Annual Report

HMP High DownSurrey

December 2013 to December 2014

Monitoring fairness and respect for people in custody

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ANNUAL REPORT OF THE INDEPENDENT MONITORING BOARD, HMP HIGH DOWN. NOVEMBER 2013-DECEMBER 2014

HMP High Down Diversity Statement

The members of High Down IMB have all read and understood the HMP High Down diversity statement below. We recognise our work should be consistent with that statement, and behaviour which conflicts with it is not acceptable.

“HMP High Down is fully committed to all Diversity and Equal Opportunities policies and procedures. Discrimination, prejudice, harassment, bullying and negative stereotyping on the grounds of colour, ethnic or national origins, religious belief, sex, sexual orientation, age, disability, gender or any other factor is unacceptable.

Everyone who lives, works in, or visits HMP High Down should treat each other with respect, decency and kindness. We do not accept, and aim to change, any behaviour that does not meet these high standards.”

Statutory Role Of The IMB

The Prison Act 1952 and the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999 require every prison and Immigration Removal Centre to be monitored by an independent Board appointed by the Secretary of State from members of the community in which the prison or centre is situated.

The Board is specifically charged to:

1) satisfy itself as to the humane and just treatment of those held in custody within its prison and the range and adequacy of the programmes preparing them for release.

2) inform promptly the Secretary of State, or any official to whom he has delegated authority as it judges appropriate, any concern it has.

3) report annually to the Secretary of State on how well the prison has met the standards and requirements placed on it and what impact these have on those in its custody.

To enable the Board to carry out these duties effectively its members have right of access to every prisoner and every part of the prison and also to the prison’s records.

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Section 2 Contents

Section 1 Statutory role of the IM 2

Section 2 Contents 3

Section 3 Description of the prison 4

Section 4 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 5

Overall judgement

Issues for the Minister

Issues for the Prison Service

Issues for the prison

Section 5 SPECIFIC AREAS

Equalities and foreign nationals 8

Education, learning and skills 9

Healthcare and mental health 11

Purposeful activity, including work 12

Resettlement 13

Safer custody 13

Segregation Unit 15

Residential services 16

Section 6 OTHER AREAS OF THE PRISON

Applications and complaints 18

Drugs/ substance abuse 19

Bed watches 20

Gym 20

Incentives and earned privileges 20

Lifers/IPPs 21

Transfers 21

Visits and visitors’ centre 22

Vulnerable prisoners 22

Section 7 The work of the Independent Monitoring Board 23

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Section 3 Description Of The Prison

3.1 High Down is a Category B male local prison, also housing some Category C

prisoners. It serves the Crown Courts of Croydon and Guildford and the surrounding

magistrates courts. During the course of the reporting year, the operating capacity of

the prison has risen to 1163.This has meant that cells designed for one inmate have

been adapted for two, leaving fewer spaces for high-risk prisoners who need to be

placed in a single cell.

The population includes foreign nationals (about 16%) and Young Offenders (up to

10%).

As a local prison, the population is constantly changing, with many (between 20%

and 25%) remand prisoners. The average stay for a prisoner is 12 weeks. The

figures in this report are therefore often approximate.

3.2 Many prisoners coming into High Down have problems relating to mental and

physical health, and drug use (legal and illegal). Many also have low levels of literacy

and numeracy.

3.3 Healthcare is managed by various partners: In- and Out-patients, and dental

care, are provided by Virgin Healthcare, the GP is provided by Cheam GP practice,

Surrey and Borders are responsible for InReach mental health care and RAPt for

substance misuse programmes.

A4E were the education providers at the start of the reporting year, to be replaced by

Manchester College in February 2015. Staff are to be transferred over.

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Section 4 Executive Summary

Overall judgement

4.1 The experience of prisoners at High Down has this year been greatly affected by

two elements of public policy:

Swinging cuts in staffing levels. These have had a wide-ranging impact on the

regime experienced by prisoners. For the first half of the reporting period the

Board had concerns about fairness and decency, however the introduction of

a predictable regime has addressed some of these concerns. The restrictions

on all activities that require an officer to be in attendance is a recurring theme

of this report. Staffing levels are so tight that contingencies such as bed-

watches and staff sickness hinder the delivery of the regime.

