The Annual Report by Nick Hardwick, HM Chief Inspector of Prisons – October
2014. Summary for MPA Division, The Archbishops’ Council, C of E.
Overview
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This Annual Report presents a balanced view of the condition of detention in England and
Wales, across many forms of custody – prisons, immigration detention, police and court
custody. The judgments are careful and evidenced, and this is not a campaigning Report.
This summary focuses mainly on the core issues of safety and decency in prisons.
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There is no compelling evidence that the prison system is ‘broken’, or ‘in meltdown’; but
this Report shows the great pressures in the prison system which have resulted from a
coming together of a number of factors: rising numbers which no one had predicted, closure
of some old prisons to make way for new ones, staff shortages owing to a number of factors
but especially a 7% reduction in expenditure in the year 2013/14.
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These pressures have become slightly less acute in the second half of this year as new staff
have come in and new places come on stream, but there is still too much overcrowding,
which both makes prisons less safe and reduces the amount of constructive work that can be
done by and with prisoners.
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The Report does not criticize prison staff. Indeed, it says that ‘Strong relationships between
staff and prisoners often offset the poor physical conditions in prisons’ (p.34).
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Chaplains are as close as anyone to the reality of suicide in prison, in the words of the Chief
Inspector; ‘the dreadful nature of each incident and the distress caused to the prisoner’s
family, other prisoners and staff. It is a terrible toll.’ A 69% rise in self-inflicted deaths in
prisons is shocking. The circumstances of every suicide are different, and nothing is
conclusively proved by the rise; but the rise cannot be dismissed as irrelevant to discerning
how our prisons are doing.
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The Report points to coming changes in the criminal justice landscape, such as the new
arrangements for supporting and monitoring prisoners after release. There are great
opportunities here with which many faith groups are preparing to engage. Churches and all
faith groups should be on their toes to see how we can get involved in pursuing the common
good in this area of life, working to support victims as the Good Samaritan did, and also to
help people turn their lives around so that crime can be cut and society be safer.
The Report
The Chief Inspector (CI) begins his introduction by recalling that all HMIP custody inspections
centre on four ‘healthy prison tests’: Safety, Respect, Purposeful Activity and Resettlement1. These
were introduced by Lord Ramsbotham, then CI, in a report ’Suicide is everyone’s concern’ in 1999:
that report was prompted by concern about a rise in prison suicides.
Safety
‘The safety outcomes we reported on in 2013-14 declined significantly from the previous year.
Safety outcomes were worst in adult male local prisons and not good enough in a third of all
the prisons inspected.’ (p.9)
1
Resettlement is very broadly understood, to include everything that is done in pursuit of the objectives that the
prisoners will not re-offend after release (or not so seriously),and that they will be able to find a job, home, family
support, and the other things that increase the chances of a law-abiding life.
1
‘Critical risk assessments for new prisoners, at their most vulnerable time in custody, had gaps.
Too many prisoners in crisis were held in segregation in poor conditions and without the
exceptional circumstances required to justify this. Some prisons were insufficiently focussed
on tackling violence.’(p.9)
A succession of changes increased pressure in the autumn of 2013:
1) A change programme called ‘Fair and sustainable’ shrank and flattened the management
structures in prisons: a number of people found themselves with new and unfamiliar jobs,
and having to take on more responsibilities.
2) ‘Benchmarking2’ was applied, to adult male prisons first, to cut costs; this has involved staff
cuts, many of them achieved by voluntary early retirement for experienced staff.3
3) There was a programme of closure of old prisons, and new prisons (e.g. Oakwood and
Thameside) opened. This meant that some experienced staff left, and inexperienced new
staff joined. Also, the improving national economy made recruitment much harder,
especially in London and the South East.
4) There was a short-term gap between old prisons closing, and new ones opening. This
unfortunately coincided with an unexpected rise in prisoner numbers4.
Financially, these changes were effective (and the MoJ has ben commended by the Public Accounts
Committee for its economic management). NOMS delivered 7% savings, £247m, in the one year
2013-14. Operationally, they created risks.
Incidents as a barometer of safety
Suicides:
The Chief Inspector has not presented the rise in suicides as a straightforward proof that prisons
are going seriously downhill. He acknowledges that every suicide is unique and terrible, and accepts
that there is no pattern in terms of type of prison or of prisoner: though he does stress that adult
males are the group most under pressure
‘Of most concern, the number of self-inflicted deaths rose by 69% from 52 in 2012-13 to 88in
2013-14, the highest figure in 10 years … the number of self-inflicted deaths was particularly
high in the last half of 2013-14’ (p.10).
Assaults
‘The number of assaults involving adult male prisoners increased by 14% on the year before
and was the highest for any year for which we have data. Adult male prisons are becoming
more violent every year; that trend accelerated in 2013-14 and included a dramatic 38% rise in
the number of serious assaults’ (p.10) (nb the overall rate of assaults in all prisons has not
shown any trend, although it increased in 2013-14).5
‘Benchmarking’ consisted of analysing individual operational functions in a typical prison, costing the most efficient
way of delivering that function, and setting budgets for all prisons in accordance with this ‘benchmark’.
