ANNUAL REPORT OF THE INDEPENDENT
MONITORING BOARD
1 OCTOBER 2013 – 30 SEPTEMBER 2014
HMYOI Deerbolt
Bowes Road
Barnard Castle
Co. Durham
DL12 9BG
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Section 1: Statutory Role of the IMB
The Prison Act 1952 and the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999 require every prison and
IRC 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 especially 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 their 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, and 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 prisoner’s records.
Section 2
C O N T E N T S by section
1. Statutory role of the IMB
2. Contents
3. Description of the prison
4. Executive summary
5. a.Equality and Inclusion
b.Education, Learning and Skills
c.Healthcare and Mental Health
d.Purposeful activity (includes work)
e.Resettlement
f.Safer Custody
g.Segregation, Care and Separation, Close Supervision
h.Residential Services (includes accommodation, food, catering and kitchens.)
6. Board Statistics and analysis of Applications
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Section 3
Description of HMYOI Deerbolt
A maximum of 513 sentenced male offenders serving up to six years, and aged 18-21 are
accommodated at HMYOI Deerbolt, Barnard Castle in County Durham, The purpose-built
establishment includes an administration centre, nine residential wings with exercise yards,
industrial workshops and education classrooms, a gymnasium and chapel and a separate
Reducing Reoffending Unit (RRU). One wing is dedicated to helping prisoners overcome
alcohol and drug abuse, which have clearly been a factor in the criminal activity of many if
not most prisoners, not just those on the special wing. There are extensive areas of grass, and
cultivated plots of flowers and vegetables, making the whole area most attractive.
Prisoners are received from a wide catchment area: Young offenders from the local north east
region are in a minority and prisoners are transferred in from all points south, either because
prisons are full further south or there are staff shortages there, but sometimes also because
young offenders should benefit from the good range of education and vocational training that
Deerbolt offers.
Section 4
Executive Summary
2013 to 2014 has been a very challenging year for Deerbolt. Most staff at all levels have
responded to this challenge magnificently. Despite staff shortage and some evidence of poor
morale, the Board has seen no evidence of staff at any level failing in their duties. However,
the Board has seen instances where staff shortages in the prison and in The Manchester
College have direct impact on prisoners in ways which will affect their chances of successful
rehabilitation and resettlement. The Board believes that after a period of successive major
changes, an equal period for the new arrangements to bed in, is essential.
Staff sickness levels are one indicator of poor staff morale, but the IMB members spending
time in the establishment and talking with staff, can detect stress arising partly from new job
descriptions that lead to people rushing from pillar to post, facing conflicting time
management priorities, and partly from the greater percentage of “poor copers” and violently
unstable personalities among the prisoners, who make far greater demands on staff than the
average group of young offenders.
After the end of the reporting period, Deerbolt had an “unannounced” inspection from HM
Inspector of Prisons, with a full team examining every aspect of the prison over nearly two
weeks. The summary report given at the end of the visit was gratifyingly positive, a huge
credit to the professionalism and standards followed by Gabrielle Lee and her team, though
there will be many action and learning points to take up when the full report is provided.
Nevertheless, the IMB feels obliged to say that it has the sense of an institution under stress,
due to the combination of tight manning, instances of poor staff morale and a trend towards a
more difficult prisoner population.
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Key Points
1. Tight manning with job descriptions encompassing multiple roles makes proper
co-ordination of prison management very difficult, because essential team
meetings are not fully attended due to conflicting priorities.
Also, the IMB sees instances where “mobile” staff are moved for a short period
to a location to provide the needed manning level at the time but they are not
effective because they are not a regular member of the team.
2. Too many prisoners each day are in-active directly due to staff shortage. Either
there are not enough prison officers or instructors available to supervise the
number of prisoners signed up for an activity, or there are no staff available to
escort prisoners to activities. There need to be back up arrangements to cover
instructor absence on sickness and holidays.
3. The increasing number of dangerously unstable prisoners coming to Deerbolt
requires a review of mental health provision. Whilst hitherto the main role was
treatment of patients with long term mental health conditions, lately there have
been increasing instances where crisis intervention is required. Also many
prisoners display behavioural and personality problems, which if not attended to
affect their actions in the prison and limit their chances of successful
resettlement in the community.
4. There is too much disconnect between the objectives of The Manchester College
(courses leading to recognised qualifications) and the needs of prisoners and the
prison service (regular involving activity and education in the most basic skills
offered in a user friendly fashion), albeit at local level people do their best to
overcome this.
5. It is essential the prison completes its programme of showers refurbishment as
soon as possible, partly for good hygiene but mainly because better privacy
reduces actual or threatened violence. The showers are too often the area for
inter-prisoner violence simply because there is no CCTV there.
