IMB Annual Reports

- The ready availability of drugs had increasing impact through the year, resulting in men found under the influence, emergency call-outs, and a strain on healthcare and uniformed staff.
- The delayed re-role of Brixton from a Category C resettlement prison to a Category B reception prison impeded work to reduce reoffending within the nine pathways, particularly mental health, substance misuse, education, and vocational training.
- The decision to send men with as little as 28 days left to serve impeded or negated a range of resettlement actions.
- Persistent issues with property being mislaid during transfer to Brixton, coupled with unacceptable delays in recovery or compensation, continued to cause distress to prisoners and waste staff resources.
- A total of 11 men were unlawfully detained (held after their release date), with HMPPS not defaulting to compensation payment, which the Board considered unjust.
- The prison's accommodation remained manifestly overcrowded, with cells as small as 6.4m2 often shared, and toilets located uncomfortably close to sleeping areas.
- Shortages of space for single cells, interview rooms, and appropriately located classrooms continued to affect education and treatment programmes.

- The prison's inability to appropriately manage prisoner transfers, receiving men with complex needs and insufficient sentence time for resettlement, exacerbated by population pressures.
- Unacceptable living conditions, including overcrowding (men sharing single cells), erratic decency checks, and chronic shortages of bedding, clothing, and furniture.
- Inconsistent and poor regime, especially on B wing, leading to prolonged time in cells and lack of purposeful activity for men awaiting induction.
- Pervasive availability of illicit items such as drugs, phones, and improvised weapons, contributing to self-harm, violence, and debt-related self-isolation.
- Inadequate education, skills, and work training provision, with significant induction backlogs and unmet learning needs in English and maths, contributing to boredom.
- Poor performance of subcontracted services (e.g., maintenance, vermin control, washing machines, cell bells, CCTV) affecting safety, decency, and regime.

- Overcrowding resulted in restricted regimes and the inappropriate accommodation of general population prisoners on the vulnerable prisoners' wing.
- The prison lacks facilities to adequately support persistent self-harmers, and transfer options to appropriate facilities are severely limited.
- Despite significant efforts, the amount of contraband, particularly NPS, entering the establishment remains high.
- Prisoner accommodation is inadequate, being too small, old, dilapidated, and unsuitable for two men sharing.
- Vermin, particularly rats, are a continuing and constant presence despite extermination efforts.
- The number, range, and standard of educational and training opportunities are insufficient for the prison population, impacting resettlement.
- Significant infrastructure improvements are urgently required across the prison.

- Overcrowded and inadequate accommodation: many prisoners share cramped, dilapidated cells.
- Insufficient purposeful activity: not enough work or training places, leading to a restrictive regime.
- Increase in violence: assault rates were higher than in previous years.
- Lack of consistent key worker provision: impacting prisoner support.
- Shortage of Category D places and delays in transfer to open conditions: hindering resettlement.
- Lack of accommodation for men on release: particularly in London, undermining resettlement efforts.
- Inappropriate allocation of prisoners: many arriving without sentence plans or unsuitable for the prison's profile.

- The inadequate number of places in category D prisons, exacerbated by remedial works, removes incentives for good behaviour and increases re-offending risk.
- A significant proportion of men (29%) are released without accommodation, a concern repeated from previous years, increasing re-offending rates.
- The new offender flow process sends men to Brixton who do not meet its resettlement profile, setting both prisoners and the prison up for failure.
- Brixton's infrastructure is not suited for its elderly and infirm population, particularly those with mobility impairments, requiring better living conditions.
- Prisoner pay varies inconsistently across the estate, impacting men's ability to afford canteen items and phone calls.
- There was a significant increase in the proportion and seriousness of assaults on staff, with one severe case of prisoner-on-prisoner ill-treatment going undetected for months.
- The prison's accommodation remains small, cramped, and unsatisfactory, a consistent concern, and there was a rat problem for several months.
- Psychoactive substances were found to be readily available and the primary drug of choice, with uneven supervision of tradable medication dispensing.

- The Board continues to be concerned about the shortage of category D prison places.
- The Board notes that the Justice Committee report of July 2020 repeated its 2013 recommendation on the need for a strategy for the ageing prison population. The Board considers that this need is very evident in HMP Brixton.
- that more low-risk prisoners were not released early, even by a week. This would have reduced overcrowding, allowed more men more time out of cell, and thus helped to safeguard the mental and physical health and wellbeing of prisoners and staff. The Board would ask that this be reviewed as the pandemic continues;
- the inadequate emphasis on continuing some form of in-cell education tailored towards qualifications later, and access to library services;
- the inadequate emphasis on maintaining family ties, especially in prisons like Brixton without in-cell telephony.
- considers that the size of cell considered adequate for two men sharing, in normal conditions and even more so in lockdown, is neither decent nor humane;
- regrets that the OMIC25 changes to give resettlement prisons resources to complete sentence plans have not yet been introduced.
- the mental health impacts of lockdown be assessed urgently, and action taken to mitigate them;
- a mechanism to provide some education and training, and better access to books, be considered a priority as lockdown continues;
- mandatory drug testing be reintroduced as soon as possible;
- more importance be placed on transferring prisoners to establishments where courses required in their sentence plans are offered, and not to resettlement prisons;
- the canteen and telephone contracts be reviewed to make goods and calls more affordable;
- the introduction of the long-promised property tracking scheme be expedited, not least to save costs;
- a strategy for older prisoners be produced as a priority;
- a commitment is made to retain free ‘purple visits’ video calls after lockdown;
- as prisons return to a more normal regime, it is made a priority and funding is made available to provide all men in resettlement prisons with an activity that will reduce their risk of reoffending on release.