IMB Annual Reports
768 annual reports from Independent Monitoring Boards covering 171 establishments. IMBs provide independent oversight of prisons, immigration removal centres, and secure training centres. Source: imb.org.uk.
768
Reports
171
Establishments
757
With Key Concerns
Establishment Type
Reports by Year
Key Findings
99% of IMB reports flag key concerns.
Independent monitors cover 171 establishments
across prisons, immigration removal centres and secure training centres.
Oakwood
PRISON
Concerns
Self-harm: 1,366
Assaults: 132
Staff assaults: 91
HMP Oakwood, a Category C training prison, generally provides a safe environment with reductions in self-harm incidents and prisoner-on-prisoner violence. The prison has seen significant improvements in healthcare provision, with CQC breaches lifted, and positive developments in purposeful activity and prisoner-staff relationships. Key challenges include persistent understaffing in the Probation Service, ongoing delays in mental health transfers, and issues with property management and the availability of complaint forms for prisoners.
Key concerns identified
- The Probation Service in the OMU remains understaffed, impacting the management of high-risk and IPP prisoners.
- All transfers to secure mental health facilities continue to exceed the 28-day stipulated timeframe.
- The Board no longer receives clinical reviews from PPO reports on deaths in custody, limiting monitoring.
- There are ongoing issues with property policy adherence, particularly missing property for incoming prisoners.
- Inconsistent standards during food service at serveries, including PPE use and equipment functionality, remain a concern.
- There are persistent issues with the availability of prison and health complaint forms on houseblocks.
- All transfers to secure mental health facilities continue to exceed the 28-day stipulated timeframe.
- The Board no longer receives clinical reviews from PPO reports on deaths in custody, limiting monitoring.
- There are ongoing issues with property policy adherence, particularly missing property for incoming prisoners.
- Inconsistent standards during food service at serveries, including PPE use and equipment functionality, remain a concern.
- There are persistent issues with the availability of prison and health complaint forms on houseblocks.
Oakwood
PRISON
Concerns
Self-harm: 1,388
Assaults: 143
Staff assaults: 82
HMP Oakwood is a Category C training/resettlement prison reporting for the year ending March 2024. While the Board found it generally safe with a respectful culture, concerns persist regarding widespread dissatisfaction with food provision, persistent property issues, and significant challenges in mental health service capacity and staffing. Efforts have been made in violence reduction and prisoner support, but key areas require further attention and resource allocation.
Key concerns identified
- Widespread dissatisfaction among prisoners regarding food quality and quantity.
- Persistent issues with missing or lost prisoner property, particularly for incoming prisoners and internal movement.
- Ongoing recruitment and retention challenges in mental health services, including a psychologist vacancy, leading to insufficient provision and delayed mental health transfers.
- Absence of a mental health professional during CSU good order reviews for prisoners with significant mental health concerns.
- Officers not consistently activating body-worn video cameras early enough to capture the full context of use of force incidents.
- Persistent issues with missing or lost prisoner property, particularly for incoming prisoners and internal movement.
- Ongoing recruitment and retention challenges in mental health services, including a psychologist vacancy, leading to insufficient provision and delayed mental health transfers.
- Absence of a mental health professional during CSU good order reviews for prisoners with significant mental health concerns.
- Officers not consistently activating body-worn video cameras early enough to capture the full context of use of force incidents.
Oakwood
PRISON
Concerns
Self-harm: 1,139
Assaults: 270
Staff assaults: 64
HMP Oakwood, a Category C training and resettlement prison, reported a generally safe and respectful environment for the year ending March 2023, with reductions in self-harm and violent incidents. Healthcare provision by Practice Plus Group was equivalent to community standards, though mental health services faced challenges. Key concerns included persistent issues with food quality and servery hygiene, property losses, underperforming key worker sessions, and delays in mental health transfers due to a lack of secure placements.
Key concerns identified
- The lack of availability of forensic, secure mental health places, resulting in prisoners with complex needs remaining in the Segregation Unit (CSU) beyond the stipulated 28 days without adequate support.
- Persistent issues with food provision, including concerns about quality, portion sizes, servery hygiene, broken equipment, and an ineffective complaints monitoring system for food.
