HMIP Inspection of HMP Bure

The prison was subjected to an inspection in October 2023. In their report the inspectors said:

Bure is a category C prison for male sex-offenders in rural Norfolk. At this inspection we were pleased to see that it remained a safe and respectful jail in pleasant, well-tended grounds.

Levels of violence at Bure were very low, although they were higher than similar prisons. At 9.6% the rate of positive, random drugs tests was surprisingly high, but this had not led to a deterioration in behaviour which was generally good. The prison had recently held a safety summit to understand the causes of violence and was in the process of putting into place an action plan. A small number of men accounted for most of the self-harm at the prison and good efforts were made to help them, although other prisoners received more variable support through the ACCT process.

High standards set by staff meant that the jail was kept very clean, and the grounds were full of flower beds and vegetables that were grown by prisoners. Unfortunately, there were hardly any on-wing cooking facilities which, for the many prisoners serving long sentences, was disappointing. Cramped wings meant there was not enough space for prisoners to dine communally, meaning that most had to eat on their own in their cells. Relationships between staff and prisoners were good and we were very pleased to find the comprehensive provision of key work, something we have seen recently in only a handful of prisons. Apart from some cramped double cells, most prisoners were in single cells which were well maintained and reasonably spacious, although many of the showers on the wings needed to be replaced.

The prison had a large proportion of elderly prisoners who were well cared for both by the prison and the well-led health provider. Other groups were also generally positive about their treatment, except for those from an ethnic minority background, particularly black prisoners. This was very disappointing because similar concerns had been raised at the last three inspections. The prison will need to consult more effectively with these prisoners, act on their concerns and make sure that the results are monitored and communicated effectively.

Our biggest concern at this inspection was the quality of purposeful activity on offer. Although prisoners were unlocked for most of the day, many were bored –particularly the younger men – and the jail was failing to fulfil its remit as a training prison. The analysis of prisoners’ needs had not been comprehensive enough, meaning that provision did not always fit with what the prisoners required. While the quality of teaching was generally good, far too few prisoners were able to get to education, with long waits to get onto the English course. There was a comprehensive reading strategy but it was not well coordinated, particularly with the education provider, which was failing to identify or support those with the highest levels of need. The recruitment of a new lead for the Shannon Trust should help to provide more consistency which had been hampered by not having space from which to run the programme. Ofsted inspectors felt that there were credible plans to improve the education, training and work offer, but they also highlighted an ongoing lack of workshop and classroom space.

The prison had made some improvements since our last inspection to support the progression of prisoners, but there was widespread frustration with the offender management unit, often because prisoners did not know what to expect. Although the prison provided a range of accredited programmes, including three for those with learning difficulties, limited resource meant these were only available at the end of their sentences, which meant that many would not get the opportunity to finish their sentence in open conditions. An average of 12 prisoners a month were being released directly from Bure, making their transition into the community far more difficult, particularly those finishing longer sentences.

There was much to like about Bure. The conscientious governor and his team worked hard to maintain standards and keep the regime going despite some staffing pressures. They also recognised where progress needed to be made. It will take a committed and comprehensive focus of the leadership towards education, training and work if Bure is to fulfil its function as a category C jail with a focus on giving prisoners the sorts of skills that will help them to get work and avoid reoffending on release.

 

Charlie Taylor
HM Chief Inspector of Prisons
November 2023

 

The inspectors provided a summary of their major findings

 

What needs to improve at HMP Bure

During this inspection we identified 15 key concerns, of which five should be treated as priorities. Priority concerns are those that are most important to improving outcomes for prisoners. They require immediate attention by leaders and managers.

Leaders should make sure that all concerns identified here are addressed and that progress is tracked through a plan which sets out how and when the concerns will be resolved. The plan should be provided to HMI Prisons.

Priority concerns

1. Leaders had not done enough to understand or address thecomparatively negative experiences of prison life reported byminority ethnic prisoners over several inspections.
2. Training needs analysis, achieving challenging strategy. Leadersand managers did not have appropriate oversight of the effectiveness ofthe prison education framework contract. Leaders’ recently completedtraining needs analysis was not fit for purpose. It contained too littlerelevant information or data to inform the curriculum.
3. Meaningful learning pathways. There were too few meaningful learnerpathways, and the vocational offer was very limited. The learnerpathways leaders provided was too narrow with too few, and generallybasic-level, courses offered.
4. Offending behaviour programmes were limited to prisoners within18 months of potential release, reducing opportunities for paroleand transfer to open conditions.
5. Many prisoners were frustrated at the lack of communication aboutwhat they could expect during their sentence. Communication withprisoners about sentence progression was not good enough. Many didnot know when they could expect to see their offender manager or startan offending behaviour programme, nor did they understand why thesethings took so long.

Key concerns

6. There was no CCTV in accommodation and activity areas, whichaffected prisoners’ feelings of safety and hindered investigationsinto alleged assaults.
7. During use of force, staff often did not activate body-worn videocameras until very late into an incident, which undermined theirvalue as a deterrent and a means of assurance.
8. Leaders’ efforts to reduce the supply of alcohol and drugs were notsufficiently comprehensive or rigorous. Only about half of the testsrequested by staff who had suspicions about prisoners using illicit drugswere actually carried out.
9. Communal showers in the older residential units had poorventilation and drainage.
10. There were too few opportunities for prisoners to cook forthemselves or to dine communally. This was a major omission for atraining prison with many men serving long sentences.
11. Insufficient paid activity spaces, low wages and high prices meantthat many prisoners could not afford to buy basic items from theprison shop.
12. Health care complaints were poorly managed. Staff did not follow thecomplaints process consistently and prisoners did not always receiveresponses. There was no oversight or quality assurance by health careleaders.
13. Reading strategy. Leaders’ implementation of a reading strategy waspoorly coordinated and had had limited impact. Prison managers did nothave effective arrangements to support prisoners with no or low-levelreading skills. While more prisoners were reading fiction or non-fiction aspart of their working day, many areas of industries and work had yet toadopt all aspects of the reading strategy.
14. Increased links with employers. Leaders did not have sufficient linkswith employers. In the past eight months, prison managers had onlyplaced a few prisoners on release into permanent full-time employmentwith a small number of local employers. Leaders’ initiatives to increasethe proportion of such opportunities and broaden the geographicallocations were at an early stage of implementation and had had noimpact yet.
15. There was insufficient support for prisoners to develop or rebuildrelationships with family or friends in the community.

Return to Bure

The full reports can be read at the Ministry of Justice web site, just follow the links below:

• Inspection report (5 MB), Report on an unannounced inspection of HMP Bure by HM Chief Inspector of Prisons (2–12 October 2023)
• HMP Bure – report (PDF) (879 kB), Report on a scrutiny visit to HMP Bure by HM Chief Inspector of Prisons (16 and 23–24 March 2021)
• HMP Bure (573.58 kB), Report on an unannounced inspection of HMP Bure (27
• HMP Bure, Unannounced inspection of HMP Bure (29 April–10 May 2013)
• HMP Bure, Announced inspection of HMP Bure (13–17 September 2010