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Section 5.a. Equality and Inclusion
At the time of writing there are major obstacles in the way of writing a satisfactory report
about Equality and Diversity at Deerbolt. The Board is inevitably dependent on the
availability of statistical data which reflect the monitoring of the institution’s treatment of
prisoners in minority or especially vulnerable groups, and, reports from staff members
charged with specific responsibility for strands within this area as members of the prison’s
‘DEMT’ (Diversity and Equality Management Team). In the past the Board at Deerbolt has
been efficiently and readily supplied with information of both kinds, particularly through
representation at regular meetings of the Management Team. Lately meetings have been
dropped and subject to last-minute changes in date and time, making attendance by
representatives of the Board difficult or impossible. At the same time, the change which has
been implemented nationally whereby statistics are collected centrally rather than in the
prison, and then accessed through the central Hub – has so far been unhelpful. The data has
proved difficult to access and, when accessed, obscure and inconsistent. Requests for
clarification or assistance in interpreting the data in its new forms have met with no response.
As a result of these problems, the Board has inadequate information for forming judgments.
1.
It is the Board’s belief that the Governor and senior staff of Deerbolt remain
committed to maintaining and developing equality and inclusivity in the prison.
However, Benchmarking has led to frequent and repeated role changes, not least in
respect of monitoring roles, which often form one relatively small part of a staff
member’s overall job description. Whilst Board members have not witnessed instances
where standards of equality or inclusion have fallen short, the Board feels that
monitoring and ensuring equality and inclusion is no longer accorded the priority it
needs.
2.
We drew attention to this in last year’s report and said then that the Board would keep
the position under review. Monitoring has not improved, albeit we have seen no
evidence of actual performance lapses.
We believe that adherence to humane and legally binding standards of equality and
inclusion requires due provision of staff, in terms both of numbers and consistency, and
we see growing evidence that this provision is no longer being made in the service.
3.
Statistical data relating to the first quarter of 2014 from the NOMS Equalities
Monitoring Tool has been made available to the Board and it is hoped that subsequent
data will be accessible from the Hub in the near future. At this stage, uncertainty as to
the interpretation of the data (and, in particular, the precise significance of
‘Red/Amber/Green’ marking of statistics) make it impracticable to draw any
conclusions about the prison’s performance.
4.
In conjunction with the Football World Cup, an imaginative celebration of diversity
was carried out, with many prisoners participating and with some notable displays.
5.
As no permanent staff appointments have been advertised in the period under review,
there has been no opportunity to redress the lack of ethnic balance in staffing. The same
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lack of balance still characterises the Monitoring Board’s membership.
Section 5.b.
Education, Learning & Skills
Q 1. Whether prisoners have been properly assessed on their basic literacy and numeracy
skills and other educational needs.
RESPONSE: This remains much as last year. The separate induction in education is
proving more successful. If a 'score' from remand prison, or previous prison, is less 6 months
old, it is accepted; if not, prisoners are reassessed for ability. Careers are discussed at
Induction and on release. Deerbolt works within the regional time frame, and all courses are
transferable and are 'roll on/roll off' as prisoners move or are released. The team responsible
confirmed they work well with The Manchester College (TMC).
OBSERVATIONS: Changes set out above.
Q2. Whether their requirements have been incorporated into their sentence plans.
RESPONSE: A new "Links to Employability package" has been developed. Sector routes
are identified. If this is not suitable prisoners are aiming at level 2 English and Maths.
OBSERVATION: Some improvements since last year, although it would seem some
courses are at a higher level than our intake can cope with. Also 3 to 3.5 hour long sessions
challenge concentration abilities: this can lead to disruptive behaviour.
Prisoners still take the lead in the preparation of their Individual Learning Plans (ILP) but this
is now done in each section. The ILP is easily accessible by teaching staff, and it moves with
the inmate.
There is intent to introduce several new courses: Barbering, Warehousing and Manufacturing
are being considered - In Scope.
Q3. Whether the range of courses is available to enable these plans to be followed.
RESPONSE: Although Deerbolt continues to provide excellent educational facility in a
college environment. They are tied to the curriculum, but the Head of Education TMC feels
they need to introduce more courses. Tutor numbers remains a problem, although TMC is
actively recruiting and has recently had a big advertising and interviewing campaign.
Deerbolt is part of the NE Business and Enterprise Pilot (Deerbolt, Durham & Holme House).
OUT OF SCOPE courses funded by the Prison Service include those in laundry, gardens,
charity workshop, training kitchen, and print shop. PICTA (Prison Information
Communication Technology Academy) is currently suspended nationally, due to a security
breach, which is unfortunate since IT skills can be vital for employability.
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OBSERVATIONS: Activities Hub has recently taken responsibility for the management of
LARA. Managers are increasingly working closely together to co-ordinate the OLASS 4
funded In Scope and prison funded Out of Scope courses.
Q4. Whether there are enough places on courses to accommodate prisoners who need them.
RESPONSE: Initially, the number of places is agreed with the Skill Funding Agency. At
present there are 437 places regularly available for IN and OUT of Scope courses, but 38
places were lost in the last 6 months due to lack of staff. Further courses can be offered but
not on a structured basis.
