Custodial Review No 84 by Steven Mitchell

Custodial the

Review

The Custodial Review informing the Prison, Border Agency and Police Services Edition 84

The Police Federations seventh National Custody Seminar and exhibition see p12

The Cascade Health & Learning Hub is open! see p16

Custodial Review interviews Julia Rogers The Managing Director for Justice and Immigration at Serco UK & Europe see p6

There will be no quick fixes by Phil Wheatley see p6

I donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t think every prison is in crisisâ&#x20AC;Ś see p26 Support is available to veterans in Police Custody by Steve Lowe, Project Nova Northern Manager see p18

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Contents Issue 84

the Custodial Review Editorial Sales: Tracy Johnson, Martin Petty Tel: 01234 348878 sales@custodialreview.co.uk Administration: Lyn Mitchell Design/Production: Amanda Wesley

News

Custodial Review interviews Julia Rogers The Managing Director for Justice and Immigration at Serco UK & Europe

News from the Howard League for Penal Reform

Police National Custody Seminar The Police Federations seventh National Custody Seminar and exhibition

The Prison Reform Trust gets a new HQ

Support is available to veterans in Police Custody by Steve Lowe, Project Nova Northern Manager

News

I don’t think every prison is in crisis… an interview with Peter Clarke, HMIP

Stopping drones, the logical way By Andy Loakes

Production Editor: Richard Shrubb

The publisher will consider financial reimbursement for relevant articles. If you have an article, or wish to compose one, on a relevant topic then please contact the publisher on stevem@pirnet.co.uk. It’s subject to acceptance so please contact prior to starting and it will appear on the Custodial website.

Annual Subscription £30. Free to qualifying individuals Custodial Review is now accepting articles from serving officers in the Prisons, Police and Immigration centres and staff within the whole custodial industry. All articles will appear on the Custodial website and will appear in the magazine subject to the Publishers discretion. Approx length 1500 to 2000 words. We are also pleased to accept news and information. Please contact the Publisher, Steve Mitchell, stevem@custodialreview.co.uk or on 01234 348878 for more details.

Contributing Editor: Wendy Hewitt Publisher: Steve Mitchell The Publisher holds all copyright and any items within may not be reproduced in any way, for any purpose, without the written permission of the Publisher. This publication contains Crown Copyright material reproduced with the permission of the Controller of HMSO and the Queen’s Printer for Scotland.

Copyright: the Custodial Review Published by Review Magazines Ltd, 53 Asgard Drive, Bedford MK41 0UR. Tel: 01234 348878 E-mail: info@custodialreview.co.uk Website: www.custodialreview.co.uk HM Prisons Executive and the Home Office do not sponsor or in any way support this Publication in any substance, commodity, process, equipment, editorial or service advertised or mentioned in this book, nor are they responsible for any inaccuracy or statement in this publication. Whilst every care has been taken to ensure accuracy, the information contained within, this publication is based on submissions to the Publishers who cannot be held responsible for errors or omissions. The Publishers cannot be held responsible for any article, advertisement, picture or photograph supplied by Advertisers and Associations which may contravene the Official Secrets Act or that have not first been cleared by the Home Office of Prisons Executive, should that have been necessary.

Are you getting your copy? Qualifying individuals within the Custodial sector can receive a FREE copy of the Custodial Review. If you are not receiving your copy, or you have a colleague who would like one, let us know! We will need your name, title, position & FULL address. Custodial Review is THE magazine for the Immigration, Customs, Prison and Police services. It’s growing all the time and more popular than ever. To obtain your copy, or to subscribe please forward your up-to-date information to: The Custodial, Review Magazines Ltd, 53 Asgard Drive, Bedford MK41 0UR. Tel: 01234 348878 Email: sales@pirnet.co.uk or go onto www.custodialreview.co.uk and click ‘Subscribe’.

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NEWS

Landmark review places family ties at the heart of prison reform Ministry of Justice welcomes Lord Farmer’s recommendations to strengthen family ties to help offenders turn their lives around and protect public safety. New study by Lord Michael Farmer calls family relationships “the golden thread” to help reduce reoffending. Research shows prisoners who receive visits from a family member are 39 per cent less likely to reoffend. Research has shown close ties between prisoners and key family members can significantly reduce the risk of reoffending – which costs society £15 billion every year. In a landmark review, ‘Importance of strengthening prisoners’ family ties to prevent reoffending and reduce intergenerational crime’ published 10th August 2017, Lord Farmer has identified family as the “golden thread” running through the reforms across the prison estate. In September 2016 Lord Farmer, in partnership with the membership charity Clinks, was commissioned by the government to investigate how connecting prisoners with their families can improve offender wellbeing, assist in keeping the public safe and reduce reoffending. Lord Farmer said: “My report is not sentimental about prisoners’ families, as if they can, simply by their presence, alchemise a disposition to commit crime into one that is law abiding. However, I do want to hammer home a very simple principle of reform that needs to be a golden thread running through the prison system and the agencies that surround it. That principle is that relationships are fundamentally important if people are to change.” The Ministry of Justice has already started developing a strategy which will take forward recommendations from the review. Progress is being made on a number of the recommendations, including giving governors the budget and flexibility to spend their resources appropriately to help prisoners keep important family ties. Alongside this the government has started piloting significant relationship performance measures which will provide crucial guidance to deliver more consistent services in areas such as visitations across the entire prisons estate. the Custodial Review

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The recommendations have been welcomed by Justice Secretary David Lidington who has set out his commitment to creating calm and ordered prison environments to deliver more effective rehabilitation. Speaking on 10th August, he echoed Lord Farmer’s view that family relationships are essential to reducing reoffending. Justice Secretary David Lidington said: “Families can play a significant role in supporting an offender and I am grateful to Lord Farmer for his dedication and research on this important issue.” “We are committed to transforming prisons into places of safety and reform and we recognise the need to provide those in our care with stable environments, and opportunities to change their behaviour.” There are numerous examples of good practice in this area, and we will continue work on a strategy to best support offender needs. That has to start with the numbers of prison officers available to support offenders which is why we are increasing staffing number by 2,500.” Lord Farmer’s review reflects on progress that has been made in this area over recent years, with many prisons already having defined programmes which puts family relationships at the centre. Innovative schemes and partnerships with local organisations are also vital vehicles for preparing men for release, and there are already proven partnerships in this area such as Storybook Dads, who help fathers keep in contact with their children, and Partners of Prisoners, who work with prisons to deliver more welcoming visitor environments. Clinks CEO & Deputy Chair of the Farmer Review, Anne Fox said: “The Farmer Review listened to over 1,000 men in prison and their families, voluntary organisations across the UK, prison staff and academics.” “The review concludes that quality family services will help people turn away from crime and it will support families to cope.Voluntary organisations have pioneered best practice for decades and now is the time to spread it far and wide.” “The government has secured an additional £100 million a year investment for an extra 2,500 prison officers. With the increasing numbers of prison officers there will be more time available to directly supervise offenders, provide one-to-one support and increase the number of visits.” “This, alongside the creation of Her Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service, will put offender management at the centre of our reform Page 4

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agenda and create a necessary cultural change, bringing with it stability and security - and ultimately reducing the risk of reoffending.”

Brook House: Inquiry call into immigration centre allegations The Equality and Human Rights Commission’s Chief Executive, Rebecca Hilsenrath, has demanded that the Government investigate potential human rights breaches at Brook House Immigration Removal Centre, managed by G4S. An undercover BBC Panorama programme, Britain’s Immigration Secrets, appeared to show officers humiliating and abusing immigration detainees, including physical assault. In a letter to Home Secretary Amber Rudd, the Commission said the footage contained evidence that might amount to inhuman or degrading treatment of detainees contravening Article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights. It advises that the UK is obliged to ensure that its prison officials comply with human rights law, including at outsourced establishments. Where Article 3 rights appear to have been breached – as here - the government should order an independent investigation that identifies what went wrong, so that lessons can be learned to prevent the same thing happening again in future. The Commission’s letter argues that any investigation should consider the circumstances that enabled ‘acts of humiliation and abuse’ to occur without detection and immediate remedial action by G4S senior management or the Home Office, and questions the adequacy of the outsourcing arrangements. Unless it receives a positive response to its demands, it may institute judicial review proceedings or launch an investigation of its own. G4S has dismissed and disciplined several members of staff since the programme was aired in September. Resources: www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-41655493 www. equalityhumanrights.com/en/our-work/news/brookhouse-immigration-removal-centre-letter-homesecretary By Wendy Hewitt.

Prison officer recruitment passes halfway target Government on track to hit target of 2,500 additional officers by end of 2018. A target to recruit 2,500 prison officers has already surpassed the halfway mark – putting the government well on track to bring in the

NEWS

staff it needs to help improve safety, Prisons Minister Sam Gyimah revealed on19th October. New figures show that from October 2016 to August 2017 there has been a net increase of 1,290 new prison officers. These new recruits will provide a necessary boost to the frontline so prisons can better tackle violence, self-harm and self-inflicted deaths. A further 872 men and women are expected to have started their training by January 2018. The commitment to increase staffing is a crucial strand of the government’s strategy to create prisons that are safer and more purposeful. Prisons Minister Sam Gyimah said: “We are taking unprecedented action to improve the safety in our prisons and the additional 2,500 prison officers are a key measure in creating calm and ordered environments.” “I have met prison officers across the country and am continually impressed by the work they do to manage prisoners day in and day out, to keep our prisons and the public safe.” “Bringing in these additional officers is critical to achieving safe regimes and I am committed to building on these figures.” “In addition, this month saw the launch of a new campaign to recruit over 200 Operational Support Grades. These staff will help to maintain the everyday roles which are vital to creating a stable regime.” “With the boost to recruitment some prisons have already begun to plan and implement the new key-worker scheme. This will see each officer working more closely with around six offenders - building stronger relationships to bring about positive change.” The government has consistently said that a key element of prison safety is the recruitment of the 2,500 additional prison officers, along with a £1.3 billion investment to create 10,000 modern prison places.

NEWS

Pay boost for public sector prison staff Pay uplift follows £100 million government investment to recruit 2,500 new prison officers by 2018. All prison staff in England and Wales will receive a pay boost as Justice Secretary, David Lidington implements in full the independent Public Service Pay Review Body’s recommendations. All prison staff, including operational support grades and governors, will receive an increase to their salary averaging 1.7% across the service. Justice Secretary David Lidington said: “Our hardworking prison staff do an outstanding job, often in the most challenging of circumstances. It is therefore right that this work is recognised and that they are awarded a welldeserved increase in pay.” “During my visits to prisons around the country I have been hugely impressed with the commitment and dedication they show to make prisons safer and improving the lives of the offenders they manage.” “Prison officers provide a vital public service. Their work is often out of sight but is crucial to keeping the public safe.” The government has already boosted the pay of thousands of frontline staff in London and the South East thanks to a £12 million package announced in February. Prison officers at 31 establishments have received a boost of up to £5,000 and new starters are now receiving a total pay of up to £29,500 — an increase of £5,000. The £29 million of funding for the annual pay increase will be drawn from existing budgets. It comes just weeks after the Justice Secretary announced a net increase of 868 new prison

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officers between January and June 2017. An additional 738 job offers have been made to potential recruits who are expected to start after June 2018. This means more support for colleagues, and more support for prisoners, implementing the new key-worker scheme that will train each officer to work more closely with 6 offenders, building stronger relationships to bring about positive change. By having more staff on the ground, staff will be better supported to do the job they came into the prison service to do, and spend more time reforming offenders.

Nicholas Caton reappointed to the Prison Service Pay Review Body The Secretary of State for Justice has announced the reappointment of Nicholas Caton for a tenure of 3 years and 5 months. Nicholas Caton has been reappointed to the Prison Service Pay Review Body (PSPRB) from 25 November 2017 to 30 April 2021. Nicholas Caton worked for Ford Motor Company from 1982 until his retirement in July 2014, where he held a number of senior management positions. He retired from the position of Vice President Human Resources Ford of Europe. PSPRB provides the government with independent advice on the remuneration of operational prison staff in the England and Wales, and Northern Ireland Prison Services. This reappointment has been made in line with the Commissioner’s Code of Practice for Ministerial Appointments to Public Bodies. Appointments to PSPRB are made by the Prime Minister on the recommendation of the Justice Secretary in consultation with the Northern Ireland Justice Minister.

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Custodial Review interviews Julia Rogers

The Managing Director for Justice and Immigration at Serco UK & Europe

Serco operate six adult prisons with the capacity to hold more than 5,400 prisoners for the Ministry of Justice’s National Offender Management Service and the Scottish Prison Service Julia Rogers is the Managing Director for Justice and Immigration at Serco UK & Europe and answers to Kevin Craven, the Chief Executive for the UK & Europe division. She joined the company in June 2015. Julia has had two parts to her career up to the present role. She started her working life as an Army officer and served for nine years, finishing her Short Service Commission as a Captain. She then had various roles in retail, public sector and construction. She took the role at Serco as the people she works with and company values are very important to her. She has a saying, “The thing about values is that you have to live them not laminate them”. Custodial Review (CR) What first attracted you to the Custodial Sector? Julia Rogers (JR) One of the things I like about working in the Justice sector is it is vocational, just like the police, army and nursing. Some people think of prison officers as being ‘guards’ and this is really insulting to them as their job is to care for people. They’re very heart led people and they are looking after people during a most vulnerable time. Our job isn’t to deal with the reason they came to us, our job is to keep them safe and to try to put them back into society in a better state than when they came in. There are an increasing amount of people now

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presenting with mental health issues, drug and alcohol addictions – those are the people you have to begin looking after first and tackling intervention programmes and other things at a later stage because you can’t put an intervention programme in place until they are stable and able to engage with them. CR What are the challenges you see for Serco running prisons at this time? JR The same issues are faced by all prison operators and, aside from pressure on capacity brought about by sentencing policy, one of the issues is that there are a larger number of older people in prison now. The recent influx of historic sex offenders means that the mix of the population has changed. Because of this older population more are presenting with disabilities and serious illnesses. Prisons were not originally designed for people with disabilities so we have to think carefully about how we manage the older population. This brings about its own challenges and we need to think about how we meet the needs of this type of population within the current built environment.

