Prison
Cat Women's, Local, YOI
Key Concerns Identified
Positive Findings
Styal
IMB Annual Report 2024 · Published 18 September 2024
HMP/YOI Styal, a local women's prison with an operational capacity of 454 and population of approximately 420, faced significant challenges in safety during the reporting year, including high rates of assaults and self-harm. The Board raised key concerns regarding deteriorating accommodation standards in the houses, ongoing issues with healthcare provision and medication administration, and insufficient purposeful activity and library access. While positive relationships and some improvements were noted in areas like induction and perinatal care, systemic issues stemming from complex prisoner needs and staffing pressures persist.
Positive Findings
The Board observed a committed, multi-disciplinary and thoughtful approach to safety, supported by strong leadership and effective data analysis. Positive relationships between staff and prisoners were noted, enhanced by the use of laptops for communication. The well-staffed peri-natal team provides excellent care for pregnant prisoners and mothers, and the DARS generally meets needs upon arrival and release. Improvements were seen in the induction process, quality of food for new arrivals, and provision of suitable clothing. The mental health team offers a high standard of individualised, holistic care, often exceeding community provisions.
Key Concerns
Safety
Styal had the highest rates in the female estate for both prisoner-on-prisoner and prisoner-on-staff assaults during the reporting period.
Safety
The prison also recorded the third highest level of self-harm in the women’s estate, the majority of which was committed by a very small number of prolific self-harmers.
Safety
The prison’s approach to safety has been compromised throughout the reporting year by the increasing number of prisoners with very complex needs, including significant mental health issues, admitted to the prison.
Regime/Time Out of Cell
The Board noted that the prison has continued to receive prisoners late in the evening, some of whom arrive without appropriate paperwork.
Mental Health
It has been incredibly difficult securing the appropriate placements needed for these individuals and, despite its best efforts, the prison is not resourced to provide the required level of support.
Substance Misuse
The medication queues have not always been adequately supervised and this has been noted to increase the potential for illicit trade in prescription drugs amongst prisoners.
Substance Misuse
Ongoing issues with illicit substances in the prison. There was an increase of 48% in drug reporting and the main ingress appeared to be through mail (including legal letters), recall prisoners and social visits.
Estate/Conditions
Repeated
Accommodation, particularly in the 17 houses, remains a key concern. The Board has observed longstanding maintenance and repair delays, including lack of a proactive programme of repairs to leaking roofs and gutters, poorly fitting windows and broken paving stones. The limited number of toilets and bathrooms has impacted on decency standards and the furniture in communal areas is insufficient for the number of prisoners on each house.
Mental Health
Concerns are increasing about the use of segregation for those with complex and severe mental health needs, when appropriate mental health facilities in the community are not available.
Healthcare
Spectrum have been unable to consistently provide safe and timely administration of medicines. Prisoners’ ability to access health services remained adversely affected by shortages of both prison and healthcare staff and the demands of the regime.
Healthcare
There has been a notable increase in the number of prisoners entering the prison with existing health needs and complex and enduring mental health conditions, which has led to an increased demand for healthcare services. There has also been a rising demand for social care, especially for prisoners with learning difficulties, which has added to the pressure on an already stretched service.
Substance Misuse
There have been shortcomings in the service offered to prisoners during their sentence to maximise the number of women on recovery pathways.
Education/Purposeful Activity
Repeated
The prison has demonstrated a continued failure to provide all prisoners with their statutory entitlement of 30 minutes per week in the library.
Education/Purposeful Activity
Attendance at work and education has not been sufficient and needs improvement. Reasons for non-attendance recorded by the Board are multi-factorial, including clashes with healthcare and other appointments and medication timings.
Regime/Time Out of Cell
The prison has not provided sufficient activity spaces to enable every eligible prisoner to have the opportunity to attend work and/or education full-time.
Resettlement/Release
There has been significant recent pressure in relation to finding accommodation on release for prisoners, despite the positive working observed between the pre-release team and Commissioned Rehabilitative Services (CRS) providers.