Changes to the Incentives and Earned Privileges (IEP) system instituted in

November 2013 (see PSI 30/2013), which introduced various restrictions and

made it significantly harder to get ‘enhanced’ status. The stated aim was that

‘good behaviour is incentivised’ (para 1.10) but the Board has seen no

evidence that this has been achieved.

4.2 The Board feels there has been progress in some areas that were identified as

being of concern in last year’s report:

Higher priority given to awareness of equality and diversity.

Better use of the education facilities in the Stephen Pryor Centre (SPC).

Healthcare – there has been an improvement in patients getting to outside

appointments and in psychiatric interventions.

Great improvements to the visits booking line.

Sex offenders no longer need to be ‘lodged’ in Segregation or Healthcare, as

transfers out have created enough spaces on the appropriate House Block.

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4.3 Some areas of the prison continued to work well, affording prisoners purposeful

activity with a rehabilitative element, for example:

Workshops, such as industrial sewing, woodwork, re-cycling.

Farms and Gardens.

Storybook Dads, run by the Library.

Skills within the SPC, such as plastering and brick-laying.

The Clink restaurant.

4.4 However, some areas continued to give concern:

Backlogs in Basic Skills Assessments (BSA) which delayed access to

education or employment.

Quality of ACCT and TASA documents, both part of Safer Custody.

Problems with paperwork in the Segregation unit.

The applications and complaints system.

Vulnerability of the regime to cross-deployment of staff and consequent loss

of access for prisoners to exercise, library, gym, education and

appointments.

4.5 It is clear to the Board that there is a causal link between the areas of concern

and shortfalls in staffing. This year has seen an increase in violent incidents, from

174 in 2013 to 190 in 2014, which many officers see as the result of prisoners’

frustration at being locked in their cells for long periods. This is aggravated by lack of

continuity of staffing, which hampers officers’ ability to build up a rapport with

prisoners.

4.6 In summary, 2014 has been a year in which High Down has had to manage

changes imposed on it from outside. While there have been improvements during

the year, they have been due to the willingness of the majority of staff to respond to

the challenges of a significantly increased workload. There are many areas where

valuable work is done with prisoners, and the Board sees frequent examples of

officers dealing with prisoners with patience and understanding. However, it has

been difficult to establish a regime that will deliver prisoners’ rights to such things as

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exercise, gym and phone calls and it must be acknowledged that changes in staffing

levels have produced a qualitative difference in the life of a prisoner.

Issues for the Minister

Is the Minister fully aware of the wide-ranging impact of cuts in staffing levels

and the consequent difficulty in delivering a regime that is genuinely fair and

decent for prisoners?

Is there any evidence that the new IEP regime is having the desired effect?

Issues for the Prison Service

Recruitment processes, which took too long to deliver required staff.

The ability of prisoners to work through their sentence plan is often hampered

by the lack of suitable places throughout the prison estate, which means that

progressive transfers are often not possible.

Procedures for managing and tracking prisoners’ property are clearly failing,

leaving NOMS vulnerable to repeated claims for compensation and causing

frustration to prisoners.

The Board has been concerned at the numbers of patients who are clearly in

psychological or emotional distress but do not meet the criteria for InReach

psychological help.

Issues for the prison

Dealing with backlogs that hinder a prisoner’s progress through his sentence.

Failures of systems of communication between prisoners and the prison and

consequent mistrust of the system.

Continuity of staffing on the House Blocks.

Section 5 Specific Areas

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Statutory areas

5.1 Equality and diversity

The Board has seen improvements in the consideration of equality and inclusion:

Regular meetings of the prison equalities group have been re-instated.

Induction peers are highly responsive to the diverse needs of in-coming

prisoners.

There is a newly-established Older Prisoners Forum.

There are about 200 (about 18%) prisoners with a disability, of which just

under half are physical. The Board is not confident that evacuation

procedures for this group are robust.

Of the prison population, about half identify themselves as White British, and

nearly a quarter as Black/Black British. The remainder include Asian/Asian

British and White ‘other’ (that is, not British).

There were 64 Discrimination Incident Report Forms (DIRFs) submitted in

the reporting period. Each was investigated, and audited by the Zahid

Mubarek Trust, which works to ‘challenge discrimination within the criminal

justice system’. There was not found to be evidence of discrimination. The

Board is confident that procedures to investigate allegations of discrimination

are robust.