Novel Psychoactive Substances (NPS) are also a new problem; because they are not the same as any other drug we have had to combat in the past. The effects of these drugs are terrible, users can become uncontrollable. Only a very tiny amount of the drug is needed to cause a reaction. Because they are ingested orally and require such small doses it is very hard to detect them being smuggled in or being used. CR It’s public knowledge that London has a prison staffing problem. Is manning an issue in Serco’s prisons? JR At the moment we do not have a staffing issue. We have a prescribed amount of people called the ‘approved staffing level’ that we have assessed as the right number of people to run each prison effectively. We run one London prison and it’s fully staffed. In three of my other prisons we are fully staffed as of today (6th September), in two we are 5% short staffed. CR Why are you fully staffed and other

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London prisons aren’t? Do you pay your staff more than the public estate? JR No, we pay them the same however there are two things we do differently. One is the difference between how we and the public sector recruits. The public sector runs 114 prisons and has a national recruitment campaign and a national training centre. For an estate that large this makes sense. Because we are small and only have six prisons we can recruit and train locally. New public sector prison staff go to their national training centre, not the establishment they’ll be working in. Our people are recruited and trained at the prison they are going to work in. As a result we have staff that are very local to that prison and who are trained in the environment they will be working in. They form bonds there and get to know what the job is going to be like on a daily basis. I think this genuinely makes a difference when attracting and retaining staff. CR Nationally the churn rate of experienced officers is something like 25% and nationally around 25% are in their first two years. What is your rate of ‘staff churn’? JR We do have a churn rate and it is similar to the public sectors. Our attrition rate in the first 12 months is higher than at any other time in an officer’s service. We have a saying that when a prison staff member gets to 12 months in post ‘they get sticky’ because they are more likely to stay longer. As our people start in the prison they will work in, they become ‘sticky’ faster. In terms of the older and more experienced staff leaving, we have a relatively low attrition rate. CR HMP Doncaster was slated by HMCIP a couple of years ago. It said that “staff on the wings were overwhelmed… drugs were widely available…” etc. Serco brought in Social Responsibility Unit into Doncaster in the wake of that report. Why did you decide on Social Responsibility Units and what effects have they had? JR HMCIP inspected again about two months ago and he said he didn’t recognise it as the same prison! The thinking and theory behind the Social Responsibility Unit is to tackle the reasons behind why people misbehave in prisons. A sanction can be taken against them, put them on a basic regime, take their TV from them or

put them in Segregation for example. We do all of those but it doesn’t make a lot of long term difference to the underlying behaviour of many. This is because sanctions do not address the reason the prisoner feels the need to behave in that way in the first place. The Social Responsibility Unit (SRU) takes those people, who are around 7% of the population and cause 80-90% of the problems, and works closely with that group.

venting it was violence. The psychologists at the SRU were able to intervene, and because his father was too ill to come to the prison he was allowed to visit his father. It was about thinking through the causes and looking at ways of controlling his anger and so allowing him to better manage it. They taught him ways of dealing with his anger and taking him to see the person he needed to talk to so he could get rid of his frustration.

We remove them from the general population wings where they are creating lots of aggravation for everyone else, and put them in a special unit. This is not a segregation unit but it is a basic regime. There are then four stages in the SRU that people progress through as their behaviour improves. We use psychologist led interventions on an individual basis to find out why people are behaving in a particular manner. Some of the results are really interesting. Here are two examples:

The other example is of a young man who was coming to Stage 2 in the SRU and he was given a different coloured tee-shirt to denote his progress, and the wing applauded him as he had done so well. He went into his cell and about 10 minutes later he had destroyed it. No one could understand this so the psychologist went in to talk to him, and it turned out he didn’t know how to process praise as no one had given him any before. The concept of achievement and feeling he was doing well was something he couldn’t process as it made him feel nice, a feeling he didn’t understand.

One gentleman kept destroying his cell. He went into the SRU and he wouldn’t really talk to people. Psychologists found that his father had been diagnosed with cancer and was terminally ill. He couldn’t process it or talk about it. It was upsetting him and his way of

The SRU reduced violence in Doncaster by 33% in the first six months. We are now putting it in all our other prisons.

Editors note – HMIP published their report on 12th October.. Peter Clarke said of the prison ‘“A great deal has been achieved at Doncaster, and the challenge for the leadership of the prison now is to ensure that those achievements do not prove to be either fragile or transitory. The improvements need to be consolidated and built upon.”’ CR So you move the 7% out of the general population and this causes a 33% drop in violence. Could you not simply segregate them full time? JR Prisoners are only in the SRU for a short time it is about changing behaviour not physically containing it. They progress through the four stages and then go back into continues overleaf

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Custodial Review interviews Julia Rogers continued the general population. The other thing we do is ‘wing wide compacts’. If a wing has a whole week where there are no issues and no violence the wing will get a reward and can choose what it is. It isn’t a huge award; it might be pizza or cakes on Friday. This is about instilling the concept of accepting responsibility as part of a group. However we are careful to make sure that there are no unintended consequences, such as bullying, to get that reward. We also have wing reps and listeners to help things run smoothly and their role includes feeding back to us if anything perverse is going on. Wings can also bank their points so, for example for the summer of sport one wing saved up for a widescreen TV to go into the association area. It instils that if you behave and work hard there is a reward for it. It costs more to achieve as we are bringing in more psychologists but we want it to work, as decent, secure and safe prisons are more effective at tacking recidivism. Lowdham Grange is going live now. Thameside will get a SRU after that. We won’t put it in Ashfield as they manage a different population and they don’t need it as violence there is almost non-existent. CR Government policy means you can’t alter the amount of people coming into prison. Financial cuts mean the public sector prisons have lost a third of their staff. Even with the recent announcement it’s only a headcount increase of 2500. Have you had a similar experience in the private sector? Did you get a budget cut that’s forced staff reductions? JR No we did not. When given to us the contract was for 25 years. In getting it we agreed the operating model we would run, we also accepted a level of risk and so the decision on the number of staff we need to run the prison is a matter for us. At Doncaster for example, because of the activities around drugs and other issues, we have assessed we need more officers to run the establishment. It is incumbent on to us to run a decent and safe regime. There is an absolute minimum of staff we have in the contract but we are allowed more than the minimum. If we don’t run the establishment effectively and the MOJ are unhappy there is a trigger that can put the prison back into the public sector. CR How are you getting on in the seemingly eternal battle over phones, drones and drugs? JR The issue they create is that they keep people’s criminality active. Drugs drive debt and if people can get drugs into prison they will sell them and it leads prisons to be less stable. People don’t act normally when they are under the influence of drugs. Phones can be used to continue internal or external criminality; they are not used so they can contact their mum! The big issue with phones is that it enables people to continue their the Custodial Review

criminality so they are not going to want to engage in reforming. We zone our prisons and there is technology inside them that can detect if there is a mobile phone on a wing, and what area it’s in so we can find it. We are just about to trial a technology (that has to be tested to not affect other communications) that supresses any mobile phone signal so it doesn’t matter if a phone is smuggled in. At Lowdham Grange we are testing drone blocking technology that only works inside our wall, again to prevent it from affecting life outside. It is being trialled there as the prison is not in a built up area. Thanks to most of our prisons being quite rural, drones haven’t yet been a major issue. However drugs are still getting into prison. And Spice presents some unique challenges. For example, if a child draws an inmate a picture it’s also possible to paint Spice on to it too. The inmate only needs to eat a very small piece of that paper to get high. People tend to think of drugs as requiring someone to bring in a physical packet of the stuff in, but Spice is very difficult to detect. We now have drugs dogs trained to detect it. Before the new Psychoactive Substances Act Spice was legal so there were no drugs dogs trained to detect it. We are on the front foot with technology and always have been. That’s what I would say is different about the way we run our establishments. This goes back to your staffing question; we are different as we use technology to carry out some of the routine and mundane work. Technology allows our prisoners to manage their own lives. We have computer kiosks where they book their own food, book their healthcare visits, manage their prison bank accounts, and ask questions about life in prison. When it comes to their property (they are only allowed a certain amount of their property) and if their only access to that property is giving a chit to a person, then that officer’s time is taken up with lots of that administrative type work, the kiosk terminals give the inmates control of this.

make sure it runs effectively, and deal with the prisoners on a higher level that they can’t deal with on the kiosks. They don’t have those in the public sector it makes a very big difference. CR What are Serco’s plans for their prisons going for the next few years? JR I would really like to think we have the opportunity to bid for new prisons if they are made available to the private sector. There are only three operators in the private sector (Sodexo, G4S and ourselves). We have 15% of the market. We have a lot to offer in terms of some of the things I have described today. I would like to have some more prisons to operate. I would like us to continue to innovate. We have a whole view of what we would have in a new type of build as if you build a prison in a new type of way it gives you new opportunities for delivering rehabilitative outcomes. CR What do you mean by a new type of build? JR The government are looking at building new Cat C resettlement prisons. They would be more campus like and let in more light. If someone is locked away, they still need light as they are a human being! We have a sister business in Australia and New Zealand and we share a lot of ideas with them. Some of the prison designs that they have are ones we are not able to replicate here. They have been trialling modular buildings that have a much shorter life but are far cheaper to build as they are not traditional bricks and mortar. If it is a lower category prison, they may be a very suitable solution to extra capacity as it’s a quick and easy build done in a completely different way. Perhaps it’s part of a solution to keeping older people in better adapted conditions.. I would hope that we continue to add something to the justice agenda by continuing to innovate, share and look across the world. If you sit and do what you have always done, you will never progress . Our job and benefit to the public sector, is our ability to innovate

The technological system hasn’t taken away time that prisoners need with officers, its removed some of the frustrations that prisoners used to have because of the time it took to carry out routine requests like property. There are many benefits to the utilisation of technology. It is not about taking prison officers out, so much as using the system differently to manage the workload differently. PCOs’ only job on those wings is now to Page 8

quickly and do things in our smaller estate that the 114 prisons in the public sector find more difficult to do. CR Thanks for speaking to Custodial Review.

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Almost 800 years of additional imprisonment were imposed on prisoners found to have broken prison rules last year, as jails across England and Wales descended further into chaos Research by the Howard League for Penal Reform revealed on 4th September that prisons are routinely and increasingly resorting to draconian punishments in a counter-productive attempt to regain control. It shows that almost 290,000 additional days of imprisonment were handed down to prisoners during 2016 – a 75 per cent rise in only two years – as jails have been brought to breaking point by overcrowding and staff shortages. The Howard League has calculated that the additional days imposed in 2016 alone will cost the taxpayer about £27million. The findings are published in Out of control: Punishment in prison, the latest in a series of Howard League reports examining how prisons respond to misbehaviour. It reveals how disciplinary hearings, known as adjudications, are used overly and inappropriately, with even minor infractions such as disobedience and disrespect being punished with additional days of imprisonment. The report calls on England and Wales to follow the example set by Scotland, where the use of additional days of imprisonment was scrapped about 10 years ago. Officials and governors in Scotland could find no evidence that abolishing the use of additional days had a negative impact on behaviour, and Scottish prisons have become safer since the change was made. Scrapping the imposition of additional days of imprisonment in England and Wales would stop a vicious cycle. Currently, punishments pile more pressure on the prison population and worsen overcrowding, which in turn creates conditions for drug abuse, violence and other types of misbehaviour. Frances Crook, Chief Executive of the Howard League for Penal Reform, said: “Prisons are out of control. More people than ever before are losing their lives to suicide, and violence and self-injury are at record levels. The adjudications system has become a monster that is making these problems worse. “It is surely time to follow the example set in Scotland, where scrapping additional days’ imprisonment has made prisons fairer and safer. There are more constructive ways to deal with misbehaviour than simply locking up people for longer, which puts even more pressure on the system. “Bold but sensible action to reduce the prison the Custodial Review

population would save lives and prevent more people being swept into deeper currents of crime, violence and despair.” The Howard League has found that additional days of imprisonment are imposed arbitrarily in England and Wales, and the severity of punishment varies from prison to prison, creating a sense of unfairness and injustice. A total of 12,100 additional days of imprisonment were imposed on prisoners in Aylesbury prison last year – more than any other prison in England and Wales. During the same period, Bedford – a similarly-sized prison located only 26 miles away – saw only 411 additional days’ imprisonment handed down. In the private sector, there were striking differences even between prisons run by the same company. At Thameside, a large local prison run by Serco and holding an average of 1,200 men, a total of 113 additional days was handed down in 2016. In comparison, Doncaster prison, also run by Serco and holding about the same number of men, saw 6,981 additional days handed down, equating to an average of one extra week of imprisonment per prisoner. The Howard League legal team is the only frontline national team specialising in the legal rights and entitlements of children and young people in custody. Adjudications are the most common issue raised in calls to the charity’s legal advice line.