Out of Scope courses can be without a tutor during holiday periods, as specialist staff for
these courses cannot be duplicated. However several courses do have 2 tutors who cover for
one another. Managers have initiated a new process whereby extra gym places are available
during this time. The qualifications that can be obtained in the 'academy style gym course'
are proving popular. The figures below show the places available and uptake.
One course, Health and Safety, has been lost due to lack of funding. However H&S is
mandatory in the construction course. Teachers for Maths and English are being increased;
also a move to integrate these subjects into other courses, where necessary someone will be
taken out of a course for 'top up' in the maths, English area.
Figures for 'In Scope' Courses
Spaces
Learners allocated
Learners attended
Not attending
Sep 13
7947
6325
4945
1380
Oct 13
8537
6702
5833
869
Nov 13
7069
5797
5040
757
Dec 13
6920
5562
4600
962
Jan 14
9343
7249
6045
1204
Feb 14
7552
6063
4575
1488
Mar 14
8173
7008
5563
1445
Apr 14
7081
6255
4883
1372
May 14
7797
6789
4738
2051
Jun 14
8254
6597
4965
1632
Jul 14
7368
5090
3636
1454
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------TOTAL: 86041
69437
54823
14614
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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Figures for 'Out of Scope' Courses
Learners allocated
Learners attended
Not attending
Dec 2013 1916
1882
34
Apr 2014 1914
1582
332
July 2014 1804
1336
478
Q5. Whether prisoners are failing to attend courses they ought to follow because they prefer
to do better paid work?
Q6. Issues, both regime and provider driven, which may limit the learning and skills
opportunities or are available to prisoners/detainees (e.g. is the establishment failing to escort
them to their classes or are released or transferred before they can complete or even start the
course.
RESPONSE: To both Q5 and Q6. A wide range of courses is offered which are designed to
enable prisoners to obtain qualifications which will benefit them on release and/or can be
continued on transfer or release. Prisoners involved in their ILP's and they agree pathways.
The Governor (education) accepts that 18-21 year olds prefer 'hands on work with embedded
functional skills'. As in previous year Deerbolt has responded by amending provision of
coursed to meet this requirement. There is still, however, a considerable anomaly in the
numbers enrolled and those that actually attend. See figures at question 4.
Increasingly there is a problem with officers being available to escort prisoners to classes this is consequent on the reduction of staff numbers. There is some evidence that prisoners
prefer work because of the better pay difference, but there is an intent to reduce or eliminate
the differentials.
REASONS FOR NON-ATTENDANCE - August 2014
The admin assistant who produced these figures was lost during Benchmarking. As a result,
although it is possible to see the trends /issues on the worksheets causing non-attendance, the
figures are not being produced. The reasons remain much as last year, with an increase in
the times there have been no officers available to escort. It is hoped that after restructuring it
will be possible to produce these figures next year.
Q7. Any views of prisoners/detainees about the contribution that learning and skills can make
to their future prospects of employment, and their 'unfiltered' view of learning and skills
provision.
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Q8. The prisoners/detainee view of education and skills training in the establishment
compared with their experience of provision outside.
RESPONSE: These are the results of surveys completed by learners in May 2014 as
collated by TMC.
BEFORE YOU STARTED YOUR COURSE:
Agreed the guidance they were given was good
83%
Learners were told about the range of courses
78%
INTRODUCTION TO THE COURSE:
Felt welcome on their first day
94%
Said they knew how to behave as a learner
93%
Learners who felt they were on the right course.
84%
TEACHING AND LEARNING
Learners felt the teaching on their course was good
95%
Learners felt they were learning at the right pace
91%
Learners felt the skills would help them in real life.
90%
Agreed they are achieving what they set out to do
92%
Focus Group - Two separate groups. IMB led with tutors present:
Age when no longer in full time education
Age
18 – 0
Age
19 – 0
Two said they had never been to school - one was a traveller.
Reasons for leaving school
2 - never went to school
1 - 5 GCEs but saw no point in continuing
9
10 - just left - all at 15.
OBSERVATION
In the small sample group there was little enthusiasm for learning, although there was more
enthusiasm shown by pupils in the Industrial Cleaning class and the Gardening Course - It
seems activity based courses stimulate students and keep their attention for slightly longer.
School
There was one positive reaction to school learning. The rest seemed to have had a negative
experience.
Prison
There was generally a more positive reaction to learning, with two or three exceptions. One
student was particularly enthusiastic about the Virtual Campus and learning in general.
CONCLUSION
This has been a challenging time of change, reorganisation, benchmarking and staff changes.
TMC and prison staff have worked hard and well together to deal with rising numbers and
more disruptive prisoners. They are in the process of improving and developing what was
already a good education department. The newly appointed Manager of TMC (was acting
manager for a protracted period) is very involved in this process.In cell work is being
developed. This to help vulnerable/troubled prisoners who can still progress their education
in cell and receive payment.
Outside employers including Glaxo Smith Kline and Esh Group (construction) already cooperate with Deerbolt and would do more, but pressure on prison staff time seems to inhibit
organising to further the opportunities.