Foreign nationals (FNs) make up approximately 16% of the population in

High Down. There is a database of speakers of other languages within the

prison, and a telephone translation service. Immigration authorities visit the

prison weekly but there are nine FNs who have served their sentence and

are still in prison.

FNs are particularly disadvantaged by the restrictions on parcels sent in, as

their requirements for magazines, for example, cannot otherwise be met.

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These restrictions may be revised, after a High Court ruling in December

2014.

5.2 Education, learning and skills

The Board has seen significant improvements in the provision of education and skills

this year:

A new head of education was appointed, with a remit to get more prisoners

into education.

A new learning and skills strategy has been developed, which aims to

establish a more dynamic learning environment across the prison. The

workshops are included in this.

There are 250 places per session in the SPC: occupancy rates are now

typically 75%. The SPC has been re-presented as the Learning and Skills

Centre, rather than the Education Centre, to reflect prisoners’ views of their

own needs.

Non-attendance is still a problem. Although daily records are kept, no analysis

has been made of the reasons for non-attendance, and so how best to tackle

the issue. The Board understands that this is to be addressed in 2015.

A new barbershop has been established with attendant training and

qualification. This provides 8 extra education places.

A Call Centre has been established with attendant customer services

qualification. This currently provides 25 extra education places, with the

potential to rise to 60.

A ‘Business Hub’ has been set up, teaching office skills, offering up to ten

places.

Courses aimed at Young Offenders, one involving Battersea Dogs Home and

an ‘Understanding crime and its effects’ course, are planned.

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There are about 20 prisoners following distance learning courses, including

Open University and Stonebridge distance learning college. These courses

can be continued if a prisoner transfers to another prison. Funding is from the

Prison Education Trust.

Pay rates for education were increased, but workshop pay was reduced.

In line with the emphasis on courses playing a role in rehabilitation, a cluster

of courses is now offered which builds up to a City and Guilds ‘employability’

qualification. Prisoners are completing these short courses at the rate of about

200 a month.

GCSEs have been introduced: the Board is unsure that this is appropriate for

a local prison and will monitor take-up and completion.

Building skills courses are continuing and extremely popular with prisoners.

Sex offenders have had greatly increased access to education.

However,

Prisoners’ access to education has been held up by delays in Basic Skills

Assessments. The backlog was addressed at the end of the reporting period,

and the Board will monitor future performance.

The library has been moved to the SPC. Visitor numbers are currently

reduced and the Board will monitor the impact of the move. Liaison with

Learning and Skills is greatly improved, but at the expense of serving the

wider prison population, the primary function of the library.

The move to the new library premises was not done efficiently, and the library

remained closed for 12 weeks, denying prisoners their right of access (PSI

45/2011). Also, the new accommodation does not allow space for the stock

per prisoner advised in the PSI.

The Board regretted the cancellation of classes in music, art and poetry.

These classes had great therapeutic and rehabilitative value which is not

reflected in the strict criterion of ‘employability’ for education courses. A

popular new course in Music Technology, providing up to seven spaces, has

been introduced.

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5.3 Healthcare (HCC)

There is an in-patients facility of 23 beds, plus one room dedicated to a dialysis

procedures.

A review in June of patients’ experience found that health care provision at High

Down compares well with other prisons. There are to be focus groups for in- and out-

patients, but it is too soon for the Board to assess any impact on patient welfare.

There have been some areas of concern:

Non-attendance at out-patient appointments: early in the reporting year there

was an unacceptable level of appointments missed, typically through the lack

of an available officer to accompany the prisoner to HCC. This problem has

been addressed, with the co-operation of the prison, and non-attendance is

now down to levels that lies within the Key Performance Target of 4%.

The NHS no longer funds custodial staff in the Health Care Centre (HCC).

This places further demands on staffing and the Board has been concerned at

lack of staffing in this difficult environment. The matter has recently been

addressed and the Board will be monitoring any improvement.

When the Board receives complaints from prisoners relating to their

medication, they are always referred to the Patient Advice and Liaison Service

(PALS). However, the PALS representative is only in High Down once a

month and does not visit in-patients.

