Prison
Cat B
Key Concerns Identified
Positive Findings
Hewell
IMB Annual Report 2024 · Published 8 January 2025
HMP Hewell, a local Category B prison, faced significant challenges in the reporting year, including persistent crowding and a high remand population. Despite these pressures, the IMB noted dedicated efforts by staff to maintain a safe and humane regime, introducing positive initiatives like 'here to help' mentors and a prison council. Key concerns remain around increased self-harm and violence, the lack of IT for prisoners, and inadequate mental health and family contact provisions, many of which are recurrent issues.
Positive Findings
The Board commends HMP Hewell's Governor and staff for their commitment to a safe, fair, and humane regime despite significant pressures. Positive developments include the introduction of 'twilight' shifts and 'here to help' mentors, which have transformed prisoner engagement and support. There has been a strong focus on equality and diversity, with the prison council and equality advocates improving prisoner voice and trust. The Board also noted proportionate use of force, low drug testing results, and commendable efforts in maintaining clean and decent communal areas, with a new regime being agreed for implementation to increase purposeful activity.
Key Concerns
Overcrowding
Repeated
Persistent court backlogs leading to a significant increase and prolongation of the remand population, which impacts crowding, prisoner wellbeing, and family contact.
Safety
Significant increase in self-harm incidents (1033 vs 664 previous year) and violence (475 incidents, 302 prisoner-on-prisoner, 173 staff assaults), exacerbated by crowding and cell sharing.
Mental Health
Repeated
Lack of adequate mental health services and suitable environments for unwell prisoners, leading to long waits and the inappropriate use of segregation for those with complex needs.
Estate/Conditions
The outdated prison estate, including critical air-handling and heating equipment past its design life, and recurrent lift outages significantly impacting vulnerable and wheelchair-using prisoners.
Education/Purposeful Activity
Repeated
Absence of IT systems and digital kiosks for prisoners, leading to inefficiencies, reliance on paper-based systems, and reduced opportunities for skill development and self-management.
Staffing
Repeated
The abandonment of key working due to population pressures and staffing challenges, undermining prisoner-staff relationships and individual support.
Resettlement/Release
Inadequate family contact provisions, including insufficient social visit sessions, the lack of a dedicated child contact room, and no basic refreshments for visitors.
Safety
Repeated
ACCTs often lack depth and analysis, with prisoner voices not adequately captured, representing a missed opportunity for effective suicide and self-harm prevention.
Board Commentary
Staffing
Staffing resources were significantly impacted by high levels of prisoner receptions, transfers, and discharges throughout the year. The key worker scheme, noted as inadequate last year, was entirely abandoned due to population pressures. While 'here to help' mentors have been transformational, the Board is concerned this success might reduce officers' focus on care and problem-solving. Issues around training for new officers and governors' inability to locally interview Band 3 staff also remain unaddressed.
Healthcare
The Board expressed shock at the extent of mental ill health among the prison population and the long waits for appropriate services, noting that Hewell is an unsuitable environment for such unwell individuals. While GP and dental appointments did not raise concerns, long waits for optician appointments were noted, alongside missed healthcare appointments due to poor communication from officers. The prison estate is also ill-equipped for an ageing population with complex social care needs, as highlighted by the redesignation of the Oak unit which lacked specialist staff and facilities for its intended purpose.
Regime & Daily Life
For most of the reporting year, the regime offered limited time out of cell, often at 'Covid levels' (2 hours), and crowding made it challenging to provide meaningful activity for all prisoners. The lack of in-cell IT or digital kiosks meant paper-based systems hindered prisoner autonomy and staff efficiency. Towards the end of the year, a re-profiling exercise and a new regime were planned for implementation, aiming to double opportunities for purposeful activity by offering half-day education and work slots.