COURSES OFFERED
FS English Entry Level & L1/L2
Painting & Decorating
FS Maths Entry Level & L1/L2
Embedded English
Industrial cleaning
Embedded Maths
Environmental Studies
Outreach
Bricklaying
Virtual Campus
Money Matters
Workplace Values
Preparation for Interviews
The Business
Customer Service
Introduction to IT
ITQ Level 1 & Level 2
Motor Mechanics
Recycling
Mentoring
The Studio
Adult Support
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Joinery
Introduction to Construction
Plastering
Section 5.c. Healthcare and Mental Health
The Healthcare Centre is a clean and bright space although the Waiting Room is rather
perfunctory.
The Board notes that there have been no complaints or negative comments about
healthcare in the Prisoner Consultative Committee meetings, which the IMB attends as
observer.
1.
Healthcare at HMYOI Deerbolt is delivered by Care UK for general medicine and
personal care with access to regional services and HR services through Tees, Esk
Valley Area Team for mental health care. The senior manager of the Healthcare Centre
attends the Senior Management Team Meetings and considers he has a good
relationship with the Governor. These arrangements will change from 1st April 2015
when a new contractor takes over.
2.
Screening and referrals are made as necessary during induction on I Wing.
Subsequently close group work can be undertaken with the DART team located on A
Wing. Access to clinics is open. Administration of prescribed drugs and triage is carried
out by Duty Nurses visiting each Wing.
3.
There are no in-patient services at Deerbolt, nor is there healthcare cover on-site
overnight. In case of need, the Duty Governor will call an ambulance via 999 in an
emergency.
4.
The Board notes that this year there have been some family conferences for individual
prisoners arranged by Healthcare. Whilst this is of course a positive initiative, the
Board considers that there is a wider need for clinical psychological support for those
with, for example, alcohol misuse issues, to benefit a larger group of Deerbolt
prisoners.
5.
Dental, Optometry, Podiatry, and Sexual Health clinics have been offered and regular
GP visits maintained. The Board notes that that this is achieved by calling in Agency
Staff, and it is doubted whether all such people have Security and DBS checks to the
full HMYOI standard.
6.
The telephone appointment system giving responsibility to patients for their own
Healthcare has been widely welcomed by prisoners. The Board notes a reduction in
DNA rates (did not attend) as a probable consequence which has given an efficiency
benefit to Healthcare.
Mental Health Services in Deerbolt Young Offenders Institute are provided by Tees, Esk and
Wear Valley NHS Foundation Trust which is sub contracted through Care UK, the main
healthcare contract holder for the cluster of six local prisons i.e. Deerbolt, Durham,
Frankland, Low Newton, Kirklevington and Holme House.
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The healthcare contract is due for renewal from April 2015 and the uncertainty leading up to
this change has had an obvious impact on staff morale and engagement. Will a new provider
decide on a different structure for provision of healthcare services to Deerbolt?
The mental health team work Monday to Friday between 0800 – 1900 hours. There is no Out
of Hours Service at the prison apart from an on call at weekends where one band 7 nurse
provides on call for all six prisons. There are few call outs. The team is managed off site by
a Service Manager Offender Health based at Roseberry Park Hospital, Middlesbrough who is
in frequent contact with the team.
The team receives in the region of 55 referrals a month which is a high level of referrals for
the size of the team. They are not a Crisis Team although they believe the prison staff, at
times, refers young offenders as if they are.
‘The service definition of ‘Crisis’ is presentation of an individual whose normal coping
mechanisms and resources have become overwhelmed by the onset or relapse of a severe
mental illness, or through experiencing significant situational change and the crisis renders
the individual and carer unable to manage their changed circumstances, presenting a risk to
themselves or others, thus requiring an urgent specialist assessment of their mental health
needs. The crisis needs to be sufficiently serious to require in-patient treatment if home
treatment interventions were not available.’
All referrals are seen by the team for an initial assessment. They are triaged and young
offenders are offered an appointment within 2 days. The mental health team go out to the
wings where they usually see the young offender in an office. The team have been provided
with radios so they can be contacted: they rarely suffer from verbal aggression from prisoners
and there have been no recorded assaults on the mental health team this year.
There is a visiting Psychiatrist on Friday mornings from Roseberry Park Hospital,
Middlesbrough, but there is no regular Psychology input in the prison. Staff can refer
prisoners to Psychology Services in the Community on release but there is no other access to
this essential mental health service. (This is expected to be improved under the new
Healthcare contract from April 2015.) The mental health team do run some psychology based
sessions in the prison but there is a lack of tailored programmes for issues like self-harming
behaviours, military veterans and the increasing number of sex offenders. Any medication
required is prescribed by either the nurse prescriber or the visiting General Practitioner to the
general health service or the visiting Psychiatrist.
The Mental Health Team provides anger management sessions although it is not their remit.