The Howard League for Penal Reform responded to Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Prisons’ report, Life in Prison: Living Conditions, published on 10th October Frances Crook, Chief Executive of the Howard League for Penal Reform, said: “The photographs in this report are disgusting. The Chief Inspector should be applauded for revealing the scale of the challenge in prisons. Caging people in squalor with nothing to do all day is never going to help them become lawabiding citizens on release. “When cells are so filthy and overcrowded, and when support for prisoners and staff is in such short supply, it should surprise no one that drug abuse is rife and that violence, self-injury and the number of people dying in prison have all risen to record highs. “We cannot go on cramming more and more people into overcrowded jails without any thought for the consequences – and we cannot build our way out of this crisis. Building more jails only causes the problems to grow; it does not solve them. “This is a national emergency, and ministers Page 10

need to get a grip. Bold action is needed to reduce the prison population and prevent more people being swept into deeper currents of crime, violence and despair. “I have written to the Secretary of State, setting out some ideas for immediate action to relieve the system, and am meeting him soon, when I will urge him to act and to act decisively.”

Responding to the Lammy Review into the treatment and outcomes Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) individuals in the criminal justice system, published on 8th September Frances Crook, Chief Executive of the Howard League for Penal Reform, said: “This is a report which comprehensively follows racial disparities and disproportionality in our criminal justice system, from prosecution to life in the community after a sentence. The government should take it seriously and commit to ending the drivers towards disproportionality within the criminal justice system, as well as tackling wider issues within society. “David Lammy proposes a vital new principle to inform the work of every criminal justice agency: ‘explain or reform’. We need transparent information about racial disparities and every agency must interrogate its practices where such disparities exist. “Where figures are available, worrying trends emerge.The Howard League’s work on additional days of imprisonment shows that BAME prisoners are more likely to be punished with additional days. BAME people made up approximately a quarter of the prison population in 2016, yet received a third of the additional days handed down in external adjudications.We are yet to hear either an explanation or suggestions for reform from the Ministry of Justice on this issue and would welcome the Lammy principle being put into effect. “In particular, the courts and sentencers must take this principle to heart. For example, the Review found that prison sentences in the Crown Courts for drug offences are 240% higher for BAME people than white people. As David Lammy says, it is incumbent on the judiciary to produce an evidence-based explanation for this massive disparity if it is to dispel fears of bias. “The Review is right to reserve particular concern for BAME children in the youth justice system. For many years the Howard League has been concerned that welcome falls in the numbers of children in custody have

not sufficiently benefited BAME boys and that disproportionality here is growing. The fact that the Ministry of Justice has now published figures showing that young black boys are nine times more likely to end up in prison than young white boys should trigger urgent action. “The Howard League also welcomes David Lammy’s focus on broader reform to the criminal records regime, which has gone too far in placing barriers to employment. We need to recognise that people change and give them the means to rebuild their lives and careers in the future.”

Responding to Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Prisons’ report on Aylesbury prison, published on 17th August Inspectors visited the Buckinghamshire prison, which holds young men aged 18 to 21, in April. They found that it had deteriorated, becoming less safe and affected by staffing shortages. Last month the Howard League raised concerns about the prison in a letter to the Secretary of State for Justice, David Lidington, who is also the MP for Aylesbury. The charity awaits a reply. Howard League research, to be published later this month, has found that more than 12,000 additional days’ imprisonment were imposed on prisoners found to have broken prison rules in Aylesbury last year – more than any other jail in England and Wales. Inspectors

found that this system, known as adjudications, had spiralled out of control to the point where it had lost credibility. The Howard League legal team is the only frontline national legal team specialising in the rights and entitlements of children and young people in custody. In the last year it has helped with 181 legal issues at Aylesbury – more than any other prison in England and Wales. The most common issue was adjudications, and the second-most frequent enquiry was about treatment and conditions. The majority of these calls were from BAME young people. Violence is such a big problem in Aylesbury that some young people are too afraid to leave their cells to access services that would help them. Last year the prison recorded 370 incidents of self-injury and 391 assaults, including 76 assaults on staff. Inspectors found that investigations into violent incidents were not always completed, and there was little support for victims. Frances Crook, Chief Executive of the Howard League for Penal Reform, said: “The Howard League receives more calls about problems in Aylesbury than any other prison in the country. Now the wider world can see why. “Hundreds of damaged young men, many of them teenagers, are being denied any chance of redemption because of the failures of the state.Violence is rife. Self-injury is common. Some are too afraid to even leave their cells. Page 11

“This is a report so shocking that, in normal circumstances, the constituency MP would be making a fuss about it in the House of Commons. On this occasion, the constituency MP is also the Secretary of State for Justice and therefore uniquely positioned to do something about it. It is time for action.” Two-thirds of the young men in Aylesbury told inspectors that they had felt unsafe in the prison. Drugs and alcohol were readily available. There was a fatalistic attitude among some staff, and inspectors were handed several documents which read: “Aylesbury will always be violent.” Less than half of the young men said that they felt they could turn to a staff member if they had a problem. Inspectors said that it was a “sad indictment” that young men in the segregation unit did not want to leave – not only because they felt safer, but because they were also more likely to get showers and other basic parts of the regime than if they were on the prison’s main wings. Just under a quarter of prisoners were unemployed, and those subject to a basic regime spent more than 23 hours a day locked in their cells. Some were allowed only two showers a week. Visit facilities were basic. Inspectors observed visitors experiencing long delays, despite arriving early after long journeys. Only one in five prisoners who responded to the inspectors’ survey said that they had received help to maintain family ties. the Custodial Review

Police National Custody Seminar The Police Federations seventh National Custody Seminar and exhibition was held on Tuesday 12th and Wednesday 13th September at the Hilton Hotel Warwick near Stratford-Upon-Avon. The event considered key issues affecting police custody both now and in the future as well as encouraged and developed the sharing of best practice in this key area of police operations. Matters discussed and debated this year included:

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PACE changes arising from the Police and Crime Act

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The Home Secretary’s Independent Review of deaths and serious incidents in police custody

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The NPCC’s National Custody Strategy Improving safety in police custody environments

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Learning the lessons from serious incidents and investigations Safeguarding the rights of suspects and victims.

Guest speakers included:

• • • • •

• •

IPCC Chief Operating Officer Ian Todd who spoke about the organisation’s forthcoming reforms and their effect on police custody Katie Kempen, Chief Executive of the Independent Custody Visiting Association, talked about protecting detainees’ rights and welfare National Policing Lead for Custody, Chief Constable Nick Ephgrave Associate Professor Caerwyn Ash presented on risk management of vulnerable detainees Michael Brown aka ‘Mental Health Cop’ Advanced drug practitioner Jamie Thompson who highlighted the issues with detainees on drugs and those trying to conceal drugs LSE legal and bail expert Professor Michael Zander Criminal defence lawyer Susan Freeburn.

There were also representatives from organisations including the College of Policing, HMIC, the CPS, the Superintendents’ Association, the National Appropriate Adult Network (NAAN) and Headway, the brain injury charity.

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Drugs and restraints warnings for custody cops

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Example of concealed drugs

Criminals are deliberately looking to be arrested so they can smuggle drugs into jails, cops were warned in September at the Police Federation National Custody Conference. The alert came from drugs expert Detective Constable Jamie Thompson who says offenders can get paid vast sums of money if they are successful in concealing the drugs in their bodies which remain undetected following arrest and eventual transfer to prison. He warned: “Be on the lookout for offenders who are out on licence and seemingly desperate to get locked up and commit minor crimes to take the drugs into prison. One guy broke the window of a police station; he was going to get paid £1,000.”

The exhibition area was very busy during the breaks.

DC Thompson also outlined the hazards of a new generation of drugs – including Fentanyl and ‘Spice’, speaking at the National Custody Seminar. “Custody officers need to take extreme care faced with Fentanyl, especially in powder form where it can go into the air and be breathed in, or get onto the skin. This stuff is 1,000 times stronger than heroin – officers need to glove up and wear face masks if dealing with the powder, and seek medical assistance urgently if the suspect detained has it,” he said. In the US, where it is called Grey Death, the drug was popular with heroin users but in the UK it was more common to see it in a patch form, especially for use in care homes. “Heroin users will raid care home bins and suck on

Cell Security demonstrated their new device for locking cells that have to be taken out of use.

the patches,” said DC Thompson, adding that, while not on the scale of America, Fentanyl use was beginning to creep into North Yorkshire, Humberside, Staffordshire, Cumbria and Met force areas. The expert, who works for Cheshire Constabulary, also talked about the difficulties with ‘legal highs’ and so-called ‘new psychoactive substances’ like Spice, an extremely potent form of synthetic cannabis dubbed the ‘zombie drug’ by media because users appear to stop in their tracks after use. Obtaining convictions was hard, he said, because of the difficulty of quantifying possession, and two recent trials involving nitrous oxide or ‘laughing gas’ had collapsed because a judge ruled it was a medicine and

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not a psychoactive substance. Thirty more people were awaiting trial on similar charges but law enforcement and the judiciary were awaiting clarification from the Home Office. “For police officers it has to be business as usual concerning these drugs because we have heard the stories of people becoming ill, being starved of oxygen or simply falling over and cracking their head open. “For custody officers, if someone is suspected of swallowing a substance, then there has to be constant observation.” Constant observation was also one of the themes in the presentation by Susan Freeburn, a principal lawyer in criminal and misconduct continues overleaf

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Police National Custody Seminar continued cases and expert in custody investigations from law firm Slater & Gordon, on Day 2 of the seminar. “Custody officers need to remain very vigilant about a detainee’s breathing especially after restraining them. Asphyxia can come on so quickly that there are virtually no outward signs.” She also urged caution when dealing with regular detainees in custody. “It is really important not to get lulled into a false sense of security when dealing with a ‘frequent flyer’, for example delaying in calling an Appropriate Adult to attend the custody suite.” And she warned that ‘perceptual distortion’ was a real risk following a traumatic or serious incident in custody. “This is probably not the best time for custody sergeants to crack on with the custody report. They are effectively going to Stage 4 of the PIPs procedure at a time when they are probably quite distressed, leaving a way in for investigators later on.” Earlier in the day Katie Kempen, chief executive of the Independent Custody Visiting Association urged custody officers to ‘make friends’ with their Independent Custody Visitors (ICVs) to help troubleshoot problems and improve conditions for detainees. Although the visits were sometimes described as inconvenient, ‘good relationships are worth their weight in gold’ and could help escalate problems to a higher level. “ICVs should be going repeatedly to Police and Crime Commissioners (PCCs) to highlight detention conditions if they need to be improved. They are a straight route to the PCC help you get things improved and will hold the Chief Constables to account. “I’m l ooking for a modern detainee-focussed environment, so I’m less concerned about the ambient temperature ready meals than, say, detainee welfare and long waits for mental health beds. If there is a child being held in a cell, they’ll be asking why is that child in there? I’m looking to ensure that people are treated like humans.” The previous day the 120+ seminar delegates heard from national custody lead Chief Constable Nick Ephgrave who unveiled a the Custodial Review

virtual reality pilot to improve training as the policing custody world awaits the publication of the Independent Review into Deaths and Serious Incidents in Custody, ordered by Theresa May in 2015. Still under wraps, the report is likely to focus on issues including the welfare of those suffering from mental health issues and restraint in custody. Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) chief operating officer Ian Todd, who will become Deputy Director General when the police watchdog restructures and becomes the new Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC), revealed the reform had been delayed until at least January and some changes may take a further six months. Other speakers included Caerwyn Ash, Associate Professor of Medical Devices at the University of Wales Trinity Saint David, on his research with Dyfed Powys Police into preventing deaths in police custody, and the College of Police’s mental health lead Insp Mike Brown. PFEW’s firearms and police officer mental health lead Che Donald spoke about the Federation’s Protect the Protectors campaign and legal expert Professor Michael Zander QC, from LSE talked about developments in PACE (Police and Criminal Evidence Act). This annual event has developed an excellent reputation for consistently delivering quality content that is highly relevant to those working in and around police custody and the many challenges that they face looking ahead.

IPCC reform delayed again

Ian Todd, Chief Operating Officer at the IPCC, addressing the National Custody Seminar

The long-awaited reform of the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC)has Page 14

been set back yet again – until at least the New Year. The police watchdog, which is undergoing a restructure, will now not have a new director general until January at the earliest. And other changes to the police disciplinary system will take a further six months to take effect with an IPCC boss blaming the delays on ‘Brexit, Home Office lawyers and the General Election.’ Chief Operating Officer Ian Todd, who will become Deputy Director General at the new Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC), admitted that reform was ‘taking much longer than expected.’ He said the new director general post was a Government appointment and needed sign off from the Home Office, Prime Minister and the Queen; “I cannot guarantee that it will happen in January but I hope so.” He told delegates at today’s National Custody Seminar, the new organisation meant ‘investigations will be much more streamlined’. Critics of the IPCC – including the Federation - have blasted it for taking too long over investigations, particularly historic and legacy cases. But Mr Todd said: “The average length of investigations has reduced from 294 working days to around 230, a reduction of over 60 working days.” He added that the organisation still had a problem with staff turnover and inexperienced investigators although they were working hard to rectify issues. However there was good news in the custody arena, he said, with the number of deaths in police custody consistently falling over the years: “That’s a tribute to the way custody staff are performing their roles on a daily basis.” Referring to the Federation’s recent Pay and morale survey which revealed that nearly one in five custody officers want to be redeployed from detention roles as soon as possible, Mr Todd said: “It’s a real shame that custody is not seen as a positive part of the policing profession because it is a job requiring a lot of expertise and specialist skill.” He also told the seminar that, moving forward, he hoped the IOPC would place greater emphasis on learning and performance rather than blame.