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 | 8 | 22 | |
| Canteen, facility list, catalogue(s) | 7 | 1 | |
| Discipline including adjudications, incentives schemes, sanctions | 3 | 3 | — |
| Equality | 2 | 6 | |
| Finance including pay, private monies, spends | 5 | 7 | |
| Food and kitchens | 3 | 2 | |
| Health including physical, mental and social care | 8 | 25 | |
| Letters, visits, telephones, public protection restrictions | 15 | 25 | |
| Property during transfer or in another establishment or location | 9 | 9 | — |
| Property within this establishment | 25 | 13 | |
| Purposeful activity including education, work, training, library, regime, time out of cell | 4 | 4 | — |
| Sentence management including HDC (home detention curfew), ROTL (release on temporary licence), parole, release dates, recategorisat | 13 | 18 |
Recommendations (15)
Ministry of Justice: 6
Governor / Director: 4
HMPPS: 5
6 repeated
Recommendation 1
Repeated
Prev. unaddressed
What will the Minister do to reduce numbers in custody related to the length of time on remand due to backlogs in the courts?
Ministry of Justice
Overcrowding
Response
Outlined plans to increase the number of judges and court sittings; outlined plans to invest £200 million for essential modernisation and court building repair work.
Recommendation 1
Maintains and develops the existing high level of commitment to equality and engagement, giving prisoners a greater voice and promoting a staff culture that emphasises the prison as a place of opportunity.
Governor / Director
Equality
Recommendation 2
Will the Minister consider alternatives to custodial sentences?
Ministry of Justice
Other
Recommendation 2
Evaluates the impact of changes to the re-designation of some houseblocks, the core day and the five underpinning key priorities.
Governor / Director
Regime
Recommendation 3
Repeated
Prev. unaddressed
What will the Minister do to ensure that the provision of mental health services for prisoners, inside prison and in dedicated mental health facilities, is improved?
Ministry of Justice
Mental Health
Response
Commitment to improvement through non-legislative means and collaboration with partners. Driving forward a non-statutory independent role to improve delivery of the 28-day time limit set out in the NHS good practice guidance. The Mental health Bill will progress when parliamentary time allows it.
Recommendation 3
Improves family contact by providing basic refreshments for visitors on arrival and a child contact room.
Governor / Director
Resettlement
Recommendation 4
Will the Minister invest more in the maintenance and updating of prisons, to end inhumane and unsanitary conditions, and to meet the needs of an ageing population with related health and mobility challenges?
Ministry of Justice
Estate
Recommendation 4
Enables prisoners transferring to other establishments to take with them a record of progress and achievement in education and vocational activities.
Governor / Director
Education
Recommendation 5
Repeated
Prev. unaddressed
Will the Minister ensure that all prisons and prisoners have access to IT systems to increase prisoner skills and chances of employment, to free up prison officer time spent on paper systems and to promote a fairer and more transparent regime?
Ministry of Justice
Education
Recommendation 6
Will the Minister extend support for prisoners after release to reduce recall and re-offending?
Ministry of Justice
Resettlement
Recommendation 7
Repeated
Prev. unaddressed
When will Hewell benefit from changes to training, as identified in the independent review of training carried out by Lord Timpson, and to be taken forward as part of the wider Enable programme?
HMPPS
Staffing
Response
Linking with the Enable project to review training for prison officers. Reviewing and re-writing the training for key work.
Recommendation 8
Why are governors unable to interview Band 3 staff locally?
HMPPS
Staffing
Recommendation 9
Repeated
Prev. unaddressed
When will Hewell have IT access for prisoners? All prisons should allow direct access for prisoners to enable them to be self-directing and reduce the burden and mistrust of paper-based systems.
HMPPS
Education
Response
Information was provided about progress in some prisons, but nothing about when Hewell will expect to progress.
Recommendation 10
Are the current health needs assessments, including mental health assessments, still fit for purpose given the changing demographics of the prison population?
HMPPS
Healthcare
Recommendation 11
Repeated
Prev. unaddressed
Could you establish a process to ensure that prisoners can take a record of progress and achievement in educational and vocational activities with them when moving between prisons.
HMPPS
Education
Response
Some evidence of commitment to improvement; no update on Government website since September 2023.
Other IMB Reports for Hewell
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.