Staffing
Repeated
What further support can be provided so that the important activity of key work is delivered consistently and to a high standard for all prisoners?
Estate/Conditions
Repeated
Funding for a new healthcare building has been agreed for Styal, but we understand building work has been delayed until 2025.
Other
Repeated
The cost-of-living crisis has disproportionately impacted prisoners. What plans are in place to consider an increase in budget available for prisoner wages to offset this increase?
Resettlement/Release
What specific consideration has been given to the impact of the recent changes to the recall system on female prisoners, in particular those with family ties and post-release accommodation challenges and how do these changes fit with the national Female Offender Strategy?
Equality/Diversity
Equality data has been challenging to access. Meetings focussed on the different equality areas protected by legislation... remain somewhat sporadic. ...discrimination incident reporting forms (DIRFs) were not always addressed in a timely manner.
Regime/Time Out of Cell
The gym was underused and that the benefits of exercise were not fully accessed or appreciated, particularly for prisoners who were volatile and/or had mental health issues. This was partly due to the delays in the recruitment of qualified staff.
Regime/Time Out of Cell
Opportunities for family contact have reduced and weekend social video calls stopped due to prison staffing issues.
Estate/Conditions
Repeated
The pharmacy building continued to cause concern, with restricted conditions and inadequate storage facilities.
Healthcare
For most of the reporting year, prisoners had long waits to see a GP, dentist and podiatrist.
Resettlement/Release
Social care demand continued to rise, especially for prisoners with learning disabilities. ...challenges in finding suitable accommodation on release where social care was required.
Substance Misuse
There was no group work, but single sessions, including Building Confidence and Self-Esteem, Managing Cravings, Peer-pressure and Pre-Release, ran during the reporting year. There was a planned harm reduction programme but, as of September 2023, it was unavailable due to staff shortages.
Substance Misuse
There was an incentivised substance free living (ISFL) house (Bruce), but it was a prison- led initiative and there was no clinical link with the DARS team. Admission criteria to the house seemed unclear and were confusing to the residents, and there was no dedicated prison officer on the house to bring stability.
Board Commentary
Staffing
Staff numbers slightly improved during the year, aided by external funding, which supported initiatives like the young adult program. However, healthcare provision experienced ongoing staffing problems, relying heavily on bank and agency staff, and struggling with retention. Key work remained a concern, with national targets not met and sessions frequently cancelled due to staff shortages, impacting quality and consistency. Staffing within the Offender Management Unit (OMU) was more stable, reducing reliance on operational staff being redeployed.
Healthcare
Healthcare faced significant challenges, including persistent issues with timely and safe medication administration by Spectrum, leading to prisoner anxiety and potential harm. There was an over-reliance on temporary staff and difficulties in retention. Long waits for GP, dentist, and podiatry appointments were common, though GP waits reportedly improved by year-end. The pharmacy building remains inadequate. Mental health services, provided by GMMH, were well-staffed and offered a superior level of care but faced increased demand from prisoners with complex conditions, leading to delays in transfers and seven prisoners being sectioned upon release. Social care demand for those with learning disabilities also rose.
Regime & Daily Life
Accommodation standards across the prison, particularly in the 17 houses, deteriorated due to longstanding maintenance delays, leaking roofs, and poorly fitting windows. Communal areas lacked sufficient seating, and multi-occupancy bedrooms with limited toilets and bathrooms raised decency concerns. The regime generally allowed for regular out-of-cell time, but purposeful activity, education, and library attendance were insufficient. Non-attendance was multi-factorial, including clashes with healthcare appointments. The gym was underused due to staffing delays. Family contact opportunities, especially weekend social video calls, were reduced due to prison staffing issues.