Avatars to ‘improve custody safety’ Chief Constable Nick Ephgrave addressing the National Custody Seminar

Custody officers could soon be training using virtual reality avatars to improve the safety of detainees, according to the National Police Chiefs’ Council lead on custody. The video gaming cutting-edge technology, already in use in the military, is being explored in a bid to raise the standards of custody training nationally and ensure consistency across forces. National custody lead Chief Constable Nick Ephgrave described what might be possible in virtual training as the policing custody world awaits the publication of the Independent Review into Deaths and Serious Incidents in Custody, ordered by the then Home Secretary Theresa May in 2015. Still under wraps, the report is likely to focus on issues including the welfare of those suffering from mental health issues and restraint in custody. Speaking at our National Custody Seminar today, Mr Ephgrave said the virtual reality training concept was being developed at no cost to policing but could revolutionise custody training. “Using 3D simulation we could develop virtual custody suites inhabited by avatars which trainers can use to replicate a series of custody scenarios operating from anywhere in the country. We can monitor and record all the interaction, adapting its use for every type of situation. It can even measure eye contact. The technology is very exciting.” Custody training is also likely to feature highly in the long-awaited Independent Review, which was chaired by Dame Elish Angiolini. Last month, the Police Federation’s custody lead Andy Ward criticised the delay in its publication as some forces have waited more than five years for custody refresher training. Mr Ephgrave told more than 100 delegates: “One of our biggest priorities is training

for custody staff; in the past we have been criticised for our inability to learn lessons and we also need to develop a consistent approach to safety in custody and risk management, and better working with medical and mental health partners.”

cells are not the right place for those with mental health issues, but budget cuts across the NHS and local authorities still mean that too often the police service has to step in when individuals are in crisis and need a place of safety.

Last year over 900,000 people passed through police custody, he said, and of those a significant proportion had physical or mental health issues.

“For all those reasons the survey results are not surprising, given the immense challenges faced by those working in the custody arena. More than 60% of custody officers said they had low personal morale and this is coupled with a shortage of training – we know of at least one force which has had no refresher custody training for five years. More than 59% also reported their workload was too high.”

Custody officers want to be redeployed away from detention duties Nearly one in five (18.9%) custody officers want to be redeployed away from detention duties as soon as possible. And nearly three-quarters (73.1%) of officers not currently in a custody role say they would never want to do that job. These survey results back up the long-held view that custody is still perceived as a ‘punishment posting’ by many. By comparison, less than 2% of firearms officers want to switch jobs. The current-day custody climate is revealed in our annual Pay and morale survey which included custody-specific questions for the first time. More than 30,000 officers, equivalent to 25% of all federated ranks, took part. Andy Ward, Police Federation Deputy General Secretary and custody lead said: “Custody is one of the most challenging areas of policing with potentially serious ramifications if anything goes wrong. The responsibility is enormous in trying to look after detainees’ rights and welfare as well as managing complex risks to ensure their safety and security. “There are also additional risks where those being detained are vulnerable, for instance through alcohol or drug impairment or dependency, or where suffering will mental ill-health. We have said repeatedly that police Page 15

Other results from the survey included:

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62% of custody officers said that their workload had increased in the last 12 months

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11% of custody officers intend to leave the police within the next two years

Mr Ward said that the number of applications to be a custody sergeant are also dropping. “It is not surprising that there a reluctance to work within custody when, despite the specialist nature of the role, investment in the training and development of custody staff is inadequate. When there are organisational failures, all too often custody personnel are blamed whereas what is needed is a corporate and holistic approach, bringing together all relevant agencies and proper resources to ensure that detainees are kept safe.” Mr Ward was speaking on the eve of our National Custody Seminar which began on 12th September in Warwick and tackled topics including deaths and serious incidents in custody, mental health policing issues and unlawful detentions, as well as the full impact of the new pre-charge police bail provisions and the restructure and reform of the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC). Thanks to the Media Officers and Press team at the Police Federation for these pieces, they were originally run on their website. Special thanks to Madeleine Pallas, Sam Edwards, Louise Dunne for their assistance and contributions. the Custodial Review

The Prison Reform Trust gets a new HQ would be expected to adapt to such significant cuts but there have been no changes made to the custodial working model to accommodate them. The amount of time that prisoners are unlocked from their cell and allowed to exercise, socialise and work has fallen due to the lack of availability of staff to accompany them and supervise groups. The effect of this is predictable. The provision of basic needs is not available in many prisons and this has undoubtedly caused a damaged relationship between prisoners and staff.

Richard Beastall of TP Bennett Architects

“Why a professional environment is vital in supporting the work of the Prison Reform Trust at a time when its voice needs to be heard the most.” We have a crisis in our prisons that is beyond anything we have seen in 25 years and a major component of this is a collapse in order and safety. Over the last three years the Government has published statistics on the number of incidents in prisons across the UK and they reveal a further decline of the system. The most recent quarterly statistics released in July 2017 show prisoner self-harm has reached a record high of 40,414 incidents in the past 12 months to March 2017. Prisoner on prisoner assaults were set at 19,361, up 16% on the previous year, and assaults on staff have increased to a record high in the latest year and quarter. The statistics are a shocking indication of the state of the prison system across the UK. The topic of custodial reform is often a difficult one for the public to address; individuals may fundamentally believe in a fair system with rehabilitation at its heart but the safety and welfare of those within the system is not always high on society’s agenda. The aim of the Prison Reform Trust (PRT) is to challenge and influence Parliament and government on its custodial strategy and work towards creating a just, humane and effective penal system, advocating change in how prisons operate and on custodial sentencing rules. An integral element of the trust’s work is also to educate the public about the state of the system, which is largely out of sight and mind. The public is aware of the impact of austerity on areas such as welfare but less so about that on the custodial system. Since the financial crisis prison funding has been cut dramatically with staff levels dropping by 25%. Any other industry the Custodial Review

According to the PRT, prison overpopulation is one of the main issues facing the current custodial system and it is the charity’s belief that: “the only justification for the sentence of imprisonment is the measured punishment of an individual for an offence; it is not right to use prison as a gateway to services or treatment, or to attempt to use prison in place of effective crime prevention.” In August, the PRT’s Head of Policy and Communications, Mark Day took part on a discussion on the BBC Two Victoria Derbyshire programme on the damaging legacy of the Indeterminate Sentence for Public Protection, one example of the activities the PRT engages in daily to be a voice for those in custody. As the government launches its £1.3bn programme to transform the prison estate, the PRT’s role of holding to account and challenging decision makers across the Ministry of Justice is more important than ever. Tucked away in a back street in Clerkenwell, around 20 PRT employees commit themselves to working with a wide variety of stakeholders, from ministers to prisoners to use their influence to improve treatment and conditions for prisoners and their families. The work of the PRT is vital in the current climate, which is why creating an environment for its staff to thrive in is essential. For the PRT, having an effective working environment is a priority at a time when prisons are a major topic of discussion with contractors and architects collaborating to help redesign, not only the prison environment, but the future of the custodial system. It is for this reason the PRT partnered with architects tp bennett who used its influence across the industry to offer the charity a refurbishment of their existing and tired working environment at zero cost and turn it into one that was modern and progressive. TP Bennett champions the psychological and physiological link between environment and wellbeing across all its schemes recognising that more than ever a well-designed workplace will boost morale, productivity and staff retention. The practice’s aim behind offering a pro-bono service to the PRT was to support them in reaffirming their role as a vital, professional service and not simply as a charitable trust. Page 16

Tp bennett based the design concept on the knowledge and experience that stimulating environments inspire ideas and its belief there shouldn’t be an exception for the Third Sector. The practice has worked with private companies across the UK as well as charitable trust organisations, implementing environments that support working practices. At a time when the built environment industry and custodial sector is colliding, tp bennett, alongside fit out specialist Overbury encouraged other industry leaders and companies to support the philosophy of the PRT and offer their services to provide them with a far more engaging workplace environment. The PRT needs a variety of different spaces; for external meetings with professional services and associations related to the custodial sector and beyond; they need space to accommodate the daily media interviews, places for video and teleconferencing, training, brainstorming and space for thought. The tp bennett and Overbury team worked to create a clean and simplified environment creating a lively, more dynamic and creative space that was more invigorating for the PRT team. Furniture was donated or refurbished and the space was completed within one month in what was an opportunity to bring commercial solutions to a public-sector charity, which simply cannot afford to allocate resources to revitalising working spaces. The partnership between the PRT and tp bennett and Overbury has come at a time when society should be mindful of the custodial reformation that is about to occur. Design will be a driving force behind how our prisons of the future will look and feel. More importantly they offer a platform for change in how we deliver a progressive custodial system fit for 21st century standards. The PRT believes that if today’s skyscrapers can be made of glass tomorrow’s prisons don’t need metal bars, that the innovation in private sector design can be transferred to the custodial sector. It believes that it is time for many prisons to be closed, and for far fewer people to be in prison in the first place. But where we do need prisons, they should look very different from the unimaginative environments that many are now. The PRT is ready to get involved in all aspects of the conversation and will speak on behalf of the prisoners and their families who don’t always have a voice. They are well prepared and through their engagement with the wider builtenvironment have additional support from new champions, as well as a new progressive and 21st century office. By Richard Beastall of TP Bennett Architects.

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Support is available to veterans in Police Custody the CJS it mentioned the positive impact that Project Nova pilot was achieving. Personally, I recognised the benefits of working more proactively at an earlier point of need to support and divert the small but noticeable number of ex-military that for a range of reasons had unique barriers to accessing support, which ultimately led them to being caught up in the CJS.

Upon leaving school I followed in my Father’s footsteps and joined the British Army, 1st Battalion the Green Howards, now the Yorkshire Regiment. I served for 14 years in the British Army during which time I completed six operational tours. In 1998, I embarked upon a new career as a prison custody officer at HMP Doncaster. It was in 2012 I was approached by Colin Back (National Manager of Project Nova) and he asked if I was locking up a hidden population of ex-military. At this point I had been a senior prison manager for many years and wasn’t aware of any noticeable number of ex-military Veterans in Custody (VICs), curious about Colin’s question the prison introduced mechanisms to identify VICs through reception and induction procedures. I was quickly surprised at the number of VICs starting to disclose, usually reluctantly at times. Working with these VICs the prison developed further processes to improve the identification and support for VICs, this included the introduction of VIC mentors and VIC Listeners (Buddies). In a very brief period approximately 40 VICs had identified themselves to staff in the prison. In the same year, Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Prisons introduced the question ‘Are you a veteran (ex-armed services)? to their prisoner inspection questionnaire. In September 2014 HMIP published a supplementary paper exploring the data relating to VICs, this suggested that 6% of the male prison estate, and 1% of the female prison estate were willing to disclose military service. With the release in December of that year the Philips Review was published which explored the needs of ex-military service personnel in the Custodial Review

With this realisation, I took the decision to work through the gate and beyond the prison walls by working in the community with those veterans in need of support, including supporting many veterans in the community that I had previously been responsible for locking up in prison. Whatever the exact figures for ex-servicemen in prison, it is important to stress that all estimates indicate that ex-military service personnel constitute a significant subset of the adult male prison population and by occupation the largest. (Report of the Inquiry into Former Armed Service Personnel in Prison Howard League for Penal Reform) 90% of those who leave the armed forces transit with no complications (King’s College KCMHR 2009), finding a new career and somewhere to live. These are skilled, disciplined men and women, a great asset to our society. But there is a minority who find the transition difficult. Without the security of the institution of the armed forces, they struggle to adjust to the ‘big wide world’ and they can often find themselves in socially challenging situations, with significant pressure on their family unit, often losing employment, with increasing financial pressure. Many selfmedicate with alcohol, suffering silently from mental health problems, homelessness and many find themselves in police custody. Not too long before these complications set in to the ex-military veterans who did not transition that well these individuals were members of a close-knit team, they were skilled, disciplined and proud of who they were and what they did. It is these vulnerable veterans, those who are the hardest to reach and who have found the transition from the military into the civilian world challenging who now find themselves on a downward spiral that Project Nova a jointly delivered service by Walking With The Wounded (WWTW) and the Regular Forces Employment Association (RFEA) seeks to support. Those ex-military veterans engaging with Project Nova are as deserving as any other veteran and the impact of supporting them to the rest of the country is the most meaningful, both from a financial and empathetic perspective. Addressing persistent social issues through early intervention and Page 18

support not only has a significant effect on the individual and their family, but it forestalls a further downward spiral impacting all society. Assisting a veteran who has been homeless find employment and ultimately his or her own home, providing a support network to someone who through a lack of structure in their life has found themselves in police custody or funding mental healthcare to an individual to provide stabilisation for them while awaiting treatment from the NHS has a tangible and meaningful effect on us all. It is money well spent. The key outcome for these individuals is to settle back into main stream society and become independent. WWTW/RFEA wants those they support to become independent and provide for themselves and their families. This gives them security and pride.

