Prison
Cat D open
Key Concerns Identified
Positive Findings
Ford
IMB Annual Report 2024 · Published 25 February 2025
HMP Ford, a Category D open prison, generally provides a safe and humane environment, with commendable improvements in induction processes, security measures, and a strong focus on rehabilitation through education and employment. However, the Board remains concerned about the failing building infrastructure, including critical boiler issues, inadequate phone provision, and persistent delays from probation services impacting prisoner progression and resettlement. The ongoing delay in the prison expansion project and budget cuts to vocational training are also significant concerns.
Positive Findings
The Board believes Ford is generally a safe environment, noting improved induction processes including neurodiversity assessments. There's a significant downward trend in illicit items and mandatory drug testing failures, attributed to increased security and activities. Healthcare, mental health, and substance misuse teams provide excellent integrated services. The prison has positively focused educational activities towards future employment, with Chichester College School of Construction and workshops proving to be real assets. The Offender Management Unit performed well, successfully releasing 71 men under SDS-40 with 100% placed into accommodation.
Key Concerns
Regime/Time Out of Cell
Repeated
The inadequate phone provision continues to be an issue, with no ‘in-cell’ ‘phones and insufficient and badly-located telephones in the corridors. As a consequence, communication between prisoners and their families is difficult, especially for those with young children.
Estate/Conditions
Repeated
For several years, the IMB annual reports have commented on the poor condition of the former Fleet Air Arm buildings. The frequency of plumbing, drainage, heating and electrical problems is increasing and is due to the old infrastructure and a total lack of planned, regular maintenance.
Estate/Conditions
Repeated
The boilers at HMP Ford are old and appear not to be fit for purpose. They were put on the Risk Register by GFSL nine years ago and are a clear health and safety risk. Not having access to hot water is also impacting upon the rehabilitation of prisoners, over 100 of whom go out to work each day.
Estate/Conditions
Repeated
However, irrespective of the outcome of this planning application, commencement of any building works will now be delayed indefinitely, due to the appointed building contractor, ISG, filing for administration on 20 September 2024. 2029 has now been suggested as a revised completion date, but the Board has little confidence in this, given the many delays that have already occurred – both previously appointed main contractors have gone into administration after signing contracts.
Education/Purposeful Activity
It is therefore, very concerning to note, that the budget for these critical rehabilitation activities [Chichester College School of Construction] has been cut by 50% for the 2025 financial year.
Resettlement/Release
Repeated
Unfortunately, as reported in previous years, problems continue in obtaining timely responses from COM’s and from some police forces regarding background and other necessary checks prior to being granted ROTL... Nevertheless, delays in COM’s responding in good time remain a major source of frustration for prisoners and staff.
Other
Repeated
Together with IMBs throughout the country, we continue to stress that IPP sentences are inhumane and should be removed from existing prisoners.
Regime/Time Out of Cell
The IMB is often required to alert the prison to such situations and recommend a more proactive approach by the Residential team to monitoring and management of the provision of cooking, washing and laundry facilities for the prisoners.
Food/Catering
The DHL canteen service is over-priced and much criticised by the men. It is positive that this will be replaced on site by a more conventional ‘shop’, but disappointing that this will continue to be operated by DHL, given the service and pricing concerns.
Other
Repeated
the continued impact of the unacceptable loss of prisoner’s personal possessions, including passports, driving licences etc. by prisons other than Ford is unacceptable. Much more needs to be done.
Regime/Time Out of Cell
The low rates of pay in Engineering and LBA, both commercial areas that require a motivated and productive workforce, is a source of discontent for the prisoners. While there is merit in rewarding prisoner’s progression in trust and education with access to higher paid jobs within the prison, the pay scales at Ford fail to recognise workers with trade skills required by the prison to function and to honour their external contractual obligations. There is disparity in pay in some areas and the methodology used to determine the rates of pay is unclear.
Equality/Diversity
The prison still has no purpose-designed rooms for prisoners with disabilities, although one landing in A-wing (C1) and eight pods have some modifications to assist prisoners with physical needs. The disability alarm system in the eight pods is still not properly connected.
Estate/Conditions
On a number of occasions, the visitor toilets used by families were found to be unclean and very unappealing which created a poor impression of the prison which maintains better standards of cleanliness elsewhere in its buildings.