They also have an Acupuncture clinic which is a six week course for six people as well as a
reading group and an art group. There is usually a waiting list for acupuncture
Normally the team is given two weeks’ notice when a prisoner is to move and they pass
information onto the receiving prison using phone and fax but sometimes the prisoners are
moved more quickly which is then a challenge for the team in terms of workload. This
occurrence is increasing in frequency. Tracking prisoner’s whereabouts following an
appearance in court is often difficult and therefore records are not always passed on in a
timely manner. At times it is sometimes difficult to access prisoner’s records especially from
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the private prisons such as Forest Bank and Doncaster.
The mental health team do not undertake any training for the prison staff. They were
unaware of the recent staff training session on Autism Awareness which was provided by the
North East Autism Society from Thornbeck College which they would have liked to attend.
The patient literature provided consists of a Care UK leaflet which simply notes that the
mental health service is provided by Tees, Esk and Wear Valley NHS Foundation Trust and
some clinics are available to offer mental health advice and support. There is also mention of
the Samaritans and the prison Listener service to use if a prisoner feels low. The team will
take complaints verbally or in writing on the specific form or plain paper and they involve the
Patient Advice and Liaison Service (PALS) from the Mental Health Trust in the resolution of
any complaints.
Section 5.d.
Purposeful activity – including work.
Laundry.
Working in the laundry is popular with prisoners, but reductions in staffing levels – usually
two officers on duty - means that whilst there is work available for prisoners, the full
complement of 12/14 are often unable to attend because of insufficient staffing levels.
Kitchen.
Working in the main kitchen is generally a popular purposeful activity for prisoners. The
kitchen produces some 1500 meals per day, and the Board continues to be impressed by its
ability to produce a good range of acceptable meals on a small budget. Food complaints were
minimal for the first half of the year, but since the introduction of a cold meal, taken in their
cell at lunchtime, members of the Board have experienced numerous complaints from
prisoners that the quality and quantity of food available is unacceptable and they would like
a return to the previous arrangements. The Board was pleased to note that the training kitchen
reopened during the year, and can take up to 10 trainees. It used to offer L1 and L2 NVQ
Food Prep, but now only offers L1 because of staff shortages.
Gardens.
Produce an annual riot of colour in the gardens around the prison, and continue to produce
vegetables that supplement the kitchens’ requirements.
Prisoners are offered L1 NTPC but understaffing results in inability to complete the relevant
paperwork. There is a problem recruiting gardener instructors. They are required to have
NVQ which few mature experienced gardeners have. It would seem sensible to be flexible
and allow recruits to obtain the NVQ while working.
Print Room.
A beacon of success and enterprise led by a highly competent and enterprising Officer, who
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may have to transfer back to normal duties, as he cannot afford to take a cut in salary, if the
position is offered to a civilian worker at a lower salary. The Board wondes if his lower paid
replacement will have the same abilities? We sincerely hope so.
It is the only area of the prison that functions as a business and makes money.
Prisoners who work in the facility are chosen for their skills and attitude – no qualifications
are needed. If the work does not suit a prisoner, then he can leave without being penalised.
Release on Temporary Licence (ROTL).
At the time of discussion there were no prisoners working outside the prison. Whilst
placements appear to have been identified, it is disappointing that the prison has not taken
advantage of them. Although the numbers of prisoners undertaking this type of work in the
past is fairly small, it is disappointing that this inaction by the prison has removed some
potentially very beneficial opportunities from prisoners.
Education
Manchester College has made seemingly unhelpful changes to some of the courses, for
example, the removal of the L1 qualification in bricklaying and joinery, which means that
prisoners have to work towards level 2. The lack of basic skills training prior to working for
the level 2 qualification is causing problems for some prisoners. It is disappointing to see the
low morale of some of the tutors appearing to have the potential to impact the quality of some
of the training, especially when others remain motivated and are delivering to a good
standard.
All prisoners in education are given classes in basic maths/English and ICT – even those on
industry courses. Those who are already skilled at those disciplines act as peer mentors, and
can gain an NVQ for mentoring, which is a really positive and useful opportunity.
Some prisoners do not want to attend the education centre so, to overcome this, outreach is
offered on the wings and also in the segregation unit, which is to be commended. For
example, in one week there were about 22 prisoners taking this option, mainly for English
and Maths but also some ad hoc courses e.g. Health and Safety.
Sport
Changes in how sessions are allocated have made for a much fairer system so that all
prisoners can attend easily and which aims to prevent prisoners being bullied to give up their
sessions to others. £200 was raised for Sports Relief.
Chaplaincy
During the year the team lost the RC Father and there is now a visiting Father for a shorter
number of hours per week. The work of the Chaplaincy should not be under-estimated, as
they provide help both within Deerbolt and, as far as possible after release. They have built
up a number of contacts outside Deerbolt and beyond the local area to help with resettlement
of prisoners on release, which is a difficult time for many prisoners. This is really important
work, especially now that significant numbers of prisoners are coming from further afield.