Launched in July 2014, Project Nova is the prime provider of support for veterans in the CJS being the only charity providing this ground-breaking support. It is delivered as a partnership between Walking With The Wounded and RFEA, it was created due to the evidential need to curb the increasing number of veterans entering the criminal justice system and to reduce those ending up in prison. In partnership with local police forces, Project Nova brings early intervention & diversion service to support ex-military veterans in police custody. A local team will engage with the ex-military veterans and the Police custody suite staff (including NHS Liaison & Diversion MH Practitioners) to assess the needs of the individuals. Once referred by the Police/NHS, the Project Nova team will provide an in-depth, holistic range of early intervention support working with a wide range of local partner organisations and providing the necessary support to ensure veterans are able to reestablish themselves within society and not re-offend, empowering themselves and their families with security and independence. Diverting a veteran from prison can save the government over £123,000 (based on police, court costs per year in prison). Therefore, there are significant savings to be made by Project Nova to the public purse providing

by Steve Lowe, Project Nova Northern Manager tailored support to veterans caught up in police custody. The progress of Project Nova has been significant since its launch 3 years ago, currently operating in 40% of police regions in the UK and it continues to achieve outstanding results with re-offending rates still just below 7% against a national average of 17%. Project Nova operates through a national central support team and local regional coordinators who work with those ex-military veterans identified through police contact following arrest, at risk of arrest, or identified by the police as vulnerable. Coordinators work with the individual to coordinate support and services across a range of support needs by understanding the unique barriers that veterans experience regarding accessing support. The Project Nova team works with the ex-military veterans on a one-to-one basis to build confidence, organise work placements, source funding for a whole host of reasons required to assist on their journey to independence. The aim of Project Nova is to reduce reoffending and to assist in gaining sustainable employment for a group not very often receiving the level of service they need or deserve.

The programme works in partnership with the CJS, statutory services, complemented by a strong network of military charities and organisations to provide a joined-up system of support. The growing number of veterans engaging with the programme, the positive outcomes being achieved in reducing re-offending rates, reducing the financial burden on the state, increasing sustainable employment outcomes, improving local communities and keeping the family unit in tact coupled with the ability to drop the Nova model across the UK in a relatively timely fashion has meant the programme is now being recognised at the highest levels. Ex-military veterans like Adam are having their lives turned around because of the programme. All Adam ever wanted to do was to join the British Army. However, this came to an end when he was medically discharged from the British Army because of an injury to his knee. On his return to ‘civvy street’ Adam began to struggle. He was drinking heavily, separated from his wife, homeless and had stopped taking the medication for his mental health issues. In

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March 2016, Adam was arrested. The police identified that Adam was an ex-military veteran and he was asked if he wanted support from Project Nova. Within 4 weeks of support being received from Project Nova, Adam was supported in securing his own accommodation, stopped drinking and is now employed as a Business Development Manager. Adam said, “The start of my recovery began when I contacted Project Nova……the programme has supported me and guided me to the help available.” Have you served in HM Forces or know someone who has that might need our support? If you have, Project Nova is here to give you free support and advice. If you’d like further information, please speak to a member of the Custody Team or contact Project Nova directly. Email info.nst@projectnova.org.uk or call us on Freephone 0800 917 7299. Or visit www.projectnova.org.uk

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Border Force in England and Scotland continues to care well for detainees DETAINEES held in Border Force customs custody suites at ports and airports in England and Scotland continued to be well cared for, according to an independent inspection report published on 28the September 2017. Publishing the report following an unannounced inspection in May 2017, Peter Clarke, Chief Inspector of Prisons, and Dru Sharpling, HM Inspector of Constabulary, found elements of the Border Force service were good. However, they highlighted some weaknesses and inconsistency arising from the “loose” national structure of the Border Force, in which regions tended to function as independent entities. The report is the third in a programme of inspections of Border Force customs custody suites carried out jointly by the two inspectorates, covering detention at airports – Birmingham, Colnbrook (Heathrow), Gatwick, Glasgow, Manchester and Stansted (closed for refurbishment at the time of the 2017 inspection) – and at Dover and Harwich ports. Peter Clarke and Dru Sharpling said the previous inspection – in February 2015 – had found significant improvements on an earlier inspection in 2012. However, they added: “One of our key findings (in 2017) was that there was a lack of clear communication and understanding between the central and regional tiers. This caused some confusion and led to inconsistent working practices. The problem was exacerbated by the lack of a central recording system and poor data recording locally, making it difficult for the organisation to monitor its performance accurately and identify where improvements were required. “The inspection found a low incidence of use of force and, where force was used in a small sample of cases, it appeared proportionate. However, formal structures of accountability relating to the use of force remained weak.” Previous concerns about the clothing for women held on suspicion of trafficking drugs in their bodies – relating to one-piece paper suits which left the upper body naked when lowered – were being addressed. “We were pleased to see greater efforts were now being made to ensure women detainees were treated with dignity.” In addition, Border Force intended to pilot the use of a paper vest for this purpose at three airports. Overall, Peter Clarke and Dru Sharpling said: “Despite some weaknesses, we found that detainees held in Border Force customs custody suites continued to be well cared for the Custodial Review

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and that elements of the service were good. The pace of improvement, however, and attention to our recommendations needs to be better if provision is to meet the best standards.”

Staffordshire police custody – a mixed picture, but most detainees held safely Most detainees held in Staffordshire police custody suites were treated with respect and kept safely, but some improvements were necessary, said Peter Clarke, Chief Inspector of Prisons, and Dru Sharpling, HM Inspector of Constabulary. On 1st August they published the report of an unannounced inspection. The inspection was part of a national programme of joint inspections of police custody which monitor the treatment of and conditions for detainees and aim to prevent ill-treatment. It was the second inspection of police custody in Staffordshire. The first inspection was in 2012, when inspectors reported positively about the conditions of detention, but found that more work was needed to ensure that the quality of service was consistent. Inspectors also found that health care needed stronger governance. On this more recent inspection, inspectors visited the custody suites at Stoke-on-Trent, Watling Street, Stafford and Tamworth. The Burton upon Trent suite was closed for refurbishment during the inspection. They looked at strategy, treatment and conditions, individual rights and health care. Inspectors found that most detainees were treated with respect and held in adequate conditions, but there were some concerns. Inspectors were concerned to find that:

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• •

Performance information was not comprehensive and monitoring was limited, making it difficult to assess how well custody services performed; In particular, governance of the use of force was poor and there was not sufficient information to show that its use was always proportionate; CCTV monitoring of detainees on constant observations did not comply with professional guidance and not all of the force’s procedures and practices complied with the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 (PACE); Although outside the force’s direct control, the arrangements for obtaining appropriate adults sometimes led to long delays; and Despite some progress, health services still lacked effective clinical leadership.

Inspectors were, however, pleased to find that:

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custody as a place of safety; Officers used a range of alternatives to avoid taking children into custody; The force was open and transparent, and the ethics transparency and audit panel, made up of members of the public, provided effective external scrutiny and reflected a desire by the police and partners to improve; and The number of potential ligature points identified in the custody suite was relatively low and once highlighted, the force responded promptly.

Peter Clarke and Dru Sharpling said: “Despite some mixed findings from this inspection, detainees in police custody in Staffordshire are likely to be held safely and decently. We are optimistic that the force has the capacity and commitment to make the changes required to provide further improvement. This report provides six recommendations to the force and highlights 26 areas for improvement and one example of good practice.”

Essex police custody – some progress in most areas Essex Police had a strong commitment to improving their custody provision, and progress was evident, said Peter Clarke, Chief Inspector of Prisons, and Dru Sharpling, HM Inspector of Constabulary. When they published the report of an unannounced inspection. The inspection was part of a national programme of joint inspections of police custody which monitor the treatment of and conditions for detainees and aim to prevent ill-treatment. Essex police custody was last inspected in 2013 when inspectors found that detainees were treated well, but that much of the estate needed refurbishment and staff shortages were having an effect. On this more recent inspection, inspectors visited the custody suites at Basildon, Chelmsford, Clacton, Colchester, Grays, Harlow, Southend and Stansted. Since 2013, the custody estate had reduced and four suites had closed permanently. Conditions at the newer suites were good but the environment at some older suites remained poor. Inspectors were pleased to find that:

• • • •

Staff continued to treat detainees well and were sensitive when dealing with vulnerable people or those from minority backgrounds; Management of the use of force in custody was good; Overall, the standard of health care was adequate; and In most cases, the force placed sufficient emphasis on ensuring that detainees were released safely.

Inspectors were, however, concerned to find that:

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The force was poorly served by its IT system, which custody sergeants found bureaucratic and difficult to use; Inspectors identified several potential ligature points, which required attention; the force did not comply with all procedures in relation to the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 (PACE); and Despite the force developing relationships with key stakeholders, too many vulnerable adults were brought into custody as a place of safety and too many children were held overnight when alternative accommodation should have been provided.

Peter Clarke and Dru Sharpling said: “The force impressed us with being very open to and prepared to learn from scrutiny. A recent peer review of custody provision by colleagues from two external forces had been thorough and exacting, producing relevant recommendations. The force had started to act on this comprehensive report. While our own findings showed some progress in most areas, the internal work already being carried out reassured us that Essex police had a strong commitment to improving further the treatment and conditions for detainees held in its custody.”

Poor physical conditions in court custody across north and west London The physical condition of custody suites in criminal courts and immigration and asylum tribunals in north and west London was “overwhelmingly poor”, according to an inspection report by HM Inspectorate of Prisons. In a report on a set of unannounced inspection visits, Peter Clarke, HM Chief Inspector of Prisons, said that despite the conditions, staff were trying to improve the treatment of people detained in court and tribunal cells. Inspectors found “found reasonable and improving working relationships” between the key organisations delivering court and tribunal custody in eight Crown and Magistrates courts, and two Immigration and Asylum Chambers (tribunal centres). “Senior managers described a willingness to improve the treatment and conditions of detainees…Staff mostly dealt patiently and professionally with detainees. HMCTS had an appropriate focus on utilising video link hearings for eligible cases, which reduced the effects that the upheaval of journeys to court could have.” Unfortunately, Mr Clarke added, there were few other positive features in what he described as a “disappointing” inspection. Inspectors found that numerous cells were out of use because of defects including broken lighting and faulty cell call bells. Serco staff

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‘escalated’ problems to HMCTS. “However,” the report noted, “we were advised and saw that staff had become desensitised to low standards and that escalation processes were not always followed. The environment across the court custody estate was overwhelmingly poor.” Delays in resolving these problems were causing frustration among staff and, in some cases, affecting the safety of the custody environment. Reduced cell capacity delayed the transfer of some detainees from police custody suites and meant more detainees shared cells, potentially increasing risks.

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Inspectors also found:

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Inspectors were pleased to find that:

•

Too many detainees stayed in court custody for too long. Release arrangements did not adequately focus on ensuring detainees always got home safely. Handcuffs were applied to detainees routinely even in secure and controlled custody areas without an individual risk assessment, which was disproportionate. Arrangements for detainees held in the custody suites for tribunals in Immigration and Asylum Centres at Hatton Cross and Harmondsworth “were not good enough.” There were no formal arrangements to ensure that detainees were released safely from Hatton Cross, though Harmondsworth was better.

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insight into their own behaviour and instil in them a greater sense of responsibility. This happens within the usual security imperatives of a category B prison. At its last inspection in 2013, inspectors described a safe, decent prison with an excellent focus on therapy but with some improvement needed on the provision of training and education.

As with previous inspections, the court custody estate continued to suffer from a lack of investment. The report said: “During the inspection, we were advised that staffing was often running significantly short. We saw staff in some courts struggle to conduct even routine tasks, such as initial risk assessments and cell-sharing risk assessments.”

•

• • •

Most men reported feeling safe and secure and far fewer men than at the last inspection felt victimised by staff; Violent incidents remained infrequent, the prison operated without a segregation unit and very few men were required to move to other jails for security or disciplinary reasons; Although the physical fabric of the prison was shabby, men showed respect towards their living environment and staff made efforts to ensure they had the wherewithal to live decently; Relationships between staff and prisoners and among prisoners and their peers were excellent and underpinned much that was positive about Grendon; Therapy was the main purposeful activity and consumed a significant proportion of the day; Time out of cell was excellent, a range of activities were offered and work, skills and learning provision had improved; and The whole prison was focused on providing a rehabilitative culture and environment.

Inspectors found, however, that the automated night sanitation system was outdated and presented real challenges.

