Prison
Cat YOI
Key Concerns Identified
Positive Findings
Werrington
IMB Annual Report 2024 · Published 21 February 2025
HMYOI Werrington's report for 2023-2024 highlights ongoing challenges with violence, inadequate education, and poor time out of room, despite some improvements in conflict resolution and healthcare provision. Staffing shortages in social care and difficulties in monitoring segregation contribute to key concerns. The Board raises several recommendations to the Minister, Youth Custody Service, Local Authority, and Governor to address these issues and improve conditions for young people.
Positive Findings
The Board saw improvements in conflict resolution and reducing reoffending. Management appeared to show care for the wellbeing of young people. Health and wellbeing continued to be good, with needs met by physical and mental health departments. Resettlement work remained impressive, with practitioners working towards positive discharges and transfers. There was a further reduction in young people who self-harmed and a dramatic decrease in substance misuse referrals.
Key Concerns
Safety
The Board remains very concerned with the general level of violence, we are still concerned at the severity of some of the incidents, as well as the number of fights and assaults.
Safety
We observed an increase in self-isolation.
Regime/Time Out of Cell
Confidential conversations were usually impossible, because young people could not be unlocked and could not be accommodated in a separate room where they could talk freely.
Mental Health
The Board was disappointed to see the limited progress in the implementation of the Framework for Integrated Care throughout the establishment.
Education/Purposeful Activity
The Board is seriously concerned about educational provision, which is still wholly inadequate, due to restricted regime, violence, ‘keep-aparts’ and contractual issues.
Resettlement/Release
The Board believes it is inhumane that about a quarter of young people, who are legally recognised as children, are accommodated at Werrington from the other end of the country, far away from family?
Education/Purposeful Activity
limited provision for supporting young people working towards GCSEs and other, higher qualifications within the education contract?
Food/Catering
Are the food portions issued to young people, who are physically developing, adequate for their age?
Regime/Time Out of Cell
Repeated
How can young people’s hours out of room be returned to the previous healthy pre-pandemic levels so there is an increase in purposeful activity?
Staffing
Repeated
How can young people develop more positive relationships with the staff they see most of?
Segregation
Repeated
How can the progress of young people on R49 be monitored remotely by the IMB when the paperwork is so infrequently sent, even though this has been requested on numerous occasions?
Safety
Why has the number of young people self-isolating increased?
Education/Purposeful Activity
Repeated
Meaningful education data: the lack of easily accessible data remains a source of frustration to the Board (this repeats a concern referenced in our previous report).
Education/Purposeful Activity
Repeated
Route movements: The process of getting young people to and from classes is risk-based to take account of keep-aparts. It is very time-consuming and significantly reduces lesson time (this is a repeat concern).
Education/Purposeful Activity
Repeated
Separated children: provision of wing-based education for separated young people is inadequate, with insufficient face-to-face delivery by qualified tutors (this is a repeat concern).
Education/Purposeful Activity
Allocations: during this year, the Board has become aware that several young people are allocated to classes simply on the basis of who they can mix with, rather than the learner’s preference or any assessment of the most suitable provision.
Education/Purposeful Activity
Repeated
Behaviour: low-level poor behaviour, such as swearing and inappropriate comments, is not always challenged by teachers or prison staff (this is a repeat concern).
Education/Purposeful Activity
Repeated
Class cancellations: classes are cancelled because prison or education staff are not available.
Safety
Repeated
Security: teaching staff have reported to the Board that they do not always feel safe. There are many occasions where young people are returned from class because of violent or disruptive behaviour. There have been a number of incidents in the reporting year when teaching staff have been assaulted, one of which resulted in hospitalisation (this is a repeat concern).
Education/Purposeful Activity
Repeated
Higher level learning: whilst many of the young people at Werrington may have been out of mainstream education for some time, there are a number who can achieve at a higher level. Support for these children is extremely limited and has the potential to affect their life-chances. This situation must improve (this is a repeat concern).
Education/Purposeful Activity
Communication: there is no clear communication channel for children who have issues around their education provision.
Regime/Time Out of Cell
The Board is, again, very disappointed that young people could not, at the start of the reporting period, access books other than the tattered few on the wings.
Education/Purposeful Activity
The Board is not satisfied with the variety of vocational classes available. Young people are often unable to pursue the pathway of their choice.