The pharmacist reports that the pain clinic has managed to reduce the

number of drugs in the prison that can be abused. However, this has not been

achieved without risk to the medical staff, who asked for, and received, more

discipline staff. HCC staff go out into the community to speak to the medical

profession to raise awareness of the risks of prescribing of drugs that can be

abused in prison. The Board applauds this initiative.

45 patients have been transferred to mental health facilities, throughout the

reporting period, an increase of 100% from last year. The Board hopes that

this will reflect a continuing improvement in addressing the mental health

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needs of patients. HCC reports improved access to in-patients by the

psychiatrist, and a weekly clinic, but also that patients do not always attend

appointments, due to lack of staff in in-patients.

There is now an agreed protocol for accepting prisoners into in-patients,

which should challenge the issue of ‘lodgers’.

Most admissions into in-patients are cases of mental ill-health.

5.4 Purposeful activity including work

The Board’s main concern in this area has been backlogs in Basic Skills

Assessments, which delayed a prisoner getting into work or education. There has

been no improvement in these delays throughout the year, but the Board was

pleased to see that a concerted effort was made to clear the back-log and start 2015

up-to-date.

Also, at a time when the regime leaves prisoners locked in their cells for much of the

day, there are still not enough opportunities for purposeful activity.

There are 510 places for employment and 250 places for education.

This represents purposeful activity for only about 70% of the prison

population. As a local prison, High Down houses many remand

prisoners (about 20%), for whom it is difficult to arrange employment or

education, as the length of their stay is unpredictable.

Some prisoners in work felt penalised by new lower pay rates, the

result of raising rates for education.

Workshops are developing training courses, to give prisoners a

qualification.

The Board would like to acknowledge the excellent work done in the

workshops and practical skills classes to establish an atmosphere of

purposeful activity and mutual respect, which must surely have great

rehabilitative impact.

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Jobshop (the department that allocates employment places) report that

most job vacancies are generally filled.

The Laundry currently provides 17 work spaces for Sex Offenders, with

plans for 34. However, the pay rates are disproportionately low.

5.5 Resettlement

The Resettlement centre was enlarged, to create an environment aimed at

offering prisoners advice on the various aspects of life after release, such as

St. Giles housing advice and JobCentrePlus. The centre is well-used, with a

well-organised system of appointments with these agencies, and weekly visits

from the immigration authorities and the Citizens’ Advice Bureau.

The only through-the-gate officer was lost in March 2014, but the Board

understands that there are plans to re-instate two new members of staff for

this work once the newly-constituted Community Rehabilitation Companies

assume their role in 2015.

Prisoners are given active help to set up bank accounts (with HSBC) and

obtain Citizen Identification Cards in preparation for their release.

5.6 Safer custody

The Board has been concerned by some aspects of Safer Custody throughout the

year:

The quality and review process for ACCT documents, for those considered at

risk of self-harm.

The implementation of TASA tackling anti-social attitudes documentation and

policies.

The availability of Listeners when requested by distressed prisoners.

The increase in violent incidents, particularly among Young Adults (21-24

years old). The single location where most violent incidents occur is in the

Induction House Block, when prisoners are at their most volatile, having just

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come into High Down. The Board acknowledges that this increase is found

across the whole prison estate: officers report that they feel it is symptomatic

of a more challenging mood among the prison population.

Use of force has increased from 238 occasions in 2013 to 283 in 2014, an

increase of nearly 20%. The Board is present whenever possible: while it has

not seen abuse of the procedure, it would welcome regular use of video as

evidence of the treatment of the prisoner involved.

All of these show aspects of the impact of lower numbers of officers:

Officers do not feel they have the time to complete complex paperwork, some

of which is new to them.

There are not opportunities for officers to interact with prisoners and get to

know them. The Board concurs with the emphasis in PSI 75/2011(para 2.1)

on the importance of good officer-prisoner relations as ‘essential

management of a decent prison, to the reduction of self-harm and violence

and to the engagement of prisoners in activities designed to reduce re-

offending.’

Prisoners become increasingly frustrated as they are locked in their cells for

extended periods and their frustration can be expressed as a refusal to

comply.

There are more pressures on availability of officers to accompany Listeners

to visit a prisoner, causing delays in providing support for a distressed

prisoner.

The Board is pleased to note that further training is being given in ACCT and TASA

procedures.