HMP Bullingdon – a local and resettlement prison HMP Grendon – an impressive prison working suffering problems arising from severe staffing with long-sentenced shortages prisoners. HMP Grendon offered excellent opportunities to the men it held to understand and address their offending behaviour, said Peter Clarke, HM Chief Inspector of Prisons when he published the report of an unannounced inspection of the training prison in Buckinghamshire. HMP Grendon holds just over 200 men, all of whom are serving long sentences. All were at the prison to undertake accredited therapy in one of five democratic therapeutic communities (TCs). Grendon is one of only two prisons in England and Wales dedicated specifically to this type of work. TCs provide prisoners with a range of therapy so they can understand and address their offending behaviour and live in a collaborative setting with their peers and staff. Prisoners are given a say in the day-to-day running of the jail, which aims to equip them with greater Page 21

HMP Bullingdon – a large, complex prison in Oxfordshire – faced significant challenges, including high levels of violence, drugs and gang problems and poor offender management and assessment of post-release risk to the public, according to Peter Clarke, Chief Inspector of Prisons.

However, in a report on an unannounced inspection published on 6th September, Mr Clarke found ‘realistic’ grounds for optimism. The governor and staff were doing their best to improve a prison where many of the problems stemmed from severe, ongoing staff shortages, restricting prison activities. The key message of the report, Mr Clarke said, was “the urgent need for increased staffing.” Built 25 years ago, Bullingdon is a relatively modern local and resettlement prison near continues overleaf u the Custodial Review

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Bicester in Oxfordshire, serving the Thames Valley and holding – at the time of the inspection in April and May – 1,109 adult and young adult prisoners. This was only five short of its operational capacity. About a fifth of those held were unsentenced or unconvicted, while others represented the full range of sentences, including nearly 200 men serving over 10 years and up to life. HMIP last inspected Bullingdon in 2015, when it was found to be struggling t o maintain staffing levels. The 2017 report found “a not dissimilar picture.” Inspectors found that:

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Bullingdon was not safe enough. About a third of prisoners felt unsafe and violence remained high, despite some early signs that it was, at last, reducing. However, the prison was actively addressing this challenge. Bullingdon was one of the few public sector prisons where prisoners could get a full shop order within 24 hours of arrival, an example of good practice that reduced their chances of falling into debt and related bullying. Despite this, though, too many prisoners felt victimised. There was clear evidence of a significant drug and gang problem in the prison, with regular finds of drugs, mobile phones and weapons. The report identified violence as a key problem, along with staffing. Since the 2015 inspection, three prisoners had taken their own lives, and there had been a significant increase in self-harm incidents. Unlike the prison’s focus on violence reduction, work to support those at risk of self-harm was weak. Like violence, use of force was much increased, but supervision was now better than in 2015. Staff shortages cut the amount of time cells were unlocked and inspectors found that during the working day 45% of prisoners were locked in their cells. Despite having a significant number of higher-risk prisoners, including high-risk sexual and violent prisoners, the quality of offender management was again undermined by staff shortages and was poor. Too few prisoners had a proper assessment of their risks or a meaningful sentence plan. Public protection arrangements also needed to improve. Though resettlement work showed some improvement since 2015, the prison’s resettlement strategy did not adequately set out the important role of the offender management unit (OMU) in managing higher-risk and longer-term prisoners. It also failed to promote offender management as the central point of all action aimed at reducing reoffending. Inspectors were told that there was no provision of offence-focused work for perpetrators of domestic violence.

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HMP & YOI Doncaster – concern over trebling of sex offender prisoners in attempt to stabilise violence. Substantial numbers of alleged or convicted sex offenders have been put in a violent prison to “stabilise” it without adequate programmes to reduce the risks they pose, according to a report by HM Inspectorate of Prisons. Publishing a report on an announced inspection in July 2017 of HMP & YOI Doncaster, Peter Clarke, HM Chief Inspector of Prisons, said one issue overshadowed many of the other challenges facing the jail, “and it has come about as a result of a change in the profile of the population at the prison. “Over the course of the previous year, the number of men on remand for, or convicted of, sex offences had trebled, and many of them were longer-term, high-risk offenders. I was told that this was a deliberate policy in order to help to stabilise the prison in light of the serious problems with violence that had been identified at the last inspection (in October 2015).” However, Mr Clarke said, “support, offender management and programmes intended to reduce the risk both in custody and on release presented by this population were not present. In effect, this large cohort of men was being denied the opportunity to make progress. “While it is perhaps understandable that, as a matter of policy, it might be decided that a prison should have a particular population profile, this should not be done in such a way that offender management of those prisoners is neglected.” A major recommendation of the Doncaster report is that HM Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS) “should support and resource the prison in developing a comprehensive strategy which clearly identifies how men convicted of a sexual offence will be offender managed; how their risk of harm will be reduced; how they will progress through their sentence; and how the public will be protected during custody and on release.” HMP & YOI Doncaster is a category B local and resettlement prison near to the centre of Doncaster, and is operated by Serco. At the time of the inspection the prison held just over 1,100 adult and young adult males. The 2017 inspection found significant progress on 2015 in some areas, leading Mr Clarke to commend the leadership and staff for hard work and some “impressive results.” Positive results included: A major concern of the 2015 inspection was that some staff struggled to maintain control on the jail’s residential units. In 2017, inspectors found a more stable prison overall. Page 22

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Living conditions had improved substantially. Outside and communal areas were generally clean and most cells were in a decent condition. Many prisoners took pride in their cells. Nearly 90% of prisoners got clean sheets every week and, “unusually, prisoners were issued with a tea towel – a simple innovation which contributed to overall decency.” However, inspectors also found:

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•

Too many prisoners felt unsafe and although levels of violence had reduced significantly, they were still too high. Only 3% of referrals of incidents in the jail in 2017 to the local police had resulted in a criminal charge. This undermined the prison’s attempts to tackle antisocial behaviour “as prisoners knew that violent behaviour might well have no significant consequences for them.” There were a large number of prisoners who were assessed as being at risk of suicide and self-harm.

HMP Dovegate – high levels of violence, drugs and use of force but leadership starting to address problems HMP Dovegate in Staffordshire, with a significant number of offenders serving lengthy sentences, had high levels of violence, illicit drugs and use of force by staff, but there was some evidence that the leadership was beginning to address problems, according to a report by HM Inspectorate of Prisons. Evidence from an unannounced inspection in May and June 2017 mirrored many findings from the previous inspection in 2015, said Peter Clarke, HM Chief Inspector of Prisons. In 2015, Dovegate had a relatively new director trying to get to grips with problems and “a challenging population of experienced and often violent offenders.” At the time, Mr Clarke said, “we expressed some optimism about the potential for progress and our hope that improvement could be achieved. Unfortunately, that optimism was misplaced and it would seem the prison has experienced a number of difficult years since.” In 2017, inspectors again found a newly appointed prison director who “seemed to be getting to grips with the problems the prison faced and improvements were beginning to gain momentum, although it remained early days.” The key concern for inspectors was that the “prison was still not safe enough.” Levels of violence had dropped from a peak in 2016 but remained too high, despite some recent improvement over the last year. About a fifth continues overleaf u

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of assaults were serious and a quarter of prisoners felt unsafe. Encouragingly, though, the prison seemed to be putting in place meaningful strategies to reduce this problem. Inspectors also found: There had been one self-inflicted death since the last inspection and self-harm in general was high, though a small number of prisoners accounted for over a third of recent incidents. The views of prisoners and contraband finds indicated that the availability of illicit substances, including brewed alcohol and new psychoactive substances (NPS) such as Spice, was “considerable”. Substance misuse interventions to help reduce demand were, in contrast, excellent. Use of force was high and often required the use of full restraint. Supervision and arrangements to ensure meaningful accountability were weak. Use of segregation was similarly high and inspectors heard a number of concerns from prisoners about mistreatment in segregation. The substantial number of black and minority ethnic and Muslim prisoners reported far less favourably than white and non-Muslim prisoners about their treatment across a range of areas. There was little consultation with them to identify their concerns or needs. By contrast, inspectors also found Dovegate to be a “generally respectful prison” with good living conditions for most prisoners. Most prisoners felt respected by staff. A significant number of prisoners were engaged in full-time work or training and had a reasonable amount of time out of cell, although inspectors still found over a quarter of prisoners locked up during the working day.

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prisoners to be held in these conditions in the United Kingdom in 2017.” Overcrowded cells, with two or more prisoners, often have an unscreened or inadequately screened lavatory, frequently without a lid, or sometimes with a makeshift lid made of cardboard, pillowcases or food trays.Ventilation is frequently poor. The paper captures accounts from prisoners, in cells holding two or more people, “of what it feels like to eat and sleep in what is, in effect, a shared lavatory.” In local prisons, 31% of prisoners reported being locked in their cells for at least 22 hours a day. HM Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS) figures for 2016/17 showed a quarter of prisoners overall lived in overcrowded conditions. The figure rose to 48% of prisoners in local jails. The report, based on evidence from HMIP inspection visits, notes that:

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from which others might learn. Thameside is a modern prison in a group with HMP Belmarsh and HMP Isis in south east London. It opened in 2012 and serves the courts of east and south east London. It is run by Serco and at the time of the inspection, in May 2017, held just over 1,200 prisoners, both sentenced and remand. The prison was last inspected in September 2014. Among positive aspects, inspectors noted that: While violence levels were high and had not fallen over the past three years, there had been a small but consistent reduction in incidents of violence, particularly associated with gang activity, in the months before the inspection. Overall, Thameside avoided the huge increases seen elsewhere. Maintaining a database of gang affiliations helped keep different gang members apart and avoid potential conflict. The prison had a reasonably calm atmosphere and was well ordered.

Prisoners are frequently required to eat all their meals in these cells – “in what are obviously insanitary, unhygienic and degrading conditions. They face health risks inherent in flushing open lavatories in confined spaces which have to serve as a bedroom and dining room (and sometimes as a kitchen).” One prisoner said: “‘I feel no one should be forced to eat their food a couple of feet away from their toilet. Some sit on their toilet as a seat to eat. This is degrading and totally unhygienic.”

The largest identified security threats to the prison were contraband, violence, escapes, gangs and staff corruption. Links with the police were generally good. Work to tackle staff corruption was also good; three former staff were serving custodial sentences for corruption.

Prisoners can only get cleaning materials on a weekly basis in only around half of jails. One prisoner told inspectors: “The only way of cleaning our cell floors is by using used T-shirts and pouring water on our floors, and mopping the water up with T-shirts as we do not get to mop our floors.”

There was especially good access to showers and in-cell telephones, which allowed prisoners to maintain contact with families. Prisoners were much more positive about the quality and range of meals than HMIP normally sees. There was good use of the ‘virtual campus’ – giving internet access to community education, training and employment opportunities.

Buildings and grounds were mostly in good condition and an AstroTurf football pitch appeared to be in near constant use. The gym was also well-used.

While most prisoners can shower every day, Too many prisoners live this falls to only 51% in prisons holding young Areas for improvement included: in overcrowded, insanitary adults, aged from 18–21. • One prisoner in four said it was easy to and degrading cell get hold of illicit drugs and although there HMP Thameside – a was a focused drug supply reduction conditions well-ordered prison that strategy in place more needed to be done Many prisoners are locked up in cells for long reduce the availability of drugs. tackled gangs and avoided • to periods in insanitary, unhygienic and degrading The governance and oversight of use conditions that threaten their health and can of force were poor, though each month huge increases in violence drive them to take drugs, according to HM managers discussed officers who had used seen elsewhere Chief Inspector of Prisons Peter Clarke. force more than twice in the previous While high security, women’s and open prisons generally have decent conditions, the picture in many local and training prisons – home to the bulk of prisoners in England and Wales – is bleak, Mr Clarke said.

HMP Thameside, in south east London, effectively tackled gangs and avoided the huge rises in violence seen in other jails, according to Peter Clarke, HM Chief Inspector of Prisons.

Publishing a report, Life in prison: Living conditions, containing many disturbing images, Mr Clarke said: “All too often, prisoners are held in conditions that fall short of what most members of the public would consider as reasonable or decent.”

In a report on an unannounced inspection, Mr Clarke also noted that despite a very high turnover of prisoners at Thameside, with an average stay of only 36 days, the prison maintained a generally settled and respectful atmosphere.

Evidence in the report raised the question, Mr Clarke said, of “whether it is acceptable for

Thameside, inspectors concluded, offered an unusually high number of good practice points

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month, which helped to ensure that force was used appropriately. There were also not enough activity places and attendance was not good enough. Overall, around 55% of prisoners got to activities, which was not enough in a jail of this kind. The very high turnover of prisoners had a direct impact on education and vocational achievements, as too many prisoners were starting courses that they could not complete because of release or transfer. Those who managed to stay on accredited courses achieved well.

