Annual Report

HMP High Down

Surrey

December2013 to December 2014

Monitoring fairness and respect for people in custody

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

HMP High Down Diversity Statement

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

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

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

Statutory Role Of The IMB

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

The Board is specifically charged to:

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

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

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

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

Section 2 Contents

Section 1 Statutory role of the IM 2

Section 2 Contents 3

Section 3 Description of the prison 4

Section 4 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 5

Overall judgement

Issues for the Minister

Issues for the Prison Service

Issues for the prison

Section 5 SPECIFIC AREAS

Equalities and foreign nationals 8

Education, learning and skills 9

Healthcare and mental health 11

Purposeful activity, including work 12

Resettlement 13

Safer custody 13

Segregation Unit 15

Residential services 16

Section 6 OTHER AREAS OF THE PRISON

Applications and complaints 18

Drugs/ substance abuse 19

Bed watches 20

Gym 20

Incentives and earned privileges 20

Lifers/IPPs 21

Transfers 21

Visits and visitors’ centre 22

Vulnerable prisoners 22

Section 7 The work of the Independent Monitoring Board 23

Section 3 Description Of The Prison

3.1 High Down is a Category B male local prison, also housing some Category C prisoners. It serves the Crown Courts of Croydon and Guildford and the surrounding magistrates courts. During the course of the reporting year, the operating capacity of the prison has risen to1163.This has meant that cells designed for one inmate have been adapted for two, leaving fewer spaces for high-risk prisoners who need to be placed in a single cell.

The population includes foreign nationals (about 16%) and Young Offenders (up to 10%).

As a local prison, the population is constantly changing, with many (between 20% and 25%) remand prisoners. The average stay for a prisoner is 12 weeks. The figures in this report are therefore often approximate.

3.2 Many prisoners coming into High Down have problems relating to mental and physical health, and drug use (legal and illegal). Many also have low levels of literacy and numeracy.

3.3 Healthcare is managed by various partners: In- and Out-patients, and dental care, are provided by Virgin Healthcare, the GP is provided by Cheam GP practice, Surrey and Borders are responsible for InReach mental health care and RAPt for substance misuse programmes.

A4E were the education providers at the start of the reporting year, to be replaced by ManchesterCollege in February 2015. Staff are to be transferred over.

Section 4 Executive Summary

Overall judgement

4.1 The experience of prisoners at High Down has this year been greatly affected by two elements of public policy:

  • Swinging cuts in staffing levels. These have had a wide-ranging impact on the regime experienced by prisoners. For the first half of the reporting period the Board had concerns about fairness and decency, however the introduction of a predictable regime has addressed some of these concerns. The restrictions on all activities that require an officer to be in attendance is a recurring theme of this report. Staffing levels are so tight that contingencies such as bed-watches and staff sickness hinder the delivery of the regime.
  • Changes to the Incentives and Earned Privileges (IEP) system instituted in November 2013 (see PSI 30/2013), which introduced various restrictions and made it significantly harder to get ‘enhanced’ status. The stated aim was that ‘good behaviour is incentivised’ (para 1.10) but the Board has seen no evidence that this has been achieved.

4.2 The Board feels there has been progress in some areas that were identified as being of concern in last year’s report:

  • Higher priority given to awareness of equality and diversity.
  • Better use of the education facilities in the Stephen Pryor Centre (SPC).
  • Healthcare – there has been an improvement in patients getting to outside appointments and in psychiatric interventions.
  • Great improvements to the visits booking line.
  • Sex offenders no longer need to be ‘lodged’ in Segregation or Healthcare, as transfers out have created enough spaces on the appropriate House Block.

4.3 Some areas of the prison continued to work well, affording prisoners purposeful activity with a rehabilitative element, for example:

  • Workshops, such as industrial sewing, woodwork, re-cycling.
  • Farms and Gardens.
  • Storybook Dads, run by the Library.
  • Skills within the SPC, such as plastering and brick-laying.
  • The Clink restaurant.

4.4 However, some areas continued to give concern:

  • Backlogs in Basic Skills Assessments (BSA) which delayed access to education or employment.
  • Quality of ACCT and TASA documents, both part of Safer Custody.
  • Problems with paperwork in the Segregation unit.
  • The applications and complaints system.
  • Vulnerability of the regime to cross-deployment of staff and consequent loss of access for prisoners to exercise, library, gym, education and appointments.

