Prison
Cat HMP/YOI
Key Concerns Identified
Positive Findings
New Hall
IMB Annual Report 2024 · Published 5 February 2025
HMP/YOI New Hall, a closed category prison for women, held 365 residents against an operational capacity of 381. The Board noted positive developments in reception, staff-prisoner relationships, and the introduction of a drug recovery wing. However, significant concerns persist regarding the inadequate funding and suitability of the prison environment for women with complex mental health needs, leading to unacceptable delays in transfers to secure units. There was also a notable increase in healthcare-related applications to the IMB and issues impacting access to Release on Temporary Licence (ROTL).
Positive Findings
The Board identified several positive developments, including timely reception procedures, well-managed induction processes with good support for new arrivals, and sensitive clinical assessments. The Listener service continues to improve, and the key worker scheme is highly successful. The prison has implemented a new drug recovery wing and a digital adjudication system, the first in the women's estate. Staff-prisoner relationships are very good, and the incentives scheme provides clear opportunities for progression. Healthcare initiatives have been introduced, including vaccination campaigns and a Cepheid machine for early hepatitis C identification. Education and vocational training opportunities are offered, supported by an employment hub and a neurodiversity manager, and literacy programmes are thriving. OMU staff work effectively with community rehabilitation agencies for resettlement, and HDC applications are processed efficiently.
Key Concerns
Mental Health
The Minister needs to accelerate the process of transferring prisoners with mental health issues to secure units.
Mental Health
Repeated
Higher levels of funding are essential to meet the complex and severe mental health needs of the women.
Mental Health
Repeated
The number of women with severe mental health conditions being sent to the prison solely as a place of safety is a significant concern.
Mental Health
Repeated
Prison is not an appropriate environment for women with severe mental health issues, and assessments and transfers to secure mental health establishments are not prompt enough.
Healthcare
There was a 61% increase in applications to the IMB relating to healthcare, with 37 out of 95 applications being health-related, particularly regarding prescribing issues.
Estate/Conditions
Repeated
The use of the vacant 'Larch' plot has still not been decided, despite the building being fully demolished.
Resettlement/Release
The clustering with HMP Askham Grange and shared Governor arrangements detrimentally impact prisoners' access to Release on Temporary Licence (ROTL) from New Hall.
Board Commentary
Staffing
The segregation unit operates with a small team of officers and a custodial manager, with support available for staff well-being. Relationships between staff and prisoners are consistently very good, a point also commended by HMIP. The key worker scheme has proven highly successful in providing additional support and resolving issues quickly. Staffing issues in the second half of 2023, which previously impacted healthcare prescribing, have now been resolved, leading to a fall in related applications.
Healthcare
Practice Plus Group is the primary healthcare provider, contending with increasingly complex needs among the women. Initiatives like vaccination campaigns, psychology groups, a 'reconnect service,' and rapid hepatitis C testing have been introduced. However, the prison is increasingly used as a place of safety for women with severe mental health needs, for whom the prison environment is deemed unsuitable and inadequately resourced. There are significant concerns about delays in assessing and transferring these women to secure mental health units, and a lack of dedicated inpatient facilities or additional funding for vulnerable residents. Healthcare-related applications to the IMB increased by 61%, with prescribing issues being a main concern, although these have since fallen due to resolved staffing issues.
Regime & Daily Life
The prison accommodates most prisoners in single-occupancy cells, with daily shower access. A new drug recovery wing on Oak 2 provides a safe, abstinent environment with a separate regime and activities for voluntary participants. The segregation unit offers daily showers and exercise, with newly introduced risk assessments allowing peer engagement to reduce isolation. The incentives scheme offers clear progression pathways with enhanced facilities for higher tiers, and even basic tier prisoners receive a decent, progressive regime. Opportunities for work, education, and vocational training are offered, contributing to purposeful activity.
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 | 9 | 11 | |
| Canteen, facility list, catalogue(s) | 1 | 2 | |
| Discipline, including adjudications, incentives schemes, sanctions | 3 | 4 | |
| Equality | 1 | 2 | |
| Finance, including pay, private monies, spends | 3 | 7 | |
| Food and kitchens | 3 | 1 | |
| Health, including physical, mental, social care | 37 | 23 | |
| Letters, visits, telephones, public protection restrictions | 3 | 13 | |
| Miscellaneous, including complaints system | 3 | 8 | |
| Property during transfer or in another establishment or location | 3 | 3 | — |
| Property within this establishment | 3 | 4 | |
| Purposeful activity, including education, work, training, library, regime, time out of cell | 2 | 12 | |
| Sentence management, including home detention curfew (HDC), release on temporary licence (ROTL), parole, release dates, recategorisation | 3 | 5 | |
| Staff/prisoner concerns, including bullying | 19 | 11 | |
| Transfers | 2 | 2 | — |
Recommendations (4)
Other: 1
HMPPS: 3
Recommendation 1
What will the Minister do to help accelerate the process of transferring prisoners with mental health issues to secure units?
Other
(minister)
Mental Health
Recommendation 2
In the Board’s view, it is obvious that higher levels of funding are essential to meet the complex and severe mental health needs of the women.
HMPPS
Mental Health
Recommendation 3
The Board wishes to highlight their concerns about the number of women with severe mental health conditions who are being sent to the prison solely as a place of safety.
HMPPS
Mental Health
Recommendation 4
The Board feels that prison is not an appropriate environment for women with severe mental health issues and those women requiring assessment and admission to secure mental health establishments were not assessed and transferred promptly enough.
HMPPS
Mental Health
Other IMB Reports for New Hall
PPO Fatal Incidents
Prisons and Probation Ombudsman fatal incident investigations for this establishment.