There were ten Serious Incidents, of which five were ‘incidents at height’ (prisoners

on the netting) and three were prisoners barricading themselves in their cells. The

Board attended all incidents and found they were dealt with effectively and

appropriately.

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There were three Deaths in Custody, all from natural causes. The report of the

Prisons and Probation Ombudsman into the second criticised High Down for delays

in contacting next-of-kin by the Family Liaison Officer (FLO). The Board witnessed a

prompt response by the FLO to the subsequent death in custody.

5.7 Segregation Unit

The Board has been very concerned this year about the administration of the

Segregation Unit. Particular concerns have been:

Frequent examples of incorrect or inadequate paperwork.

Long stayers. There was a prisoner in High Down who had been in

Segregation for nearly three years prior to his release.

Frequent changes of staff, with officers unfamiliar with Segregation

procedures.

Unpredictability of timing of reviews, making it difficult for all relevant

departments to attend.

Reviews have not always been held within the time limit.

SMARG (Segregation monitoring and review group) meetings have been

suspended. The Board understands that they will be re-instated, and will

monitor this.

Prisoners on an ACCT (that is, vulnerable to self-harm) are placed in

Segregation, contrary to best practice.

The Board feels that some changes have been made but are not yet fully effective:

A designated Segregation governor now takes as many of the reviews as

possible, with improved continuity and supervision of paperwork.

There has been a more assertive approach to the removal of Segregation

prisoners to normal location.

There is not enough exercise or purposeful activity of the type needed by

segregated prisoners, particularly Young Offenders.

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The Board accepts that some prisoners are unsuitable for any location other

than the Segregation.

There has been some improvement in stability of staffing.

It is still proving difficult to ensure 72 hour reviews (for prisoners new into Seg)

and normal reviews on set days.

HCC have not always attended reviews.

5.8 Residential services

(Accommodation, food, catering, kitchens)

The Board has seen periods, particularly early in the reporting year, when

House Blocks and surrounding outside areas are not kept clean. Officers

report problems with prisoner cleaners and say they no longer have the time

to supervise them properly.

The increase in operating capacity has meant that many cells are cramped,

which has a greater impact as prisoners are now locked in their cells for so

much of the day.

House Blocks 5 and 6 (the newer ones) reached unacceptably high

temperatures through the summer.

The Board feels that the kitchen does a good job of catering for different diets

on the very low budget, £2.02 per day, it is allowed. The Board was pleased

to see more fresh fruit and vegetables offered.

Culturally sensitive and generous provision is made for Ramadan and Eid.

The kitchen equipment suffers from inadequate maintenance.

Rooms in which it is possible to have confidential conversations with prisoners

(as required by InReach, Listeners and IMB) are often poorly maintained and

inadequate.

5.9 Induction/Reception

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A dedicated Induction House Block has been established. The Board has been

impressed with the Induction programme and the work done by officers with new

prisoners. However:

Reception procedures appear robust, but there is great pressure on officers

when there are late arrivals.

There have been problems with processing arrivals on Friday evenings.

Sex offenders go straight to House Block 6, where they receive Induction.

Prisoners going directly to Segregation or Healthcare on arrival may miss

Induction.

The Board regretted the loss of the standardised computer programme for

Induction.

5.10 Time out of cell

Talking to prisoners throughout this reporting year, the Board has found this the

single greatest cause for discontent. The impact of new levels of staffing and

consequent changes and restrictions in regime have led to prisoners spending long

hours in their cells.

PSI 75/2011 stipulates a minimum of 30 minutes spent in the open air daily: the

Board feels that including time ‘moving between activities’ is spurious.

The Board acknowledges increased time in cell is the result of public policy changes,

but managing these changes has been difficult. The regime has become more

predictable throughout the year, but still entails more hours in cell than before the

cuts in staffing.

Section 6 Other areas

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6.1 Applications and complaints

Early in the reporting period, the Board experienced a marked increase in the

number of applications received, which has now declined:

The increase from 2011/12 to 2012/13 was from 681 to 1099 – a rise of 61%

The number this year has been 983, a decline of about 11%

The greatest single area of concern for prisoners is, overwhelmingly, property,

(189, nearly 20%).This has been exacerbated by the requirement to wear

prison clothing for two weeks on arrival, with every prisoner needing an

escorted visit to Reception to retrieve their own clothing at the end of this

period.