4.5 It is clear to the Board that there is a causal link between the areas of concern and shortfalls in staffing. This year has seen an increase in violent incidents, from 174 in 2013 to 190 in 2014, which many officers see as the result of prisoners’ frustration at being locked in their cells for long periods. This is aggravated by lack of continuity of staffing, which hampers officers’ ability to build up a rapport with prisoners.

4.6 In summary, 2014 has been a year in which High Down has had to manage changes imposed on it from outside. While there have been improvements during the year, they have been due to the willingness of the majority of staff to respond to the challenges of a significantly increased workload. There are many areas where valuable work is done with prisoners, and the Board sees frequent examples of officers dealing with prisoners with patience and understanding. However, it has been difficult to establish a regime that will deliver prisoners’ rights to such things as exercise, gym and phone calls and it must be acknowledged that changes in staffing levels have produced a qualitative difference in the life of a prisoner.

Issues for the Minister

  • Is the Minister fully aware of the wide-ranging impact of cuts in staffing levels and the consequent difficulty in delivering a regime that is genuinely fair and decent for prisoners?
  • Is there any evidence that the new IEP regime is having the desired effect?

Issues for the Prison Service

  • Recruitment processes, which took too long to deliver required staff.
  • The ability of prisoners to work through their sentence plan is often hampered by the lack of suitable places throughout the prison estate, which means that progressive transfers are often not possible.
  • Procedures for managing and tracking prisoners’ property are clearly failing, leaving NOMS vulnerable to repeated claims for compensation and causing frustration to prisoners.
  • The Board has been concerned at the numbers of patients who are clearly in psychological or emotional distress but do not meet the criteria for InReach psychological help.

Issues for the prison

  • Dealing with backlogs that hinder a prisoner’s progress through his sentence.
  • Failures of systems of communication between prisoners and the prison and consequent mistrust of the system.
  • Continuity of staffing on the House Blocks.

Section 5 Specific Areas

Statutory areas

5.1 Equality and diversity

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

  • Regular meetings of the prison equalities group have been re-instated.
  • Induction peers are highly responsive to the diverse needs of in-coming prisoners.
  • There is a newly-established Older Prisoners Forum.
  • There are about 200 (about 18%) prisoners with a disability, of which just under half are physical. The Board is not confident that evacuation procedures for this group are robust.
  • Of the prison population, about half identify themselves as White British, and nearly a quarter as Black/Black British. The remainder include Asian/Asian British and White ‘other’ (that is, not British).
  • There were 64 Discrimination Incident Report Forms (DIRFs) submitted in the reporting period. Each was investigated, and audited by the Zahid Mubarek Trust, which works to ‘challenge discrimination within the criminal justice system’. There was not found to be evidence of discrimination. The Board is confident that procedures to investigate allegations of discrimination are robust.
  • Foreign nationals (FNs) make up approximately 16% of the population in High Down. There is a database of speakers of other languages within the prison, and a telephone translation service. Immigration authorities visit the prison weekly but there are nine FNs who have served their sentence and are still in prison.
  • FNs are particularly disadvantaged by the restrictions on parcels sent in, as their requirements for magazines, for example, cannot otherwise be met. These restrictions may be revised, after a High Court ruling in December 2014.

5.2 Education, learning and skills

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

  • A new head of education was appointed, with a remit to get more prisoners into education.
  • A new learning and skills strategy has been developed, which aims to establish a more dynamic learning environment across the prison. The workshops are included in this.
  • There are 250 places per session in the SPC: occupancy rates are now typically 75%. The SPC has been re-presented as the Learning and Skills Centre, rather than the Education Centre, to reflect prisoners’ views of their own needs.
  • Non-attendance is still a problem. Although daily records are kept, no analysis has been made of the reasons for non-attendance, and so how best to tackle the issue. The Board understands that this is to be addressed in 2015.
  • A new barbershop has been established with attendant training and qualification. This provides 8 extra education places.
  • A Call Centre has been established with attendant customer services qualification. This currently provides 25 extra education places, with the potential to rise to 60.
  • A ‘Business Hub’ has been set up, teaching office skills, offering up to ten places.
  • Courses aimed at Young Offenders, one involving Battersea Dogs Home and an ‘Understanding crime and its effects’ course, are planned.
  • There are about 20 prisoners following distance learning courses, including Open University and Stonebridge distance learning college. These courses can be continued if a prisoner transfers to another prison. Funding is from the Prison Education Trust.
  • Pay rates for education were increased, but workshop pay was reduced.
  • In line with the emphasis on courses playing a role in rehabilitation, a cluster of courses is now offered which builds up to a City and Guilds ‘employability’ qualification. Prisoners are completing these short courses at the rate of about 200 a month.
  • GCSEs have been introduced: the Board is unsure that this is appropriate for a local prison and will monitor take-up and completion.
  • Building skills courses are continuing and extremely popular with prisoners.
  • Sex offenders have had greatly increased access to education.