Board Commentary
Staffing
The new Personal Officer scheme appears to be working well, reinforcing constructive relationships between prisoners and staff. The number of Physical Education staff increased from 2.5 to 4.5 during the reporting year, supporting a significant increase in gym and sports participation. Staff throughout the prison co-operate effectively to identify and support prisoners with particular needs, especially regarding substance misuse courses.
Healthcare
Practice Plus Group continues to offer a very good healthcare service, receiving positive feedback from prisoners, including those with complex needs. Healthcare is now staffed seven days a week, and a multi-disciplinary approach coordinates Healthcare, Substance Misuse, and Mental Health services with weekly meetings. The dental service was the only area that did not function well, experiencing equipment failure and a significant patient backlog after a change in provider, although a second dentist has now been appointed.
Regime & Daily Life
Ford has maintained a full regime throughout the reporting period. There has been a significant push by the Governor to increase access to gym and outdoor sports, with prisoner participation hours increasing to 3000 appointments per month. A trial of unsupervised football in evenings and weekends has been successful, and the number of men socialising in the dining hall has increased. The average number of prisoners working outside the prison daily was 120, approximately 35% of the prison roll, close to the ideal 38%.
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 | 2 | 1 | |
| Canteen, facility list, catalogues | 0 | 1 | |
| Discipline, including adjudications, incentives scheme, sanctions | 0 | 3 | |
| Equality | 1 | 1 | — |
| Finance, including pay, private monies, spends | 0 | 1 | |
| Food and kitchens | 0 | 0 | |
| Health, including physical, mental, social care | 2 | 1 | |
| Letters, visits, telephones, public protection, restrictions | 1 | 0 | |
| Miscellaneous | 1 | 1 | — |
| Property during transfer or in another facility | 6 | 17 | |
| Property within the establishment | 0 | 0 | |
| Purposeful activity, including education, work, training, time out of cell | 0 | 1 | |
| Sentence management, including HDC, ROTL, parole, release dates, re-categorisation | 1 | 11 | |
| Staff/prisoner concerns, including bullying | 1 | 1 | — |
| Transfers | 1 | 0 |
Recommendations (10)
Ministry of Justice: 4
HMPPS: 2
Governor / Director: 4
8 repeated
Recommendation 1
Repeated
Prev. unaddressed
Given the largely positive HM Inspectorate of Prisons (HMIP) report of 2023 and recent IMB reports highlighting the improving work of Ford, when – and how – will the Minister expedite the new build plans for HMP Ford to expand its capacity in support of the prison’s ‘reducing reoffending’ objective?
Ministry of Justice
Resettlement
Recommendation 2
Repeated
Prev. unaddressed
At present, there is no way for a resettlement prison to evaluate the success of all that they do, including know what percentage of prisoners re-offend. When will the Minister set up an effective system to monitor prisoners after release?
Ministry of Justice
Resettlement
Recommendation 3
Repeated
Prev. unaddressed
As we have reported for some years now, the building infrastructure across Ford is failing and the accommodation provided is unacceptable. Simply ‘limping along’ is not a viable option. When will the Minister undertake an in-depth appraisal of the existing buildings and commit to undertaking a comprehensive refurbishment of that accommodation?
Ministry of Justice
Estate
Recommendation 4
Repeated
Given that GFSL has registered 219 faults with the boilers in the accommodation blocks in the five years to 30 November 2024, when will the Minister commit to replacing Ford’s boilers and hot water systems, which were deemed ‘at risk’ nine years ago?
Ministry of Justice
Estate
Recommendation 5
Repeated
Given that GFSL has registered 219 faults with the boilers in the accommodation blocks in the five years to 30 November 2024, when will HMPPS commit to replacing Ford’s boilers and hot water systems, which were deemed ‘at risk’ nine years ago?
HMPPS
Estate
Recommendation 6
Repeated
Most men arrive from prisons that have in-cell phones. When will HMPPS address the lack of phone access at Ford to enable the maintenance of family ties?
HMPPS
Regime
Recommendation 7
The prison operating at full capacity again, which will allow the available resources to be properly utilised and prisoners to benefit from their time at Ford.
Governor / Director
Regime
Recommendation 8
Repeated
A consistent, reliable heating and water supply to the accommodation blocks, as the situation is unacceptable.
Governor / Director
Estate
Recommendation 9
A more proactive approach to the monitoring and management of the provision of effective cooking, washing and laundry facilities in the prisoners’ accommodation.
Governor / Director
Regime
Recommendation 10
Repeated
Solutions implemented to address the lack of phone access for the men.
Governor / Director
Regime