Other predominant topics for applications are sentence-related (release dates,

categorisation etc., 134, nearly 14%), problems with mail and phone numbers

(110, about 11%) and health-related (107, a little over 10%).

The Board feels that in the past many of these issues would have been dealt

with by officers on the House Block, who no longer have time due to

pressures on staffing.

The Complaints procedure

The Board has been concerned that there have been lengthy delays in responding to

complaints from prisoners. The Governor instituted two investigations into the

system resulting in some improvement. There were 3010 complaints in 2014, a fall

from 3166 in 2013. About 90% were answered within the designated time, falling

short of the target of 95%.

Prisoners report that they have little faith in the process, but the Board has found that

Complaints and their replies are properly logged. However, prisoners often complain

to the Board about the quality of responses.

General applications

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This is the principal way in which prisoners can communicate with the prison. An

efficient system for logging and responding to them is therefore central to the

prisoners’ experience. The Board has been concerned at failures in any system:

A new system was introduced early in the reporting year of logging all General

applications. However, officers said that they did not have time to do this.

Some clerical help was provided for House Blocks. This is a very helpful

support to the work of the officers and the Board would welcome more of this

provision.

Prisoners report that they have lost all faith in the applications system. This

adds to a growing frustration among the population, which itself has discipline

implications.

The Board has found on many occasions that the forms for complaints and

applications have not been available on the House Blocks. This is a serious

oversight which impinges on the prisoners’ access to information about their

own sentences.

6.2 Drugs/substance abuse

There is a House Block at High Down dedicated to prisoners with substance abuse

problems, with programmes to help with their detox:

RAPt/KCA won the contract to supply maintenance drugs for those with

substance abuse issues.

56 prisoners (out of 80 who started) have completed the Bridge Programme to

address their substance abuse problems. This is a reduction from 2013, when

68 completed.

RAPt report that their greatest single problem is recruiting Peer Supporters

from amongst the prisoners, as there are restrictions on who they can recruit.

Prisoners on the House Block praise the work done to help them.

The Board has been informed, but is not in a position to evidence, that there

is an on-going problem with drugs coming into the prison, particularly ‘Spice’,

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a so-called ‘legal high’, which has presented problems of detection. High

Down continues to work on detection of the supply of drugs into the prison.

6.3 Bed watches

High Down has the highest number of bed-watches (when prisoners go out to

hospital for treatment) in the region. This is exacerbated by the growing number of

older prisoners, who may be in hospital for extended periods, needing officers to be

taken from their normal duties. As staffing is so tight, this presents significant

problems for staffing and provision of the regime, at short notice.

6.4 Gym and physical education

Problems with access to the gym have been a major cause of complaint from

prisoners in this reporting year and the Board has been concerned that they have not

been getting their entitlement of one hour per week, two hours for Young Offenders

(see PSI 58/2011, para 1.1). These problems have arisen principally because

officers in the gym have been consistently cross-deployed to make up the shortfall in

other areas of the prison.

The Governor responded to complaints and committed to reducing cross-

deployment of gym officers.

The Board recognised an improvement by the end of the reporting year, but

still feels that access to the gym is not as predictable and adequate as it

would wish.

6.5 Incentives and earned privileges

This has been a major area of change this reporting year, with the implementation in

November 2013 of PSI 30/2013.

The stated aim of the new policy was that prisoners should ‘behave well and

help others’ and ‘work towards their own rehabilitation’ (para 1.6). This can be

hampered by delays in getting a sentence plan.

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This aim is intrinsically linked to opportunities for work or education. There are

not, however, enough suitable jobs or courses for each prisoner.

A new entry level was created, with restricted privileges, including the

compulsory wearing of prison kit. This has led to increasing workloads for

Reception staff as each prisoner has property stored and exchanged after two

weeks.

It has become much more difficult to get ‘enhanced’ status, leading to lack of

incentive for prisoners.

6.6 Lifers/IPPs

Although High Down is a local prison, there is currently a population of 45 Lifers and

prisoners with an indeterminate sentence (IPPs). When the Board looked into the

circumstances, it was content that there were valid reasons for each being there.

However, as a local prison, High Down does not have appropriate courses for lifers

and IPPs and the Board would like to see them transferred wherever possible.

