Prison
Cat C
Key Concerns Identified
Positive Findings
Channings Wood
IMB Annual Report 2024 · Published 31 January 2025
HMP Channings Wood has navigated a challenging year following the closure of HMP Dartmoor, resulting in significant population changes and regime disruptions. While staff resilience and a downward trend in self-harm and assaults are positive, the prison faces persistent issues with property loss, inadequate infrastructure maintenance, and delays in access to purposeful activity. Concerns also remain regarding the care of an expanding ageing population and the plight of IPP prisoners.
Positive Findings
The Board commends the senior management team for their resilience during a challenging period, particularly with the closure of HMP Dartmoor. Efforts by staff have led to a downward trend in self-harm incidents and a steady decline in assaults. Measures to detect illicit substances are effective, and ACCT documentation is well managed. Improvements in healthcare include reduced GP and dentistry waiting times, weekly psychiatrist attendance, and the recruitment of neurodiversity orderlies. The drug management adjudication compact has been successfully trialled, and the library is highlighted as an outstanding area, supporting literacy and arts-based activities. Vocational training areas like catering, bicycle repair, bricklaying, and painting and decorating show good practice with a 97% success rate.
Key Concerns
Regime/Time Out of Cell
The closure of HMP Dartmoor has had a major impact on all aspects of the regime at Channings Wood, causing significant disruption to the population balance, work roles, and resettlement programmes.
Estate/Conditions
The inability of HMPPS to deal with the repairs backlog (particularly roofing and flooring) continues to adversely affect decency, access to purposeful activity and overall operational effectiveness.
Complaints/Property
Missing property, mostly when it does not accompany a prisoner on transfer, is a running sore, which HMPPS seems incapable of treating, causing distress and consuming staff time.
Segregation
Coping with a prisoner with challenging behaviour who is on a long-running ‘dirty protest’ in the CSU requires a solution other than managing the situation or sharing the burden with other establishments.
Healthcare
Although overall waiting times for healthcare appointments have improved, those for opticians and psychologists are still too long, with psychology group sessions for VPs taking up to 38 weeks.
Equality/Diversity
The Board is seriously concerned about the prison’s ability to adequately meet the needs of an expanding ageing population, as there is still no strategy in place at national level.
Resettlement/Release
Prisoners serving imprisonment for public protection (IPP) sentences experience hopelessness, frustration and poor mental health, facing great difficulty progressing towards release.
Education/Purposeful Activity
Purposeful activity is essential for progression, but instructor shortages and ageing infrastructure prone to failure often undermine delivery efforts, leading to a target of 75% being missed.
Board Commentary
Staffing
The senior management team demonstrated strong resilience following the Deputy Governor's death and during the Dartmoor transfer. Additional staff from Dartmoor have helped deliver more key work sessions, which were previously limited by shortages. While staff-prisoner engagement is generally positive, some prisoners report a lack of support. Instructor shortages and ESW staff shortages sometimes limit purposeful activity. The drug and alcohol rehabilitation service, Change, Grow, Live, has increased its staff team but still has four vacancies.
Healthcare
Healthcare needs are reportedly met for 69% of prisoners, but applications have increased by over 80%. Overall waiting times for healthcare appointments have improved due to increased GP and dentistry sessions, although optician and psychology waiting times remain too long. The Board is concerned about the prison's ability to meet the needs of an expanding ageing population without a national strategy. There are also concerns about a lack of radon screening for prisoners transferred from HMP Dartmoor. The mental health team is available seven days a week with a weekly psychiatrist, and the 28-day transfer limit for severe mental health conditions is having a positive effect.
Regime & Daily Life
The closure of HMP Dartmoor significantly impacted the regime, leading to high prisoner churn and a change in population balance. Time out of cell varies, with unemployed prisoners receiving the least time (1 hour 45 minutes on weekdays), leading to complaints of 'too much bang up' and feeling disadvantaged. Purposeful activity targets are not being met due to staff shortages, ageing infrastructure, and heating issues closing industries. Lack of access to activities and delays in allocations are frequent complaints, particularly from prisoners transferred from Dartmoor.
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 | |
| Discipline, adjudications and privileges | 13 | 11 | |
| Healthcare | 40 | 22 | |
| Other | 59 | 61 | |
| Property (including property lost on transfer) | 38 | 47 | |
| Rule 45 – removal from association | 4 | 3 | |
| Staff behaviour | 5 | 17 | |
| Work, education and training | 28 | 18 |
Recommendations (4)
Ministry of Justice: 3
HMPPS: 1
3 repeated
Recommendation 1
The abolished and discredited IPP sentence is inhumane and unfairly disadvantages those prisoners still serving such a sentence. When does the Minister plan to revisit the proposed resentencing exercise previously recommended by the Justice Select Committee? If he will not, can he explain why?
Ministry of Justice
Resettlement
Recommendation 2
Repeated
Prev. unaddressed
The inability to conduct timely repairs to roofing, heating systems and work-related equipment continues to undermine operational effectiveness and limit capacity in purposeful activity. As in our previous report, the Board, again, asks why has this situation been allowed to drag on for so long and when will it be resolved?
Ministry of Justice
Estate
Response
As of August 2024, roof repair work had still not begun.
Recommendation 3
Repeated
Prev. unaddressed
Year after year, we have been told that the ageing population strategy is coming soon. As in our previous report, the Board asks, again, when will it arrive and what improvements will it bring to the living conditions and care needs of elderly prisoners?
Ministry of Justice
Healthcare
Response
The ageing population strategy has still not been published.
Recommendation 4
Repeated
Prev. unaddressed
In September 2022, the Prison Service implemented a new Prisoners’ Property Policy Framework, with the aim of addressing the main problems regularly identified by IMBs. Two years later, there is little to no evidence that the framework has made any difference to the safe recording, storage and movement of prisoners’ property. As in our previous report, the Board asks, again, when HMPPS will admit that the current system is broken and invest in much-needed resolutions, including a national digital tracking system?
HMPPS
Complaints
Response
No progress to date.
Other IMB Reports for Channings Wood
PPO Fatal Incidents
Prisons and Probation Ombudsman fatal incident investigations for this establishment.