2
3
This Annual Report does not mention cuts in staff numbers, other than as mentioned here. On 20 th Oct a headline
appeared, that prison officer numbers had been cut by 41% between August 2010 & June 2014. This is to be treated
with caution - for example: a) 15 public sector prisons closed in this period and the places were (partially) replaced
mainly by private prisons, whose custody staff are not ‘prison officers’; b) the change programmes mentioned have
involved some tasks previously done by prison officers being now done by civilian staff or uniformed support grades.
However, it is undeniable that there were severe cuts in staff numbers.
4
End April 2013 the prison population was 84,083, which was 96% of useable capacity of 87,930. End April 2014 it
was 85,252, 99% of usable capacity of 85,972.
5
The Chief Inspector also mentions a sharp rise in incidents at height in adult male prisons. (8,667 to 9,867) from
2012-13 to 2013-14. This trend has caused concern, but its import is uncertain. Jumping on to netting on a top landing,
2
Conclusion
‘… it is impossible to avoid the conclusion that that the conjunction of resource, population and
policy pressures, particularly in the second half of 2013-14 and particularly in adult male
prisons, was a very significant factor in the rapid deterioration of safety and other outcomes we
found as the year progressed and that were reflected in NOMS’ own safety data. The rise in the
number of self-inflicted deaths was the most unacceptable feature of this.’
The Chief Inspector notes that the situation eased by the summer of 2014, through : a) more
accommodation coming on stream, b) NOMS strengthening safer custody work, c) recruitment
speeded up, d) staff redeployed to the hardest-hit prisons, e) some former staff re-employed in the
short term, f) some prisons put on restricted regimes so that the basic decencies could be preserved.
Respect
Decent treatment in prison deteriorated in the year, mainly through overcrowding. 20 hours locked
in the cell is not uncommon in local prisons. Staff have done well; ‘I described some impressive
staff and governors at Pentonville as working “heroically” against the odds’ (p.12).
Other main points on respect:
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Older prisoner numbers continued to rise – 8% rise in over-50s. A national strategy for
older prisoners is still needed, especially with the social care requirements in the new Care
Act.
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Policy for young adults (18-21) is in flux, awaiting the outcome of a review. The
inspection of Feltham YA side in this year caused concern because of high levels of
violence and of use of force. But if YA are to be put in adult prisons, their particular needs
should be taken account of more than they are now.
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Health care is good. On mental health: ‘There was a welcome continuing trend to
provide integrated pathways of mental health care and although we saw some good mental
health practice, the care for prisoners with mental health needs was inconsistent and too few
discipline staff were trained to identify prisoners with mental health problems and respond
appropriately’ (p.12).
Purposeful activity
‘It was a real achievement that the purposeful activity outcomes … were an improvement on
the year before’ (p.12). This improvement was ‘fragile (p.13), and the outcomes dropped in
inspections that took place in early 2014 but were not published within the 13-14 year.
Resettlement
‘Resettlement outcomes were the best of our healthy prison tests in reports published in 2013-14 as
prisons responded to the proper priority Minister gave to this area (p.13).
Specific categories of detention (other than adult male prisons)
Women
Women’s prisons are much better. ‘Almost all outcomes were good or reasonably good. Our
inspection of HMP Holloway, for instance, was our most positive yet of that prison.’ (p.13). They
or onto a low roof, can be quite a low-risk way for a prisoner to draw attention to their issues and perhaps achieve a
move out of that prison (e.g. if they’re in debt to other prisoners). It could be an anomaly, or it could be a sign of
growing frustration – depending partly on whether the increase is maintained.
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need more female staff, and more attention to the needs of about a quarter of the female prison
population who are foreign nationals. It was good that the girls’ units in YOIs had been closed so
that young women could move straight from Secure Training Centres to an adult women’s prison
when they turned 18.
Children
Good that the number of under-18s fell again6 by another 22% in one year. Those who are in YOIs
are now more troubled and difficult as an overall population, and the shrinkage means many boys
are held further from home.. ‘Establishments struggled to control violence and bullying’ (p.14).
But there were no self-inflicted deaths of children in the year. In this context, NH comments on the
Secure College:
‘The changes in population that have occurred since the policy was first announced mean this
secure college will hold about a quarter of all children in custody and it will be challenging to
provide these very troubled children with better education than that delivered in YOIs, where
provision has improved significantly. I am concerned that the plans do not yet provide
assurance that they have considered and will be able to adapt to the changes in the size and
complexity of the juvenile custody population.’ (p.15)
Immigration detention
The main concern here is the treatment of women, almost all of whom are held at Yarl’s Wood.
Some insensitive male staff (amid allegations of sexual abuse – NH does not allege this, beyond
saying that 2 staff had been dismissed because of sex with a detainee). The other concern is too
much handcuffing of male detainees
Police custody
This has improved steadily since inspections began in 2006. Problems are that use of force is not
recorded centrally, and that too many children are held in police custody overnight, for lack of local
authority beds. Also, the number of those committing suicide within 48 hrs after leaving police
custody was the highest for 10 years. Court cells are often in a poor state, and treatment is
inconsistent.
Note: It is striking that the Report does not make any points about the difference between private
and public prisons. The fact is that there are good and bad examples of both.
Martin Kettle
MPA
24th October 2014
6
Averages 2002/3 3,451, 2013/4 1,708, 2013/4 1,334
4