With prisoners on licence recall now entitled to a Parole hearing, the work of the

Parole Board has more than doubled since last year. This leads to frustrating delays

for prisoners waiting for a hearing.

6.7 Transfers

The Board gets applications (48, about 5%) from prisoners hoping for a transfer:

Prisoners have to stay at High Down, after coming for a court appearance,

and unable to return because there is no longer space at their previous

prison.

This can result in a prisoner being far from his family and so have difficulty

getting visits.

Prisoners may find themselves unable to continue courses they had started at

their previous prison.

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Although there may be spaces in the wider prison estate, they do not always

match the requirements of the prisoner to work through his sentence plan.

6.8 Visits and Visitors’ Centre

The Board has been impressed by the work done to achieve great improvements to

the visits booking line.

There are now fewer delays for visitors in getting through to make a booking.

Visits spaces have been increased by having separate times allocated for Sex

Offender visits. The Board has found that both prisoners and their visitors are

happy with this arrangement.

A new national computer system for booking has not been satisfactory and is

not suited for the visits to which newly remanded prisoners are entitled.

Liaison between the Visits Centre manager and the Custodial Manager in

charge of visits has improved.

6.9. Vulnerable prisoners

Sex offenders (SOs) are housed on a dedicated House Block, which also houses a

small number of prisoners unable to be located in other House Blocks.

SOs have had greatly increased access to Learning and Skills.

SOs work in the Laundry.

SOs are integrated into some workshops and have dedicated sessions in

others.

The Board was concerned at the level of abusive calling out at SOs and

always report it to officers and governors.

Prisoners who are vulnerable in other ways, such as disputes about debt or

gang affiliation, are generally managed on the other House Blocks.

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There are no appropriate courses, such as Sex Offender Treatment

Programmes (SOTP), for sex offenders.

In spite of this, some sex offenders serve their entire sentence at High Down.

This year there have been adequate spaces for sex offenders on the

dedicated House Block. However, there has been spare capacity created by

SOs being transferred out, and mainstream prisoners have been placed on

the House Block, leading to problems with discipline and regime. The Board

understands that this has been identified as a problem and should be

addressed in 2015.

Fine Cell Work, the hand-making of elaborate textiles, has been started on the

sex offenders’ House Block.

SOs will benefit particularly from the new Older Prisoners group, as a higher

proportion of them are over 50.

Section 7 The work of the Independent Monitoring Board

7.1 Board meetings take place monthly. The Governor attends the meetings to

inform the Board of developments in the prison and to answer questions. Three

members of the Board monitor the prison every week on rota. Their duties involve

talking to prisoners and staff, looking at all aspects of prison life, and ensuring that

prisoners are held in a fair and decent environment. Individual prisoners can ask to

see a Board member if they have concerns. Rota members cover these applications.

Members also attend meetings relating to special areas of interest and report back to

the Board.

7.2 Training may take place before Board meetings. New members receive in-house

training. A formal review of the Board’s work takes place annually, when working

practices are reviewed. The Board also visits other establishments.

7.3 The recommended full Board is 20, but there are currently 14 members. There is

a rolling programme of recruitment. The Board is committed to broadening its

membership to reflect the population.

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BOARD STATISTICS

Recommended Complement of Board Members 20

Number of Board members at the start of the reporting period 18

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Number of Board members at the end of the reporting period 14

Number of new members joining within the reporting period 4

Number of members leaving within reporting period 8

Total number of Board meetings during reporting period 12

Total number of visits to the Establishment 621

Total number of segregation reviews held 260

Total number of segregation reviews attended 258

Date of Annual Team Performance Review 18/1/2014

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Table 2 - Applications to the Board

Code Subject 2010/11 2011/12 2012/13 2013/14

A Accommodation 9 21 47 39

B Adjudications 7 19 29 19

C Diversity related 2 8 19 16

D Education/employment/training 50 36 100 69

E Family/visits 108 116 190 156

F Food/kitchen related 20 31 30 22

G Health related 60 77 106 107

H Property 115 114 201 189

I Sentence related 80 71 139 134

J Staff/prisoner/detainee related 83 60 104 56

K Transfers 22 22 44 48

L Miscellaneous 54 106 90 112

Total number of applica-tions

610 681 1099 967

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