- Ongoing problems with prisoner property losses, particularly during transfers and within the establishment, indicating a lack of adherence to the Prisoner Property Policy Framework.
- Challenges within the key worker system, with significantly fewer sessions delivered than targeted and concerns about the quality and meaningfulness of these interactions.
- Concerns regarding the quality and delivery of some education courses provided by Novus, coupled with difficulties for prisoners in securing available places.
- A high percentage (17%) of adjudications being dismissed or not proceeded with, suggesting potential issues with the reporting or investigation process.
- Prisoners' confusion about the distinction between complaints and requests, alongside variable quality and legibility in complaint responses.
- Persistent issues with food provision, including concerns about quality, portion sizes, servery hygiene, broken equipment, and an ineffective complaints monitoring system for food.
- Ongoing problems with prisoner property losses, particularly during transfers and within the establishment, indicating a lack of adherence to the Prisoner Property Policy Framework.
- Challenges within the key worker system, with significantly fewer sessions delivered than targeted and concerns about the quality and meaningfulness of these interactions.
- Concerns regarding the quality and delivery of some education courses provided by Novus, coupled with difficulties for prisoners in securing available places.
- A high percentage (17%) of adjudications being dismissed or not proceeded with, suggesting potential issues with the reporting or investigation process.
- Prisoners' confusion about the distinction between complaints and requests, alongside variable quality and legibility in complaint responses.
Oakwood
PRISON
Concerns
Assaults: 28
Staff assaults: 23
HMP Oakwood has faced challenges posed by the Covid-19 pandemic, leading to a restricted regime, but the Board commends staff and management for their commitment and efforts in maintaining safety and humane treatment. Key concerns include persistent delays in transfers to mental health facilities and Category D prisons, a poorly regarded education service, and issues with prisoner property and the complaints system. The Board also highlights a significant decline in successful accommodation referrals for released prisoners.
Key concerns identified
- Persistent delays in transferring prisoners to external mental health facilities and Category D open prisons.
- Ongoing national issues with the transfer of prisoner property across the estate and within Oakwood, including after cell searches.
- Concerns regarding the quality, quantity, and variety of food, servery hygiene, and equipment repairs.
- The education service is poorly regarded by prisoners, with issues in communication and course access.
- Problems with the prisoner complaints system, including unclear guidance, unlabelled response letters, and inaccessible healthcare complaint boxes.
- The new resettlement accommodation support from Nacro is significantly less effective than previous provision.
- Ongoing national issues with the transfer of prisoner property across the estate and within Oakwood, including after cell searches.
- Concerns regarding the quality, quantity, and variety of food, servery hygiene, and equipment repairs.
- The education service is poorly regarded by prisoners, with issues in communication and course access.
- Problems with the prisoner complaints system, including unclear guidance, unlabelled response letters, and inaccessible healthcare complaint boxes.
- The new resettlement accommodation support from Nacro is significantly less effective than previous provision.
Oakwood
PRISON
Concerns
Self-harm: 887
Assaults: 20
HMP Oakwood navigated the COVID-19 pandemic under a strict 22-23 hour lockdown regime, with staff showing exemplary commitment in maintaining a safe environment and humane treatment. Despite these efforts, the regime severely limited education, purposeful activity, and access to services, leading to concerns about sentence progression and mental health impacts. Key issues included the poor performance of the education provider Novus, persistent problems with prisoner property transfers, and challenges in managing transfers of vulnerable prisoners without appropriate medical information or COVID-19 testing.
Key concerns identified
- The almost complete absence and poor performance of education provider Novus.
- Lack of agreed protocols for secure transportation of prisoner property between prisons, and concerns about missing property upon transfer or after cell searches.
- Prisoners arriving with serious illnesses, injuries, COVID-19 symptoms, or without medication/records, alongside a lack of routine COVID-19 testing on transfer.
- Quality and reliability issues with the Purple Visits platform and insufficient alternative communication options for prisoners.
- The Prison Service's cessation of recording ligature incidents and unclear HMPPS guidance on the matter.
- Suspension of offending behaviour programmes by HMPPS, which negatively impacted prisoners' sentence plans and parole applications.