However,

  • Prisoners’ access to education has been held up by delays in Basic Skills Assessments. The backlog was addressed at the end of the reporting period, and the Board will monitor future performance.
  • The library has been moved to the SPC. Visitor numbers are currently reduced and the Board will monitor the impact of the move. Liaison with Learning and Skills is greatly improved, but at the expense of serving the wider prison population, the primary function of the library.
  • The move to the new library premises was not done efficiently, and the library remained closed for 12 weeks, denying prisoners their right of access (PSI 45/2011). Also, the new accommodation does not allow space for the stock per prisoner advised in the PSI.
  • The Board regretted the cancellation of classes in music, art and poetry. These classes had great therapeutic and rehabilitative value which is not reflected in the strict criterion of ‘employability’ for education courses. A popular new course in Music Technology, providing up to seven spaces, has been introduced.

5.3 Healthcare (HCC)

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

A review in June of patients’ experience found that health care provision at High Down compares well with other prisons. There are to be focus groups for in- and out-patients, but it is too soon for the Board to assess any impact on patient welfare. There have been some areas of concern:

  • Non-attendance at out-patient appointments: early in the reporting year there was an unacceptable level of appointments missed, typically through the lack of an available officer to accompany the prisoner to HCC. This problem has been addressed, with the co-operation of the prison, and non-attendance is now down to levels that lies within the Key Performance Target of 4%.
  • The NHS no longer funds custodial staff in the Health Care Centre (HCC). This places further demands on staffing and the Board has been concerned at lack of staffing in this difficult environment. The matter has recently been addressed and the Board will be monitoring any improvement.
  • When the Board receives complaints from prisoners relating to their medication, they are always referred to the Patient Advice and Liaison Service (PALS). However, the PALS representative is only in High Down once a month and does not visit in-patients.
  • The pharmacist reports that the pain clinic has managed to reduce the number of drugs in the prison that can be abused. However, this has not been achieved without risk to the medical staff, who asked for, and received, more discipline staff. HCC staff go out into the community to speak to the medical profession to raise awareness of the risks of prescribing of drugs that can be abused in prison. The Board applauds this initiative.
  • 45 patients have been transferred to mental health facilities, throughout the reporting period, an increase of 100% from last year. The Board hopes that this will reflect a continuing improvement in addressing the mental health needs of patients. HCC reports improved access to in-patients by the psychiatrist, and a weekly clinic, but also that patients do not always attend appointments, due to lack of staff in in-patients.
  • There is now an agreed protocol for accepting prisoners into in-patients, which should challenge the issue of ‘lodgers’.
  • Most admissions into in-patients are cases of mental ill-health.

5.4 Purposeful activity including work

The Board’s main concern in this area has been backlogs in Basic Skills Assessments, which delayed a prisoner getting into work or education. There has been no improvement in these delays throughout the year, but the Board was pleased to see that a concerted effort was made to clear the back-log and start 2015 up-to-date.

Also, at a time when the regime leaves prisoners locked in their cells for much of the day, there are still not enough opportunities for purposeful activity.

  • There are 510 places for employment and 250 places for education. This represents purposeful activity for only about 70% of the prison population. As a local prison, High Down houses many remand prisoners (about 20%), for whom it is difficult to arrange employment or education, as the length of their stay is unpredictable.
  • Some prisoners in work felt penalised by new lower pay rates, the result of raising rates for education.
  • Workshops are developing training courses, to give prisoners a qualification.
  • The Board would like to acknowledge the excellent work done in the workshops and practical skills classes to establish an atmosphere of purposeful activity and mutual respect, which must surely have great rehabilitative impact.
  • Jobshop (the department that allocates employment places) report that most job vacancies are generally filled.
  • The Laundry currently provides 17 work spaces for Sex Offenders, with plans for 34. However, the pay rates are disproportionately low.

5.5 Resettlement