IMB Annual Reports

- Acutely mentally unwell prisoners continue to be segregated in the CSU, awaiting transfer to appropriate psychiatric facilities, with staff lacking specialist training.
- The prison continues to experience extremely high levels of property loss and damage for prisoners transferring from other establishments, with HMPPS systems proving ineffective.
- Access to Release on Temporary Licence (ROTL) remains alarmingly low, hindering resettlement efforts despite available employment links.
- Population pressure continues to negatively impact prisoner outcomes, including increased self-harm, violence, and transfers away from family networks.
- Inconsistent staff effectiveness in resolving basic prisoner issues, alongside poor operational oversight and meeting attendance, contributes to prisoner frustration.
- Concerns persist regarding the lack of enhanced gate security and the rising presence of illicit drugs, including synthetic opioids.

- The Care and Separation Unit (CSU) is frequently at full capacity, housing acutely mentally unwell women in an unsuitable, therapeutic-free environment, with unacceptable delays in transfers to psychiatric units.
- The Board lacks confidence in the accuracy of attendance data for education and activities, and overall purposeful activity is low, coupled with a decline in library provision.
- Staffing issues persist, including a high rate of inexperienced staff, high sickness absence, and inconsistent embedding of the key worker system.
- There has been a significant rise in assaults on staff and use of force, attributed to population pressure and a more complex prisoner demographic.
- Extremely high levels of property loss during inter-prison transfers continue, exacerbated by poor management of family engagement services by PACT.
- Equalities work remains a low priority, and there is no commissioned provision for dementia testing in the prison.

- Significant rise in transfers of women with complex and acute mental health issues, for whom prison is an inappropriate environment and staff are not adequately trained.
- Long delays in transferring severely mentally unwell women to secure psychiatric units, despite assessments.
- Population pressure leading to transfers of unsuitable prisoners, impacting prison operation and safety.
- Unnecessary disruption and loss of property, monies, and educational progress for women transferring between prisons, exacerbated by administrative failures and poor inter-prison communication.
- The key worker system is not embedded, and there is a lack of consistency in the application of prison rules by inexperienced and redeployed staff.
- Medication distribution problems consistently disrupt the regime, and healthcare consulting rooms lack privacy curtains.
- Concerns regarding the new transgender policy's reactive management and resource planning impact on E wing, and the absence of commissioned dementia testing for an aging prison population.

- Lengthy segregation of prisoners with complex mental health needs and prolific self-harming behaviour in a prison environment.
- Lack of IT infrastructure in prison education and barriers created to enabling prisoners to be job-ready.
- Concern about an additional layer of reporting and accountability for the employment advisory board, with minimal impact on positive outcomes for prisoners.
- Lack of stability with the management of healthcare and little confidence in how healthcare complaints are managed and logged.
- Perceived lack of support for the Listeners scheme.

- Delay in easing restricted regime and its impact on mental health.
- Disappointment with lack of special vaccination status for prisons, contradictory to reasons for family visit restrictions.
- Concern about creating 500 new prison places for women, contradictory to community support assurances.
- Lack of centrally collated data on dependent children of prisoners, hampering family engagement.
- Ensuring purposeful activity and rehabilitation in post-lockdown regime, and constructive management of trade union input.
- Concern about centralised contract management processes (e.g., PACT) limiting local establishments' ability to performance manage, and need for robust processes for future procurement.
- Managing third-party providers (e.g., Weston College, PACT, DWP) unable or unwilling to attend during lockdowns, which left prison staff exposed and prisoners denied support.
- Extreme concern about reduced capacity and headcount for psychology interventions and subsequent waiting list, especially during increased demand, urging prompt recruitment.
- Significant obstacles to prisoners' access to IT for education, urging development of an effective digital strategy for education, digital devices, and secure internet access in the women's estate.
- Outdated internal IT systems wasting staff time, plans for updating across the estate.
- Predictions of fewer opportunities for association; hope for replacement by purposeful activity.
- Need for a more family-centred approach and proactive management of contracted-out resources.
- Monitoring the Weston College contract as face-to-face teaching resumes.
- Frequent inaccuracies in presented data (operational records, management information).
- Subjective treatment of some healthcare complaints as concerns, requiring more effective management.

- The induction process remains unsatisfactory, with new arrivals on C wing risking intimidation and a lack of formal induction materials, particularly for foreign nationals.
- Segregation is unsuitable for long-term rehabilitation, especially for a specific prisoner with brain trauma requiring national-level attention for transfer.
- London weighting issues persist, negatively impacting recruitment and retention in the education department.
- Implementation and monitoring of family engagement recommendations from the Farmer Review are half-hearted, with no data collected on dependent children of prisoners.
- Key working has not been implemented in the women's estate, including Downview, despite the resolution of a national dispute.
- Heating and electrical supplies for accommodation blocks are unreliable and require sufficient funding for upgrades.
- Concerns remain regarding the visibility of education success rates, engagement, and attendance data from Weston College.
- The number of prisoners on working Release on Temporary Licence (ROTL) dropped significantly, and a meaningful program is needed.
- Significant staffing shortages in the offender management unit lead to delays in prisoner responses.
- The physical conditions and exercise yard on the segregation unit are far from ideal.