Prison
Cat C
Key Concerns Identified
Positive Findings
Warren Hill
IMB Annual Report 2024 · Published 17 September 2024
HMP Warren Hill is a Category C prison maintaining a safe and humane environment with effective safety measures and good staff-prisoner relationships. Key concerns include the outsourced food provision, the impact of Ministerial intervention on prisoner progression and ROTL, and the need for investment in the estate and digital education. The IMB highlights improvements in key worker delivery, healthcare, and resettlement support, advocating for on-site kitchen facilities and reinstatement of ROTL to further enhance prisoner experience and preparation for release.
Positive Findings
Warren Hill maintains a safe environment with a zero-tolerance policy on violence, evidenced by no deaths in custody and effective use of ACCTs and CSIPs. Prisoner involvement in decision-making is strong, and key worker session delivery has improved. Healthcare provision is comparable to community standards, and the appointment of a neurodiversity support manager is commendable. The prison offers a full regime with good access to purposeful activity and community links like Parkrun. Educational workshops, arts programs, and an effective employment hub aid resettlement, while family contact is well supported through various initiatives, including in-cell telephony.
Key Concerns
Food/Catering
Repeated
The ongoing poor provision and quality of food provided by the kitchen at HMP Hollesley Bay. The IMB reiterates its view that the reinstatement of a kitchen at Warren Hill should be prioritised.
Resettlement/Release
Repeated
The decision by the Secretary of State to review Parole Board decisions to release life and IPP prisoners continues to cause disquiet and the IMB was disappointed in the then Secretary of State’s decision not to re-sentence prisoners with IPP sentences. The withdrawal and suspension of the release on temporary licence (ROTL) pilot.
Estate/Conditions
Repeated
Some areas of the prison where further investment is required. Refurbishment is underway on one of the shower blocks, but there is still a lot of work to be done on other shower blocks.
Resettlement/Release
Repeated
Prisoners are not up to date with digital technology, so they are unable to use at least the basics, such as email and online banking, etc, which are so critical to successful functioning in the modern world. The prison has not been able to secure the provision of in-cell laptops.
Healthcare
Repeated
Discrepancies between local authorities when it comes to funding social care. Prisoners from other areas are unable to bring equipment with them, and funds and equipment must be reapplied for from Suffolk. This takes time and there is some evidence that Suffolk County Council has been unable to make funds available. Personal care for prisoners who require it is also becoming an issue.
Substance Misuse
The continued misuse of legitimate prescription medications, such as pregabalin and gabapentin by a small percentage of the population.
Education/Purposeful Activity
The education provider, People Plus, has continued to experience staff shortages, impacting on the learners at Warren Hill. People Plus and the prison remain bound by a restrictive contracts process.
Board Commentary
Staffing
Warren Hill has experienced staffing changes due to retirements and transfers, leading to a younger, less experienced workforce. While managers provide appropriate support, prisoners occasionally comment on officers' skills. The prison conducts monthly training lockdowns, which helped improve key worker session delivery to 87%, though the target is 100%. The increasing social care needs of older prisoners are also impacting staffing resources and costs.
Healthcare
Healthcare at Warren Hill, provided by Practice Plus Group, is generally comparable to community services, though locum GP provision can cause shortages. Older prisoners with growing health and social care needs frequently require hospital appointments and bed watches, impacting prison resources. A mental health team supports 44 prisoners in crisis, and a neurodiversity support manager has been appointed. Issues include difficulties in notifying prisoners of appointments and discrepancies in social care funding between local authorities.
Regime & Daily Life
Warren Hill maintains a full daily regime with extensive unlock hours from 7:45 am to 7:30 pm, offering ample time for purposeful activity, leisure, and gym access. However, persistent issues with the outsourced food provision from HMP Hollesley Bay, including quality, quantity, and temperature, continue to generate complaints. The IMB is deeply disappointed by ongoing Ministerial intervention affecting prisoner progression and the continued suspension of the ROTL pilot, which hinders preparation for release. The lack of in-cell laptops for educational purposes also remains an unmet need.
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 | 0 | 0 | |
| Canteen, facility list, catalogues | 0 | 0 | |
| Discipline, including adjudications, incentives scheme, sanctions | 1 | 1 | — |
| Equality | 1 | 1 | — |
| Finance, including pay, private monies, spends | 2 | 3 | |
| Food and kitchens | 1 | 3 | |
| Health, including physical, mental, social care | 2 | 13 | |
| Letters, visits, telephones, public protection, restrictions | 3 | 3 | — |
| Miscellaneous | 2 | 6 | |
| Property during transfer or in another facility | 3 | 5 | |
| Property within the establishment | 0 | 3 | |
| Purposeful activity, including education, work, training, time out of cell | 0 | 2 | |
| Sentence management, including HDC (home detention curfew), ROTL (release on temporary licence), parole, release dates, re-categorisation | 1 | 1 | — |
| Staff/prisoner concerns, including bullying | 3 | 6 | |
| Transfers | 2 | 0 |
Recommendations (4)
Ministry of Justice: 1
HMPPS: 2
Governor / Director: 1
2 repeated
Recommendation 1
The Board urges that the decision to suspend the ROTL pilot be reviewed.
Ministry of Justice
Resettlement
Recommendation 2
Repeated
In light of ongoing concerns about the provision of food from the Hollesley Bay kitchen, the Board welcomes the progress that has been made on this front, in as much as that the proposed expansion of the number of cells at Warren Hill is fully dependent on new kitchen facilities being provided at the prison. The staff and the IMB are as one on this issue and feel that it is a necessary and absolute condition before the proposed expansion can go ahead. The IMB also feels that the provision must be of a high standard that will enable food to be stored, prepared and cooked on the Warren Hill site. Any suggestion of warming up pre-cooked food will encounter the existing problems and, quite simply, will be wholly inadequate.
HMPPS
Food
Recommendation 3
Repeated
Warren Hill is well maintained, although, as outlined in last year’s report, there are some areas of the prison where further investment is required. Refurbishment is underway on one of the shower blocks, but there is still a lot of work to be done on other shower blocks. As the prison expands, the IMB would welcome reassurance that the ancillary facilities and training and educational facilities will be increased in similar proportions to the overall expansion of the number of cells.
HMPPS
Estate
Recommendation 4
The prison seems to have prioritised the need to ensure support for prisoners on release to reduce the recall rate. However, it needs to go further and ensure that prisoners are up to date with digital technology, so they are able to use at least the basics, such as email and online banking, etc, which are so critical to successful functioning in the modern world.
Governor / Director
Resettlement
Other IMB Reports for Warren Hill
PPO Fatal Incidents
Prisons and Probation Ombudsman fatal incident investigations for this establishment.