Library
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The Library keeps a good stock of books and responds to requests for specific titles which
have increased as a result of the ban on books being sent into prison by families. Deerbolt
was awarded The 6 Book Challenge Gold Award which was a tremendous achievement.
Change to prison regime does mean that, on occasion, prisoners are unable to attend the
library because of lack of staff to escort them. The staff in the Library are very enthusiastic
and proactive, arranging group activities and for authors to attend as guest speakers which
prove popular with the prisoners.
Drama/Music
It was disappointing to hear that one of the two tutors had left and not been replaced, which
has had impact on the ability of the remaining tutor to organise events, following some very
successful events earlier in the year, including a very well received “Holocaust Day” which
was a joint venture with the staff in the Library.
Section 5.e.
Re-settlement
The Board is pleased to observe that the whole ethos of the Deerbolt regime is centred on
encouraging and developing opportunities that will encourage successful resettlement for
prisoners when they are discharged. West Yorkshire Police recently contacted Deerbolt
because they had found a number of offenders from their area, who, on past experience, were
expected to present further problems on release, had appeared to have turned themselves
around. Two police officers visited Deerbolt and subsequently wrote attributing this result to
the overall care provided throughout the prison, the wide range of work and education
provided and the work of DART. (Drug and Alcohol Recovery Team)
DART
Two new staff members from NECA working under the umbrella of DART are now
delivering longer programmes to prisoners who have been identified by DART as potential
candidates. They do a 3 week course for alcohol or a two week for drugs, courses four
mornings per week from 8:30 to 12ish. These comprehensive courses cover all aspects of
abuse, including the effect on the wider community. DART programmes are now consistent
throughout the seven North East prisons, important when prisoners are transferred from
prison to prison.
One DART member has initiated and is now running steroid awareness sessions, in
association with gym staff, who may identify potential problem individuals.
An OPEN DAY, held in February on A Wing, further promoted and celebrated the ongoing
and highly encouraging success of this small and dedicated team.
Shelter
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A highly successful department (just 1 staff member and the occasional volunteer) which
liaises with a wide range of accommodation providers for released prisoners. Of 625
prisoners released YTD, 618 were released to settled accommodation of which in excess of
250 were helped to avoid them being homeless on release. The Key Performance Target for
Deerbolt is 90%, they regularly achieve a monthly success of 100% of leavers having settled
accommodation, and their YTD figure is over 98%. Shelter are successfully training Peer
Mentors at Deerbolt, currently six in number.
In 2 Out
Is a Christian based organization, open to all faiths, which helps in three areas of Support,
Work, Accommodation and Mentoring. They have helped 24 prisoners at Deerbolt this year
with some notable successes. A network of mentors is now established and the system is
established in other prisons ensuring continuity when transfers occur.
Sowing Seeds
Run by a former prisoner and a former prison officer, it helps prisoners approaching release
to assimilate into society. They visit Deerbolt weekly, seeing up to 8 prisoners regularly.
NEPACS
A North East based charity which helps to build bridges between prisoners, families and
communities, has been doing so for 130 years. Deerbolt has one Family Support Worker and
volunteers who help with families on visiting day.
Parenting
A new course for expectant fathers in prison, including :

Stages of Pregnancy

Budgeting. (Baby doesn’t need designer nappies)

When and Why baby cries
The objective is to empower new fathers.
Other recent innovations include:
NEW FATHER VISITS held in a private and pleasant location over a full afternoon, giving
privacy to a new family.
The inclusion of a YOUNG SIBLING on visits, an example being a five year old brother. The
prisoner does not have to be a father to have a young relative.
PHONE CALLS from prisoner to expectant Mum during labour.
EXTRA PHONE CALLS around birth time when, for example, no credit is available. (reduces
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bad behaviour)
Assisted Visits
Deerbolt is receiving more prisoners from further afield, which makes it hard for families to
maintain contact, and the possibility of practical and financial help with visits is not always
understood. Recently an entire family were brought, free of charge, from Manchester by
minibus to visit a prisoner who was on constant watch. He had had no visits prior to this, as
the family could not afford to travel. The process and effort involved in accomplishing this
was complicated and time consuming, but the Board are pleased to report that the result was
a complete turn round in the prisoner‘s behaviour.
Father and Child Visits
With new babies up to six months of age, the mother stays throughout the visit, but over six
months, the mother leaves after 15 minutes, leaving father and child alone, to bond and do all
that is required of a new father (nappies). This is done every six weeks.
Liaison between prisoner and family to encourage future visits has been developed further
this year. Three very successful FAMILY DAYS are held each year. A further innovative idea
from this forward thinking unit, still being developed, is the creation of a FATHERS AREA
which could be a complete or part wing populated by new and/ or expectant fathers.
Anne Frank
The prison hosted The Anne Frank charity display in January. The exhibit took observers
from the young girls diary to the holocaust and on to increasingly modern times, such as
Martin Luther King, Nelson Mandela and Stephen Lawrence, all demonstrating the
continuing themes of racism, intolerance and violence. It was well received by the many
prisoners who saw it.