Board Commentary
Staffing
The Social Care department suffered from low staffing levels for most of the year, with agency cover leading to significant workload impacts on the remaining social worker. There was a reduction in the number of trained negotiators from four to two. Concerns persist regarding the limited development of positive relationships between young people and staff, and low-level poor behaviour is not always challenged by teachers or prison staff. Officers' self-confidence was noted as having limited improvement despite the Youth Justice degree.
Healthcare
The physical, dental, and mental healthcare departments were commended for their work and proactive preventative care. However, the physical healthcare department encountered difficulties with young people attending clinic appointments, and nurses spent significant time on medication dispensing, hindering other work. The mental healthcare team shared concerns about not always being able to have face-to-face interactions with young people, especially at weekends.
Regime & Daily Life
Time out of room remained poor, particularly at evenings and weekends, and slightly decreased over the reporting year, partly due to in-room showers. The regime changed several times without consistent communication to young people, causing confusion and frustration. The function of the WADE unit was unclear, often reverting to segregation. Opportunities for developing soft skills were lacking, and meaningful conversations between young people and officers were not often observed, especially through locked doors.
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 | 12 | 9 | |
| Canteen, facility list, catalogues | 0 | 1 | |
| Discipline, including adjudications, incentives schemes, sanctions | 5 | 7 | |
| Equality | 0 | 0 | |
| Finance, including pay, private monies, spends | 0 | 1 | |
| Food and kitchens | 0 | 0 | |
| Health, including physical, mental, social care | 0 | 1 | |
| Letters, visits, telephones, public protection, restrictions | 3 | 2 | |
| Miscellaneous | 13 | 15 | |
| Property during transfer or in another facility | 0 | 0 | |
| Property within the establishment | 1 | 2 | |
| Purposeful activity, including education, work, training, time out of cell | 12 | 8 | |
| Sentence management, including HDC (home detention curfew), ROTL (release on temporary licence), parole, release dates, recategorisation | 1 | 0 | |
| Staff/prisoner concerns, including bullying | 3 | 12 | |
| Transfers | 1 | 0 |
Recommendations (13)
Ministry of Justice: 2
Other: 1
HMPPS: 5
Governor / Director: 5
4 repeated
Recommendation 1
Repeated
Prev. unaddressed
With the closure of YOI Cookham Wood, the Board believes it is inhumane that about a quarter of young people, who are legally recognised as children, are accommodated at Werrington from the other end of the country, far away from family? How does the Minister intend to address this serious issue?
Ministry of Justice
Resettlement
Response
Over 18s in Werrington YOI. It will be resolved.
Recommendation 2
The Board would like to know if the Minister believes that the implementation of Framework for Integrated Care has really improved the quality of the lives of young people in custody. And, if not, what steps will the Minister take to address this problem?
Ministry of Justice
Healthcare
Recommendation 3
As an increasing proportion of young people in custody are over 18 years. If there is a safeguarding concern, how does the local authority continue to address their needs?
Other
(local_authority)
Safeguarding
Recommendation 4
Why is there such limited provision for supporting young people working towards GCSEs and other, higher qualifications within the education contract?
HMPPS
Education
Recommendation 5
Are the food portions issued to young people, who are physically developing, adequate for their age?
HMPPS
Food
Recommendation 6
When will the new national dataset and KPIs for education, referred to in last year’s Ministerial response, come on stream and will they be available to the IMB?
HMPPS
Education
Recommendation 7
Is the YCS satisfied that education allocations are made in the best interests of young people?
HMPPS
Education
Recommendation 8
Is the YCS satisfied that higher-level learners are sufficiently well catered for in prison?
HMPPS
Education
Recommendation 9
Is there confidence that People Plus can meet the learning and curriculum needs of young people, including those who are over 18 years of age?
Governor / Director
Education
Recommendation 10
Repeated
Prev. unaddressed
How can young people’s hours out of room be returned to the previous healthy pre-pandemic levels so there is an increase in purposeful activity?
Governor / Director
Regime
Response
Time out of room. It would improve.
Recommendation 11
Repeated
Prev. unaddressed
How can young people develop more positive relationships with the staff they see most of?
Governor / Director
Staffing
Response
Officer and young person relationship. It would improve.
Recommendation 12
Repeated
Prev. unaddressed
How can the progress of young people on R49 be monitored remotely by the IMB when the paperwork is so infrequently sent, even though this has been requested on numerous occasions?
Governor / Director
Segregation
Response
Ability of the IMB to monitor R49 review process. Agreed that online monitoring by IMB could continue.
Recommendation 13
Why has the number of young people self-isolating increased?
Governor / Director
Safety