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 | 5 | 21 | |
| Discipline, including adjudications, incentives scheme, sanctions | 15 | 5 | |
| E1 – Letters, visits, telephones, public protection restrictions | 6 | 10 | |
| E 2 – Finance, including pay, private monies, spends | 10 | 7 | |
| Equality | 3 | 5 | |
| F – Food and kitchens | 4 | 2 | |
| G – Health, including physical, mental, social care | 43 | 40 | |
| H 1 – Property within this establishment | 21 | 18 | |
| H2 – Property during transfer or in another establishment or location | 3 | 2 | |
| H 3 – Canteen, facility list, catalogue(s) | 2 | 3 | |
| I – Sentence management, including HDC (home detention curfew), ROTL (release on temporary licence), parole, release dates, recategorisation | 11 | 9 | |
| J – Staff/prisoner concerns, including bullying | 15 | 14 | |
| K –Transfers | 4 | 4 | — |
| L – Miscellaneous, including complaints system | 8 | 6 | |
| Purposeful activity, including education, work, training, library, regime, time out of cell | 8 | 5 |
Recommendations (16)
Other: 5
HMPPS: 6
Governor / Director: 5
8 repeated
Recommendation 1
Repeated
Prev. unaddressed
What plans are there to address the decency and safety issues raised by the poor standard of accommodation at Styal?
Other
(minister)
Estate
Recommendation 2
Will the Minister speak to colleagues in the Department for Health and Social Care to improve prisoners’ timely access to specialist mental health facilities in the community, where required?
Other
(minister)
Mental Health
Recommendation 3
What additional resource will be made available to enable Styal to provide a safe environment for the most vulnerable and mentally unwell individuals?
Other
(minister)
Safety
Recommendation 4
Repeated
What progress has been made with the categorisation review referred to in the response to the Board’s previous annual report?
Other
(minister)
Other
Recommendation 5
What specific consideration has been given to the impact of the recent changes to the recall system on female prisoners, in particular those with family ties and post-release accommodation challenges and how do these changes fit with the national Female Offender Strategy?
Other
(minister)
Resettlement
Recommendation 6
Repeated
Prev. unaddressed
What further support can be provided so that the important activity of key work is delivered consistently and to a high standard for all prisoners?
HMPPS
Staffing
Recommendation 7
When will the RECONNECT service (care after custody service) be available for prisoners leaving Styal?
HMPPS
Resettlement
Recommendation 8
Repeated
Prev. unaddressed
The cost-of-living crisis has disproportionately impacted prisoners. What plans are in place to consider an increase in budget available for prisoner wages to offset this increase?
HMPPS
Welfare
Recommendation 9
Repeated
Prev. unaddressed
Funding for a new healthcare building has been agreed for Styal, but we understand building work has been delayed until 2025. What guarantees are there to ensure that this happens?
HMPPS
Estate
Recommendation 10
The Board understands further workshops are planned, or are due, to start imminently in 2024-25. What further HMPPS support and assistance can be provided to increase the number of workshop places and employment opportunities for the prisoners?
HMPPS
Purposeful Activity
Recommendation 11
The use of laptops in the prison has been effective in providing prisoners with more independence and better management of their own affairs. The laptops have also provided very good opportunities for therapy, private reflection and education. When will new content, including a word processing facility be made available for prisoners to access?
HMPPS
Regime
Recommendation 12
Repeated
Prev. unaddressed
What action can be taken to address the ongoing problems with accommodation standards to ensure decency and humane treatment at Styal?
Governor / Director
Estate
Recommendation 13
Repeated
Prev. unaddressed
The Board have observed recent improvements in key work allocation and completion. What more is planned to ensure that timely and high-quality key work sessions are delivered to every eligible prisoner, in line with national targets?
Governor / Director
Staffing
Recommendation 14
Repeated
Prev. unaddressed
How does the prison intend to ensure that all prisoners have access to the library for at least 30 minutes per week?
Governor / Director
Education
Recommendation 15
How and when will the Spectrum contract be reviewed to support the changing healthcare needs of prisoners?
Governor / Director
Healthcare
Recommendation 16
What progress is being made in reducing non-attendance at healthcare, education and activities, caused by scheduling conflicts.
Governor / Director
Regime
Other IMB Reports for Styal
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.