Section 5.f. Safer Custody
1. A total of 186 ACCTs were opened during the year: several of them
multiples.A number of prisoners have come to Deerbolt from Remand
prisons with an open ACCT, and this practice seems to be on the increase.
In one case such a prisoner arrived at Deerbolt with no notification of the
ACCT. This is a serious failure and of great concern to the Board.
2. The Listener programme continues to work well at Deerbolt. The calibre
of young offender performing this role is impressively high. Excellent
training for Listeners is provided by Samaritans.
3. In last year’s report the Board expressed concern that the Safer Custody
co-ordinators and Admin Staff have difficulty in performing the role
effectively alongside their other duties. It results in regular meetings
being cancelled and rebooked with corresponding poor attendance. Since
the main purpose of the meetings is to coordinate the efforts of different
individuals and groups this is evidently counter-productive, and the Board
17
is concerned that there has been no improvement this year.
4. The violence reduction programme has a difficult year, perhaps not
surprisingly
Section 5.g.
Segregation, Care and Separation, Close Supervision
1. 2013-2014 has been a difficult year. Changes in Segregation Unit staff,
with a continuous throughput of prisoners, some of whom are very
difficult, with demanding behaviour, has put the staff under constant
pressure.
The Board is pleased to put on record its observation that very high
standards have nevertheless been maintained at all time
2. Board Members see all prisoners held in the Segregation Unit on their rota
visits. Staff contact IMB by phone, to inform us about special
accommodation use, and to alert us to up-coming 72 hour Rule 49
Reviews.
3.
A total of 107 Rule 49 reviews were attended by IMB. The number of
reviews has increased driven by a greater number of prisoners going into
Segregation on Rule 49 and some of them staying longer. This is of
concern.
4. The Independent Judge attends Deerbolt once per month and dealt with
171 prisoners. IMB sit in on these adjudications when possible and
individual IMB members are invariably very impressed with the
professional, expeditious and ultimately fair manner in which the Judge
deals with the cases presented to him.
5. It is the observation of the Board that the calibre of prisoners held at
Deerbolt, has changed. There appear to be more “poor copers” and more
prisoners of a highly unstable and violent nature, and correspondingly
fewer middle-of-the -road or “normal” young men. This has meant that
more prisoners end up in Separation and Care for short or long periods
than used to be the case. The work of the staff in the Segregation Unit is
definitely more challenging but Deerbolt Senior management are well
aware of this and give the staff their full support.
6. The showers in the Segregation Unit are in a poor state and urgently need
refurbishment to meet required hygiene standards
7. The Segregation Monitoring and Review Group (SMARG) meet quarterly
with IMB in attendance. In these meeting individual cases are discussed
in detail and plans for each Segregated prisoner are developed, with the
objective of a return to normal location.. The date and time of the meeting
is subject to far too many changes leading to attendance problems.
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Section 5.h.
Residential Services
Accommodation
Accommodation is provided in nine individual wings, which are set in grounds that
are well maintained and provide a pleasant environment for staff and prisons as they
move around the prison.
Grounds
Some grassy areas have been turned into vegetable beds.Problems with rubbish being
thrown out of cell windows are addressed.
Entrances and Association areas
The accommodation wings are generally kept clean and tidy. But some wings are
looking tired and could be improved by re painting. Too many notice boards have out
of date notices.
Serveries
They are generally kept in a clean state but it has been observed this year that there
have been issues with dishwashers and waste disposal machines leaking water. This
poses a problem for maintaining cleanliness and safety. It is not clear why there are
delays in repairs to these machines.
Showers
The board is pleased to note this year that the shower area in D wing has been
completely refurbished with individual lockable showers. However the showers in E
wing are completely unacceptable lacking any privacy and in poor condition. We
understand that there is now the budget to refurbish them and hope this will happen as
soon as possible. F wing showers are also in very poor condition with little privacy
and urgently need refurbishment to bring them up to an acceptable standard of safety
and decency as well. The Board asks that funds are made available to complete the
upgrade of F and E wing showers.
Exercise Yards
These areas are not covered by security cameras and there have been a number of
violent incidents in the yards this year.
Recycling
Efforts are being made to increase the level of recycling in the wings and recycling
bins have been introduced.
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Cells
The main complaint heard this year has been a shortage of curtains in the cells.
Prisoners have then been making curtains out of any materials they can get hold of
including sheets. Graffiti is still present in too many cells.
Personal Officers
In theory this is an excellent scheme but the Board members find few prisoners seem
to know who their personal officer is.
Kitchens
The food budget has remained unchanged this year at £1.97 per person per day. From
this the staff provide 5 choices per meal with a four-week menu cycle, catering for
dietary requirements and special events.
Key Issues for kitchen staff
Breakfasts are now provided as bought in breakfast packs to accommodate staffing
requirements. This is at an additional cost of 22p to the food budget, requiring costs to
be cut elsewhere in the food budget.