Attracting the best and the brightest healthcare talent at HMP Coldingley- A look from someone on the inside! Name: Georgia Maschio is a 22 year old Staff Nurse at HMP Coldingley Education: A-levels in Mathematics, Human Biology, Health and Social Care and an AS in Psychology and 14 GCSEs, She qualified in October 2016 from the University of Surrey with a Degree in Nursing. Her first job was at Frimley Park Hospital where she worked on the Stroke Unit. Why nursing?: “ I have wanted to be a nurse since I was at secondary school. Since I was young I helped my Nan who has a lot of medical problems and this made me realise how much I enjoyed caring for people. I also had an interest in the human body and enjoyed studying it so chose nursing. I wouldn’t have any idea what I would have done instead of nursing and can safely say I made the right decision.” “I thought it would be horrible, but it was nothing like I thought it would be. I never thought I would end up working here.” Two years ago then Student Nurse Georgia Maschio found out that her five-week placement was to be at HMP Coldingley as part of her nursing course at the University of Surrey. Fast forward to now and the 22-year-old is a Staff Nurse based at HMP Coldingley, whose Primary Healthcare Team recently won the Student Nursing Times Award in the category of Placement of the Year: Community, 2017. She joined the prison healthcare team in February this year from Frimley Park Hospital in Surrey. It’s a decision she’s never regretted. “Having been a student here two years ago helped me because I knew how the prison ran without having to spend time getting used to how it runs. “I was debating for a long time whether to apply for the vacancy here because I knew that I needed to gain a wider nursing experience but in the end I simply just felt I had to come here and the hospital would always be there if I wanted to go back to working in a hospital. “It’s also that something was telling me this

was the place for me. Now I’m here and it was definitely the right decision for me. I’m much happier here,” she said. “It’s really rewarding working here.” Working at HMP Coldingley is a far cry from Georgia’s original work plan. Like most healthcare professionals, working in a prison never even entered her consciousness. She had assumed she would end up working in an Accident and Emergency Department. She did not even know what HMP stood for and had to ask a friend. When she found out what HMP stood for, she was both nervous and excited, with nerves the primary feeling as she went through the main gate on her first day. “I definitely had butterflies in my stomach,” she recalled. However, her feelings changed almost the second she had walked through, met the Primary Healthcare Team and started on her duties, which included running clinics and attending emergency codes. “After my first day I loved it,” she said, adding that the experience was a far cry from her worst fears – helped in large part by the welcoming nature of the whole of the prison estate. In her head this was an image of hardened lags, “bad people” and brutal violence – a far cry from the truth where the CNWL ethos is of “Caring, Not Judging”. “I assumed they were all bad and I know they will have done something wrong to get here but they aren’t all bad people. “Honestly it was so different to anything else I had gone to before or after,” she said. After Coldingley, Georgia’s final placement was on an Accident and Emergency Department, which she didn’t enjoy as much as Coldingley – partly because of the reduced autonomy in such a department compared to a prison healthcare unit. She said: “I was one of those people who didn’t know what I wanted to do. I really didn’t know what I wanted to specialise in. As a student I thought I wanted to start in A&E and did my main 12-week placement in one after my prison placement. “While I enjoyed A&E I didn’t have the same independence I’d had in the prison – in A&E you are following what the doctors are doing whereas here you are really independent and can make your own clinical decisions and can manage difficult situations rather than being the person who’s just helping. I like being in charge!” Following her 12-week placement she worked at Frimley Park Hospital until a friend, already at HMP Coldingley, told her about a nursing vacancy there. She leapt at the chance. Part of it was because of the opportunity to work Page 25

independently as part of a team with a variety of interesting cases. The other reason was the chance to rejoin the team that had made her five-week placement so pleasant. “It was my favourite placement. I really looked forward to coming in. “They made you feel so welcome when you came in,” she said and added: “I didn’t know this before I started but it became clear to me during the placement that I was interested in prison nursing. “I’m interested in the people and their different backgrounds to mine. It’s so interesting to hear about that. The way the prison runs as well is really interesting in itself. Each day is different. No day is the same.” She is now urging student recruits to look seriously at the prison environment as a place in which to learn nursing skills outside of the university course. She said: “I would tell them that they need to experience prison nursing. I want them to know that the option of prison nursing is available and how different it is from how you may think it will be.” The Primary Healthcare Team, which joined CNWL this year after the Trust won a contract to provide primary care services there, takes on about 15 students each year from the University of Surrey across both Primary Care and Mental Health. Few actively choose to be placed in a prison. Deputy healthcare manager Carol Casbierd said the team takes pride in attracting new, young talent. She said: “We like to make students feel welcome and to ensure they have a real experience with us for however long their placement lasts, which could be anything from two weeks up to three months. “We all remember what it was like when we were students and we all know what it’s like to be the new person so we like to give someone a welcoming experience when they join – even if it’s only for two weeks. “We’ve had a few who call us up to say ‘I’m a new student and I’ve been given HMP Coldingley as a placement and I’m a bit worried. We reassure them because we know it’s a strange environment. We must be doing something right.” CNWL is currently recruiting across its Offender Care estate. It runs healthcare units at HMP Winchester, IRC Heathrow, HMP Coldingley, HMP Send, HMP Downview, HMP and YOI Bronzefield, HMP High Down, HMP Woodhill, HMYOI Cookham Wood and Medway Secure Training Centre. For details look on NHS Jobs. the Custodial Review

I don’t think every prison is in crisis… In the last edition of Custodial Review Phil Wheatley wrote an article about the ‘state of the Service’. Custodial Review have used many of the questions his article raised as the basis for the questions put to HMIP After completing a Law Degree in the 1970s, Peter Clarke joined the police, where he served for 31 years. He retired in 2008 as the Assistant Commissioner (Specialist Operations) at the Met Police. During his service he was head of Counter Terrorism from shortly after 9/11 until just before he retired. Amongst other roles he was a non-executive director at SOCA and advised on Olympic security. He was also a member of the Board of the Charity Commission, and also undertook an inquiry into the Trojan Horse allegations of Islamist infiltration of Birmingham schools. In 2016 he was invited by then Justice Secretary Michael Gove to apply for the role of HMIP, a role he holds today. Custodial Review (CR) In the last Edition of Custodial Review, Phil Wheatley wrote a piece where he stated, “That prisons are in crisis is undeniable. The Annual Report published in July by the Chief Inspector of Prisons makes it absolutely clear that most prisons are scandalously unsafe, and the decline of safety of safety and decency is continuing.” That’s pretty damning – is it an accurate summary of your opinion? Peter Clarke, (PC) First, I don’t think every prison is in crisis. It is important the Custodial Review

Peter Clarke

to recognise there is a lot of good work, particularly in the women’s, high security and open estates. We tend to report on them quite positively. The problems I highlight quite strongly in the Annual Report are in local prisons (Cat B, Cat C and trainers). That’s where the real problems are with drugs, mental health and violence and where the really poor living conditions are at their starkest. These are borne out in inspection reports for individual prisons. CR Would it be better to say that B’s and C’s are unsafe and that the scandal of safety and decency is continuing there? PC Far too many of our prisons are unsafe. They are not fit for purpose if that purpose is to achieve rehabilitation, reform and resettlement of the men and women. Quite they are not getting to their education and training and they are not getting the opportunity to attend the programmes and courses which they should in order to make progress because jails are too violent. There are not the staff to keep them safe and get them to their activities and they are spending far too long in their cells. CR Wheatley wrote, “David Lidington is the 5th Justice Secretary in the last seven years. Each new Secretary of Justice has initiated a radical reset of the department’s approach to prison and probation policy.” A previous HMIP stated that he thought a prison governor should be in place for several years to achieve continuity. How much of these frequent changes at the very top have influenced the situation we have now in prisons in your opinion? PC Certainly, it doesn’t help to have frequent changes of political leaders. It helps to have continuity of policy. Continuity at a local level, in local prisons, is also important and I entirely agree with what David Ramsbotham Page 26

said. I’ve seen plenty of cases at a local level where there have been too many changes of governor. The worst case was four changes of governor in four years. That prison had not taken our recommendations seriously and that was at least in part due to the fact that the previous inspection was somebody else’s issue. It had been left on the shelf and had not been really addressed by subsequent governors. Continuity of leadership is particularly important in prisons, where the governor can set the character and tone and provide leadership. CR What about the top end of the management chain? We’ve had so many changes of Justice Secretary and so forth. Mr Gove came up with some good ideas as others had. Have those frequent changes had a negative effect? PC I won’t say it had a positive effect! Inevitably, with a general election and changes of Secretary of State (I’ve worked with three Secretaries of State in the last year), clearly they need time to become familiar with their brief and put their own stamp on things. That probably has something of a slowing impact . CR Michael Gove was appointed Justice Secretary and inherited a legacy of increasing disorder and his solution was not more staff but giving prison governors more freedom to do their own thing. The local contract for services gave it a new direction. I remember when I first covered this idea many years ago that similar policies freed the governors to go in all sorts of interesting directions. Under Mr Blair’s direction it all changed and decisions became more centralised as did purchasing. Is the freeing up of governors an answer to the problems we have today? PC HMIP’s statutory remit is the treatment and conditions of prisoners. It is not for me to say what management structures

an interview with Peter Clarke, HMIP should be in place in order to deliver the best outcomes for prisoners. The fear I have, however, is that the Prison Service is going through a substantial period of organisational change through the devolving of powers to governors, giving them more empowerment or whatever. The risk is that the Service will be consumed for a considerable period of time in introspective management realignment. They must be careful to retain focus on the basics. These are the safety of prisoners, decent conditions, and enabling prisoners to focus on their resettlement and release. CR Liz Truss recognised that the staff cuts in prisons had gone too far. She secured funding for 2,500 prison officers, partially reversing prison staff reductions but distrust for the advice she received led her to initiate a complex Headquarters reorganisation, controlling prison strategy, resource allocation which she handed over to civil servants with no previous experience of prison service management. Is 2,500 enough? Is it too little too late? Was delegating prison service policies to civil servants contributing to the situation we have today? PC I can’t say that 2,500 extra officers will be enough. That begs the question ‘Is it enough for what? What is the increase in prison staff intended to achieve?’ I hope it is intended to achieve safety so that the decent regimes can be re-introduced in many prisons, enabling prisoners to take advantage of the activities and opportunities that should be there to make progress in their sentences. The second part of your question is whether the delegation of Prison Service activities to civil servants is a contributory factor? It is too early to say. It has only happened in the last couple of months. I can see that it is settling in and at the moment there is an element of ‘Who does what?’ That, however, is about the management of jails, and I wait to see what the outcome of all this will be for prisoners. CR Phil Wheatley also went on to say. ‘The most hard-pressed prisons are hitting a downward spiral inexperienced staff, too high a proportion of inexperienced staff, and a tripling of assaults on staff. Those on duty feel increasingly unable to confront and deal with the misbehaviour of prisoners. There’s only been a 7.5% increase in prison officers in the last 12 months. Prisons are averaging a 4.8% shortfall in staff numbers. The leave rate is 9.4% and 24% of staff are in their first 12 months in work – the highest ever number.’ Are we at a tipping point in the Prison Service? Have we reached the point where something will ‘hit the fan’ if nothing is done? PC I very much hope there won’t be any tragedies. There’s no doubt at all that some prisons are at full stretch and are struggling with staff shortages. As a result they are

constrained to doing whatever they can to maintain a stable regime, that they haven’t the capacity due to staff shortages to do more.

“They are trying to keep the show on the road day-to-day because of staff shortages. As soon as something happens like an external hospital appointment or a member of staff goes sick the result is that the regime suffers. People spend longer in their cells.They don’t get to their activities, they lose their opportunities to make phone calls or have showers (all the day-to-day things of prison life which are so important).” Prisoners do value their routine and naturally get very frustrated when things change at very short notice. That has become inevitable in too many jails because of the shortages of staff. I think that it is hugely important that these staff increased numbers come through. There is no doubt about it – too many jobs were taken out.You can’t take a third of your workforce out of people-intensive places like jails and expect there not to be a serious negative impact. That has happened and the decline in numbers has to be reversed. CR Phi Wheatley said, “It is also possible that lower pay levels have increased the risk of staff corruption and their involvement in drug smuggling. This is important because a single corrupt member of staff can harm efforts to stop drugs from entering the system.” In our last edition we had an article on staff corruption in the American system which showed to be incredibly corrosive. Do you think there is any evidence that this is happening? I don’t doubt that Mr Wheatley is right but do you have any evidence this is happening? PC I can’t say whether there is any evidence that this is increasing in the Prison Service because of pay levels. What I can say is that staff corruption has a role particularly in the movement of contraband (be it drugs or mobile phones) into jails. With my previous experience, particularly as a police officer, I can say that if you take your eye off the ball on corruption it will be more likely to occur. It will happen and it is far more difficult to deal with once it has taken hold than if you are constantly on top of it, constantly aware of it and constantly reacting to intelligence and being proactive in the use of intelligence. It is something that the Prison Service needs to take very seriously.

