry of Justice perceives the performance of prisoner healthcare at HMP Gartree, compared with (a) the performance specification in the contract and (b) the equivalent in the local community?
Ministry of Justice
Healthcare
Recommendation 6
Repeated
Prev. unaddressed
The Board remains concerned that many prisoners wait for long periods to access specialist mental health services and/or assessments. Can the Minister please explain how longstanding problems with the assessment and transfer of prisoners who present with serious mental health and personality disorders from Gartree to suitable secure hospital will be addressed (as per Section 47 of the Mental Health Act 1983).
Ministry of Justice
Mental Health
Recommendation 7
Repeated
Prev. unaddressed
Gartree continues to hold a large number of prisoners sentenced to an indeterminate sentence of imprisonment for public protection (IPP). Many of these IPP prisoners are now years over tariff and they make up a higher proportion of segregated prisoners and those with complex mental health issues and/or behaviour. The Board asks the Minister for a further update about how issues affecting IPP prisoners at Gartree will be addressed.
Ministry of Justice
Resettlement
Recommendation 8
The Board is still aware of issues with property lost on transfer and remains concerned that current rules for possession of property vary amongst prisons. As a national issue, are rules covering transfer and possession of property belonging to prisoners in the LTHSE to be standardised?
HMPPS
Other
Recommendation 9
Repeated
Prev. unaddressed
For yet another year (and, in the case of the heating system in the kitchens, the fourth year running), essential equipment in the kitchen is not replaced or repaired. Can the Prison Service confirm that the service level agreement with the supplier/contractor is being adequately managed and reviewed?
HMPPS
Food
Recommendation 10
Repeated
Prev. unaddressed
Can the Prison Service confirm that Gartree will receive sufficient ongoing budget and capital funding in order both that prisoners can live, and staff can work within a safe, secure and decent environment?
HMPPS
Estate
Recommendation 11
Which specific buildings and maintenance projects have been allocated funding for the next three years?
HMPPS
Estate
Recommendation 12
Repeated
Prev. unaddressed
Since the appointment of a new healthcare provider, the Board is aware that there have been numerous complaints about healthcare provision and the response time for prisoner complaints (this has increased from 20 working days to 60 working days). What measures are in place to ensure an acceptable level of patient care is provided and maintained at Gartree?
HMPPS
Healthcare
Recommendation 13
Repeated
Prev. unaddressed
Will the Prison Service ensure that Gartree will be sufficiently funded so that prisoners’ can access employment, purposeful activity and education?
HMPPS
Education
Recommendation 14
Repeated
Prev. unaddressed
What preventive measures are being taken to intercept and prevent frequent drone incursions, which deliver dangerous illicit items?
HMPPS
Safety
Recommendation 15
Repeated
Prev. addressed
In last year’s report, the Board raised some issues about fire safety: there was no assurance that everyone knew either what a ‘general’ fire alarm sounded like or what should happen if one was heard. There have been some drills carried out in the past year and this is encouraging. Will the Board be allowed access to the report of the recent fire safety inspection? And if not, why not?
HMPPS
Safety
Recommendation 16
Repeated
Prev. addressed
Will the improved staffing levels remain? The Board is pleased to observe that staffing levels have improved and become more stable over the past year, but we ask if plans are in place to ensure that this does not become an issue once all residential wings are full again.
Governor / Director
Staffing
Recommendation 17
Repeated
Prev. unaddressed
Will the Governor continue to push for improvements to the security systems, to help prevent the influx of illicit items through the gate and/or via drones, etc? What additional steps is the Governor taking to reduce the importation of illicit items, including drugs and mobile phones?
Governor / Director
Safety
Recommendation 18
Repeated
Prev. unaddressed
Will the Governor ensure that, during the coming year, repairs to the fabric of the kitchen will be a priority to ensure hygienic food production and that all unreliable and unserviceable kitchen appliances will be repaired or replaced without delay?
Governor / Director
Food
Recommendation 19
Repeated
Prev. unaddressed
Please can the Governor give further assurance that staff will be adequately trained to ensure that they challenge any prisoner who covers their observations panels? This has been raised in a number of Prisons and Probation Ombudsman reports about deaths in custody.
Governor / Director
Safety
Recommendation 20
Repeated
Prev. unaddressed
What further support can be provided to ensure that key work is delivered consistently and to a high standard for all prisoners?
Governor / Director
Staffing
Recommendation 21
What additional steps can be taken to help keep the prison clear of litter and waste (which encourages vermin), often thrown out of cell windows by prisoners, and what measures are in hand to remedy the situation?
Governor / Director
Estate
Recommendation 22
Amey does not appear to have attended any of the quarterly health and safety meetings during the reporting period. Can the Governor confirm that the actions requiring their input are progressed, minuted and actioned accordingly?
Governor / Director
Other
Other IMB Reports for Gartree
HMIP Inspections
Recent inspections by HM Inspectorate of Prisons for this establishment.
16 Jan 2023
Unannounced
Safety: 3
Respect: 3
Activity: 2
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.