Kitchens have also been required to move to providing a sandwich lunch. Again this
has proved to be more costly than providing hot meals. It is also more labour
intensive to make sandwiches and more difficult to manage quality control of 1000
sandwiches each day.
Equipment repairs
There have continued to be delays in getting repairs for kitchen equipment causing
additional problems for the staff. For example at one point only one Brat pan out of
three was working. This meant that the menu had to be changed. Staff report that they
spend too long chasing the repair.
3663 Contract
Kitchen staff have raised issues with IMB regarding the delivery difficulties they
experience with 3663 making substitutes and shortfalls at short notice.
They also have some concerns regarding quality, for example poor quality
mayonnaise that contributes to the sandwiches.
Key Issues for prisoners
The overwhelming complaint that IMB have heard about the food this year is the poor
quality and quantity of the sandwich lunch. Breakfast packs distributed in the
evening leads to some prisoners eating them in the evenings, which leads to a very
lengthy gap until lunch the next day.
Highlights
The use of vegetables grown at the prison has been very successful this year making a
positive contribution to balancing the budget. The kitchens and gardens have been
20
able to work in cooperation to maximise the use of the produce. This has been a
positive demonstration to the prisoners of
There was extremely good feedback on the catering for Ramadan, which was very
successful. Some Catering staff changed their shifts to accommodate the schedule.
More than 50 prisoners took part and only a handful did not complete the month. The
Chaplain considers the feast of Eid was the best the prison had celebrated.
Section 6
The Work of the Board
The work of the Board in monitoring and observing all aspects of prison life to ensure
fair and humane treatment of Prisoners could not be done without not merely
tolerance but active support from all members of prison staff in all departments. We
remain more than grateful for the co-operation we receive despite the considerable
pressures imposed on staff in the present environment.
At the end of 2013, John Stoney took over from David Yeadon as Chair, and Peter
Fisher took over from Annabel Dobson as Vice Chair. Ann Barmby succeeded Di
Peat as Board Development Officer. We are grateful indeed to each Board member
who served a period in office and can report that they left the Board administration in
good shape. Josephine Carroll retired from the Board and we are extremely grateful
for her service. Thanks to recruitment organised by David Yeadon we were pleased
to welcome four new members, so that at September 2014 we had 12 active members.
A new rota system was introduced, in which two members are on rota each week,
instead of two each month. This means that with twelve members each member
comes on rota every six weeks instead of every six months, thus reducing the risk of
members feeling out of touch during lengthy periods between rota duties. Typically
each Board member will visit the prison two or three times in a week when they are
on Rota, with every visit typically lasting about 3 hours. In addition, an IMB
member is called in to observe when there is an Incident at the prison (e.g. hostage
taking, prisoners on roofs etc.). Such occasions happened 3 times in the year under
review.
The work of the Board is ably supported by our Clerk, Joanne Anderson, who as well
as providing administration for all our activities, is an essential mine of information,
helping us to know which member of prison staff we should approach to follow up on
Prisoners’ problems that come to the Board through the Prisoner Applications system.
The Board is extremely grateful for the work Joanne does and the efficient and
cheerful way she does it. We appreciate that being IMB Clerk is only one of many
important duties she has in the prison,
As Chair I want to thank each and every one of my IMB colleagues for their
unstinting efforts for the prison and for their support to me in my first year as Chair.
9th February 2015
John Stoney -Chair
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Section 7.
Statistical Appendices 2013/2014
2011/12
2012/13
2013/2014
Recommended Board Complement
14
14
14
Number of Board Members at start of year
9
11
10
Number of Board members at end of year
8
10
11
Number of new members joining during year
1
3
4
Number of members leaving within the year
2
1
3
274
226
296
all meetings
362
310
408
Total number of applications
150
74
101
Total number of Rule 49 Reviews held
122
135
109
Total number of Rule 49 Reviews
attended.
117
135
107
Number of attendances to the prison other
than Board Meetings
Number of visits to the prison including
22
Applications analysis
Code
Subject
Year
2011/1
2
Year
Year
2012/3
2013/4
A
Accommodation
5
0
0
B
Adjudications
8
4
4
C
Equality & Diversity (inc
religion)
1
1
0
D
Education/employment/traini
ng inc IEP
19
9
7
E1
Family/visits inc mail &
phone
28
10
10
E2
Finance/pay
9
7
6
F
Food/kitchen related
1
2
3
G
Health related
2
0
1
H1
Property (within current
establishment)
4
7
7
H2
Property (during transfer/in
another establishment)
5
3
7
H3
Canteen, facilities, Catalogue
shopping, Argos
3
0
0
I
Sentence related (inc. HDC,
ROTL, parole, release dates,
re-cat etc)
5
2
9
J
Staff/prisoner/detainee
concerns inc bullying
8
3
10
K
Transfers
22
5
10
L
Miscellaneous
30
24
27
Total number of IMB
applications
150
77
101
Of total: Confidential Access
1
0
1
23
Year
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