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CR Mr Wheatley says, “There will be no quick fixes even when the workload and resourcing are matched. When and if, it will take hard work to sort out the mess of reckless cost cutting and ill thought political policies have created.” Are you of the same opinion as Mr Wheatley on that, and what changes, particularly on staffing? PC Broadly I agree. I think prisons have got to deal with the basics. The reform programme and the aspirations of the reform programme around rehabilitation, resettlement and preparing prisoners for release into the community - I don’t think those aspirations will be achieved unless several basics are dealt with first. First of all is safety. Prisons have got to be made safe so that people can get to their activities and programmes. No one’s going to be focused on their future if they feel unsafe. A key part of staying safe is dealing with drugs. In particular new psychoactive substances (NPS) are behind a huge amount of the violence, debt and bullying. There needs to be in all jails a comprehensive drugs supply reduction strategy – in too many places this is not evident. NPS is not simply a part of the longstanding problem of drugs in prison. It is fundamentally different in the impact it has on prisoners and the safety of a jail itself. The PPO has recently linked 79 deaths to NPS. It is a game changer. It is very different to all drugs problems in the past. The problem of people suffering mental health problems in jails also needs to be addressed. Prisons are by and large not a therapeutic environment and there are not enough secure beds outside of jail. Targets are almost always being missed in terms of transfer to secure beds. In Pentonville earlier this year we found that between 20-25% of prisoners were in receipt of antipsychotic medication. That gives an indication of the scale of the problem. There needs to be a strategy for dealing with the ageing prison population. The prediction is that by 2020 there will be around 15000 prisoners aged over 50 and because of the length of sentences theses older prisoners are attracting (many of them for historic sex offences) the projection is that the prison population will become a lot older. Jails are not configured to be residential homes for elderly people. Nor are they equipped for palliative care or other types of care for people as they get older or near the end of life. I think we need to think strategically whether there needs to be a different type of custody. Many jails are doing very good work within the limits they have. Some have wings that are dedicated to older prisoners. But you need to ask whether individual jails doing their best is a substitute for a continues overleaf u

the Custodial Review

I don’t think every prison is in crisis… continued national strategy for older prisoners. Elderly prisoners, disabled prisoners don’t require the same level of security as Cat B and Cat C prisoners, though many of them do need to be kept in custody. The question is whether there could be somewhere between a Cat C and a Cat D prison that could cater for men who need to be kept in custody but who don’t require that level of security? I’ve said that it could be like an old people’s home with a wall around it. Then there is the physical condition of jails. Many of them are simply not fit for purpose to hold people decently. Judge Stephen Tumin did great work in stopping slopping out. But there has been an unintended consequence - that there are many, many cells with two people in that were originally designed for one, where you have an unscreened lavatory and because of staff cuts they are not only using it as their bedroom and their lavatory but also as their dining room. They are taking all their meals locked in their cells and the lavatory usually has no lid and is unscreened. You have to ask, is that decent in the 21st Century? I don’t think it is. I have spoken many times of the need for inspection reports to be taken seriously. The Prisons and Courts Bill which was introduced into the last Parliament had requirements in it for a statutory response to us and in extremis for the Secretary of State to have to introduce a response if I had significant concerns about a particular jail. Sadly that Bill was lost after the General Election. We are now working with the Ministry of Justice to achieve the aspirations of that Bill without legislation. I was pleased to see that recently the Secretary of State gave a public commitment in an article he wrote for the London Evening Standard about taking our recommendations seriously and responding to them. We are working on finding a way which injects transparency into the system and I think that’s very important. I don’t think it is very good if our recommendations are just left on a shelf – they should be responded to and I’m looking forward to seeing this happen.. CR Thank you for talking to the Review.

This article was Co – edited By The Publisher and Wendy Hewitt, who until recently was the Legal Director at the Equalities and Human Rights Commission. the Custodial Review

NEWS

Needs of vulnerable prisoners must be met as part of continued efforts to improve Maghaberry Prison, say Inspectors The latest in a series of inspection reports on Maghaberry Prison has found that while management are continuing to work to improve the prison’s performance, shortcomings have been found in the care and support provided to the most vulnerable prisoners. “This unannounced review by a multidisciplinary team of experienced Inspectors from Criminal Justice Inspection Northern Ireland, Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Prisons in England and Wales, the Regulation and Quality Improvement Authority and the Education and Training Inspectorate was a continuation of our follow-up work after the publication of the findings of our May 2015 inspection of Maghaberry,” said Brendan McGuigan, Chief Inspector of Criminal Justice in Northern Ireland. “I welcome the drive, determination, innovation and creativity shown by the leadership team and staff to stabilise the prison, to improve outcomes for those committed to their care and implement the nine recommendations made two years ago. “However this positive work and the desire to deliver a more stable, safe environment for prisoners and staff must ensure the needs of vulnerable prisoners are addressed,” said Mr McGuigan. “Despite a reduction in the overall number of men self harming within the prison, Inspectors had significant concerns around the management and care of men who had or were at risk of self-harming. “I am concerned that despite the critical reports into deaths in custody and serious self harm, some important lessons have not been learned, even though a single overarching death in custody action plan had been developed by the Northern Ireland Prison Service,” said Mr McGuigan. Page 28

NEWS

The Chief Inspector said that the continued lack of a safer custody strategy at Maghaberry remained an issue for the Inspection Team and further work was required by the wider criminal justice and healthcare systems to provide alternatives to custody for highly vulnerable prisoners. “Maghaberry Prison does not provide a therapeutic environment. We were therefore concerned to find the prison was being used as a safe place by the courts while mental health assessments took place. “In our view this is inappropriate and we have recommended the Departments of Justice and Health should develop an agreed pathway to prevent individuals being admitted to prison for an emergency mental health assessment,” he said. Reflecting on the positive work on-going at the prison, Mr McGuigan said the day-today regime at Maghaberry was more stable and reliable with fewer restrictions around movement and activity occurring. Progress was also found in relation to education and healthcare. “Educational provision by Belfast Met is now well established and the picture is one of improvement with a general step forward made in the quality of courses and activities and motivation of the participating men. “In relation to healthcare, a new GP clinical lead had been appointed and missed appointments had dropped from 50 to 13 per cent. Support for prisoners with long-term health conditions had also been developed,” said Mr McGuigan. “I welcome the work undertaken in these areas and the commitment and actions taken by the South Eastern Health and Social Care Trust and Belfast Met to raise standards.” Mr McGuigan also voiced his support for the work ongoing within Maghaberry Prison to stem the flow of illegal drugs into the prison. “I am encouraged by the ongoing operations to tackle illicit drugs coming into the prison. However the misuse of prescription medication and the tendency of some prisoners to experiment with any substance available to get a ‘high’ remains an issue. “I support the work being undertaken at Maghaberry to deal with the underlying issues and risks that threaten the safety of staff and prisoners. “It is essential that the leadership team within the prison and senior managers within the Northern Ireland Prison Service continue to maintain a focus on delivering improvement at the facility. “They must make every effort to address the concerns raised in this inspection and maintain the momentum towards positive change,” he concluded.

A Watermist nozzle at work- note the handle that’s adapted to go through the cell access hatch

The new custody suite at Newcastle

Fireworks Fire Protection in custodial suites Protecting the NEW generation of Police custody suites from the risks of fire

Fireworks MHRU2 wall mounted unit

Over the last few years police forces all across the UK have been investing millions of pounds moving to larger custody suites to improve operating efficiency and create a better environment for staff and detainees alike. It is expected that they will save millions of pounds in running costs each year. To support the move to a new generation of modern, energy efficient units a range of standardised custody suites have been developed to suit different police force budgets and requirements. The builders, architects and the Home Office have worked with over 20 different police forces to tackle issues such as minimising the risk of detainee injury, increasing security of evidence, improving detainee safety and providing a better environment. These projects include the recently completed Newcastle custody suite where Fireworks installed a high pressure water mist fire suppression system throughout the 50 cell facility that uses its specially designed modular hose reel units. The system has proven to be very effective during extensive testing with the Ministry of Justice. It successfully suppressed fires at the first attempt whilst dramatically reducing the temperatures in the cell, so improving the survivability of any occupant. Benefits of the Fireworks system: • • • • • •

Fast and effective control and suppression of fire. Improved survivability of any cell occupant. Easily retro fitted using small bore stainless steel pipe. Rapid project completion & is positioned accessibly within a complex. Environmentally friendly as there are no chemicals used. Rapid clean-up of a cell after its deployment resulting in shorter cell unavailability.

Description of the Fireworks fire suppression solution: The Modular Hose Reel (MHRU2) firefighting units consist of a specially designed surface mounted cabinet. Each cabinet contains: Start and stop controls, a single integral high pressure pump, a 35m high pressure hose reel, lance with a prison specification nozzle (Approved for use by MOJ, SPS and Home office). Each unit has two sets of volt free contacts that show power availability and if the pump is running. This information can also be sent to a BMS panel if required. Fireworks experience in the custodial sector Fireworks are the leading installer of high pressure watermist systems throughout the UK and have installed their equipment in prisons since 2006. The benefits of this type of fire suppression system are now being released in a number of custody suites and recent installations have included Bridgend, Merthyr, Newcastle and Hampshire. Watermist systems were selected by the Ministry of Justice and the Home Office after extensive fire testing at the UK Building Research Establishment in Watford. It proved that Watermist systems were much more effective than traditional hose reel systems and would save lives in cell fire situations. Page 29

The BRE test criteria were very comprehensive and Fireworks needed to demonstrate that their technology would meet the following conditions. •

Maintain a tenable atmosphere for a period of 20 minutes when fire tested in accordance with the specifications laid down.

•

Discharge a relatively small amount of water.

•

Deliver a spray of water mist with sufficient momentum to discharge droplets to the back wall of a cell.

•

Inundation was to last for 5 minutes after pre burn and the operation of the internal cell fire detection system.

For more information on the Fireworks and the MHRU2 product range or for a free site survey please call 0207 205 5793 or visit the website for more details or email enquiries@fireworksltd.com Or visit www.fireworks-ltd.com Fireworks Fire Protection Ltd Head Office: Amber House, Station Road, Attleborough, Norwich, Norfolk NR17 2AT the Custodial Review

Stopping drones, the logical way

by Andy Loakes of PDA Electronics

Drones are increasingly being used to get contraband into prisons. Adept drone pilots can deliver the contraband to designated cell windows or pre-designated drop off points with ease. Until now the solutions to stop these aerial deliveries have proved difficult and labour intensive. PDA Electronics Ltd however have just introduced a new system called REPULSE® This system produces unique interference signals on both 2.4GHz and 5.8GHz. This creates a bubble that extends over 1km in front of the unit. In effect it creates an electronic ‘no fly zone’ which will defeat all commercially available drones’ attempts to penetrate it. Any drone entering this field will be immediately “repulsed” and the drone is forced to return to its take off point. This enables areas, such as prisons, to be fully protected against the wide range of commercially available drones. Unlike many other solutions the Repulse system is designed for continuous operation and therefore offers a 24/7 protection. Until now authorities have tried to protect areas of concern by using geofencing which involves identifying areas as no fly zones on the electronic mapping the drones use. However it only took a matter of hours to find a software method of removing all these geo-fenced areas from the mapping the drones use. To prove this PDA has (with permission) flown over these protected areas using this ‘hacked’ mapping and videoed the trips to prove that flying into geo-fenced areas is possible. Interestingly these no fly zones only apply to the mapping used by most drones and do not appear on

the Civil Aviation Authority mapping. All UK prisons have now been geo-fenced by drone manufacturers in their flight mapping. An alternative to the software map hack method is to place aluminium foil over the top of the drone body to prevent the reception of GPS signals. This method makes the drone more difficult to control as there is no automatic correction due to wind issues. Given the number of prison establishments still being targeted by drones it would seem that the criminals have already discovered these techniques. The PDA Repulse system fully protects an area from both these methods that enable drone incursions. In some countries the emphasis has been on detecting drones but what use is that?

Knowing that a threat is coming still doesn’t deal with the problem. It’s like having a camera in your house and you watch a criminal enter your property and ransack it. The only real solution is area denial protection. This applies even more so if it’s a terrorists attack when the drone could be carrying either explosives or chemical weapons. The basic Repulse unit is housed in a compact and rugged Peli-case which only weighs just over 2kg (including the battery) This makes it ideal for quick deployment . The internal battery provides up to six hours of operation. For longer or more permanent deployment, the unit can be powered by a larger battery or a 12VDC mains powered supply. Its low powered transmissions are designed so that there is virtually no interference to anyone using a WIFI system nearby so allowing the system to be deployed in areas close to housing and offices. The Repulse system is now being considered for the protection of aircraft and airfields in many countries outside the UK. “Why not the UK?” you may ask. Well, the CAA have deemed it illegal to interfere with any aircraft in flight and then went on to designate a drone as an aircraft thereby creating a dilemma. In the UK if the drone is less than 7kg in weight (which covers most commercially available drones) it can fly where it likes as far as the CAA is concerned. It is time to bring legislation up to date to allow the use of defence systems such as Repulse for this new form of threat to both security and safety. For more information contact PDA Electronics Ltd,Tel: 01494 -257911, email: sales@pdaelectronics.com or visit www.pdaelectronics.com

the Custodial Review

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2018/19

Our Future Events

CRS 2018 2nd International Correctional Research Symposium

8-10 May 2018 Europe (location to be determined)

What is Good Prison Research?

In partnership with the European Organisation of Prison and

Correctional Services (EuroPris) we follow on from the success of the CRS2017 symposium, and options are being explored to hold this mini-conference again in 2018.

ICPA 2018

ICPA 20th AGM and Conference

21-26 October 2018 Montreal, Canada

1998-2018 - Beyond Prisons: The Way Forward

Located at the Marriott Château Champlain in Montreal and hosted by Correctional Service Canada, we bring our Global Corrections Community together to celebrate our 20th Anniversary event! You can expect a full programme featuring a wide range of presentations and speakers from around the world, plus all the other great features of ICPA’s annual conference and more. Join us in Montreal 2018 to commemorate twenty years of advancing professional corrections!

TIC 2019 Technology in Corrections Conference

May 2019 Europe (location to be determined)

This Technology in Corrections conference will be the third instalment of our hugely popular event which focuses on the latest trends and technologies shaping the correctional landscape today and into the future. In partnership with the Confederation of European Probation (CEP) and the European Organisation of Prison and Correctional Services (EuroPris). We’ll keep you updated on the latest developments.

For information on past and future events visit www.icpa.ca/icpa-events