- Lack of agreed protocols for secure transportation of prisoner property between prisons, and concerns about missing property upon transfer or after cell searches.
- Prisoners arriving with serious illnesses, injuries, COVID-19 symptoms, or without medication/records, alongside a lack of routine COVID-19 testing on transfer.
- Quality and reliability issues with the Purple Visits platform and insufficient alternative communication options for prisoners.
- The Prison Service's cessation of recording ligature incidents and unclear HMPPS guidance on the matter.
- Suspension of offending behaviour programmes by HMPPS, which negatively impacted prisoners' sentence plans and parole applications.
Oakwood
PRISON
Concerns
Self-harm: 1,176
HMP Oakwood maintains good overall safety and humane treatment, with commendations for staff collaboration, peer-led initiatives, and positive reception processes. However, significant concerns persist regarding the quality and quantity of education provision by Novus due to staffing issues, and a lack of national progress on prisoner property transfers. Other key issues include inconsistent use of force implementation, deteriorating cell facilities, and challenges in healthcare provision such as medication transfers and secondary care capacity. The Board will continue to monitor these areas in the next reporting period.
Key concerns identified
- The quality and quantity of educational provision by Novus has fallen sharply, impacted by significant staffing issues including poor retention and recruitment.
- Little progress has been made at a national level to address concerns about the management, accountability, and transfer of prisoner property across the prison estate.
- There are outstanding questions regarding the clarity and implementation of the prison's drug and alcohol strategy, including protocols with Police and Probation, and CCTV in visits.
- Recommendations made by Instructors regarding the use of force are not being fully implemented.
- Shower and toilet facilities in cells are deteriorating and difficult to maintain as hygienic.
- Staff inconsistently enforce PPE use and adequate cleaning materials are not always available in serveries.
- Health complaints boxes are not always readily available or accessible to prisoners.
- New arrivals are sometimes left without medication on their first night due to transferring prisons failing to send it.
- Officers are not consistently present at medicine hatches during dispensing, adding pressure on nurses.
- Delays in checking prisoner telephone numbers on transfer prevent timely communication with families.
- Body-worn video cameras are not always being used by operational staff.
- Agency nurses attending Good Order Reviews in the CSU sometimes lack awareness of complex prisoner needs.
- There are ongoing problems with the follow-up of PPO and consultant recommendations for secondary healthcare referrals due to capacity constraints.
- Wages for vocational courses are lower than those for industries, potentially disincentivizing participation.
- A lack of internal evaluation on education outcomes, due to new system development, hinders assessment of training effectiveness.
- An increase in race-related Discrimination Incident Reporting Forms (DIRFs) highlights concerns regarding equality.
- Timeframes for referring prisoners with severe mental health problems to the secure estate are problematic.
- Little progress has been made at a national level to address concerns about the management, accountability, and transfer of prisoner property across the prison estate.
- There are outstanding questions regarding the clarity and implementation of the prison's drug and alcohol strategy, including protocols with Police and Probation, and CCTV in visits.
- Recommendations made by Instructors regarding the use of force are not being fully implemented.
- Shower and toilet facilities in cells are deteriorating and difficult to maintain as hygienic.
- Staff inconsistently enforce PPE use and adequate cleaning materials are not always available in serveries.
- Health complaints boxes are not always readily available or accessible to prisoners.
- New arrivals are sometimes left without medication on their first night due to transferring prisons failing to send it.
- Officers are not consistently present at medicine hatches during dispensing, adding pressure on nurses.
- Delays in checking prisoner telephone numbers on transfer prevent timely communication with families.
- Body-worn video cameras are not always being used by operational staff.
- Agency nurses attending Good Order Reviews in the CSU sometimes lack awareness of complex prisoner needs.
- There are ongoing problems with the follow-up of PPO and consultant recommendations for secondary healthcare referrals due to capacity constraints.
- Wages for vocational courses are lower than those for industries, potentially disincentivizing participation.
- A lack of internal evaluation on education outcomes, due to new system development, hinders assessment of training effectiveness.
- An increase in race-related Discrimination Incident Reporting Forms (DIRFs) highlights concerns regarding equality.
- Timeframes for referring prisoners with severe mental health problems to the secure estate are problematic.