HMIP Inspections of High Down

The prison was given an inspection very early in August 2023, the full report can be read at the Ministry of Justice web site, just follow the links below. In their latest report the inspectors said:

The transition of High Down from a reception prison to a category C training and resettlement jail was originally announced as far back as 2015, with the first prisoners moved over the next three years. Further delays meant that the change was only finally completed in April 2022, with staff and prisoners left in a state of uncertainty for many years. Despite these delays, there had still not been sufficient planning or preparation by the prison service, leading to many of the problems we highlight in this report. There had also been five governors since our last full inspection in 2018, which had added to the instability of the prison.

This left the current governor, who arrived in March 2022, with an enormous challenge to affect such considerable physical and cultural change in the jail. She had developed a clear vision of how she wanted the prison to run and had begun to make progress, particularly with improving the capability of the workforce and developing the regime.

At this inspection, it was clear that High Down was not yet close to fulfilling its function as a category C prison. Although the regime had been expanded and was better than we had seen previously, it was nowhere near what it should be. There were not enough activity places for the population, meaning many prisoners did not have enough to do – 200 were unemployed and most were only in part-time work, education or training. Many were limited to very basic and uninspiring work on the wing. Only for the few who were in full time work, was the prison offering an experience that was akin to employment in the community. This was not helped by the low local rates of pay received by prisoners in education because they were only allowed to attend part time. Attendance at education was also very poor at just over half in recent months, and in a maths class I observed just three out of 11 prisoners had turned up.

The dedicated team at the offender management unit were only able to work with prisoners who were coming up to important milestones such as parole because they were hugely understaffed; they were unable to offer anything like the support that many prisoners needed to reduce their risk of future offending and resettle back into the community. There was also very limited provision of accredited programmes, particularly for sex offenders, which often meant they were unable to fulfil the terms of their sentence plans. Key work, a crucial way of supporting sentence progression, was also not operating effectively.

The widespread availability of drugs was a cause of high levels of prisoner debt and the main driver of violence which remained much too high. The proportion of drug tests proving the use of illicit substances was among the highest of all men’s prisons in England and Wales. The prison completed far too few tests on those suspected of using drugs, which meant that users were not being disincentivised, particularly as many adjudications were not proceeded with. It was therefore disappointing that reducing the ingress of drugs was not one of the prison’s priorities.

Leaders had not yet done enough to support staff during the transition to category C; in our survey many said morale was very low and some we spoke to during the inspection were both anxious and resistant to the change. They also complained that they rarely saw senior leaders around the prison. If the governor and her team are to win over hearts and minds, they will need to increase significantly their visibility around the jail and improve the way they communicate with staff and prisoners.

Our healthy prison test scores at this inspection were the same as in 2018, rating the jail as insufficiently good for safety and rehabilitation and release planning, reasonably good for respect and poor for purposeful activity, but there had been some improvements. The prison was in better condition, with many showers refurbished, although this programme had stalled and some continued to be in a poor state. Most wings were generally clean and there was less litter about the place or rubbish stuck behind window grills.

A new wing for indeterminately sentenced prisoners was overseen by skilled, experienced staff who had created a positive and supportive atmosphere. Prisoners on the drug-free living wing appreciated the respite from the high[1]levels of drug use that took place elsewhere in the prison and here too support was provided by specialist staff. There were also advanced plans to provide another more specialised unit for prisoners with personality disorders.

High Down has had a turbulent few years. There will need to be a real commitment from leaders and the prison service to complete the transition to a category C prison, in particular to make sure there are enough good-quality activity spaces for the population and that the offender management unit is sufficiently staffed to give prisoners a sense that they are progressing with their sentences and reducing their risk of reoffending. Concerted efforts will also have to be made to reduce the supply of drugs and the provision of more purposeful activity will reduce demand. The next two years will continue to be a real challenge, but with the current leadership I am confident that good progress can be made.

Charlie Taylor
HM Chief Inspector of Prisons
October 2023

 

The inspectors also provided a note of the major findings in their report

 

What needs to improve at HMP High Down

During this inspection we identified 11 key concerns, of which four 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. Too many acutely mentally unwell prisoners were held in the segregation unit. Transfers to a prison with a health care inpatient unit did not always take place quickly enough because of the lack of available spaces, and waiting times to be accepted by a secure mental health hospital in the community were too long.
  2. The availability and use of illicit drugs posed a threat to the stability of the prison, contributing to debt, bullying and fear. The positive drug testing rate at High Down was among the highest in adult male prisons in England and Wales.
  3. Violence had increased and many prisoners felt unsafe.
  4. High Down was not achieving its potential as a category C training and resettlement prison. Leaders did not provide sufficient purposeful activities and attendance was very low. Prisoners struggled to achieve their sentence plan targets because of the lack of places on offending behaviour programmes, little regular contact with prisoner offender managers and insufficient key work.

Key concerns

  1. Prisoners had few incentives to behave well, and their poor behaviour did not always receive a robust response.
  2. Recorded levels of self-harm were high and too few prisoners subject to assessment, care in custody and teamwork case management felt well cared for.
  3. Risks associated with poor medicine supervision and low rates of attendance at health care appointments persisted.
  4. Patients waited far too long for dental treatment.
  5. The large number of prisoners with limited skills in English and maths did not receive enough support.
  6. Leaders and managers had insufficient oversight to make sure all education, skills and work activities were good.
  7. Community offender managers were often allocated far too near the prisoner’s release date, which undermined effective resettlement planning.

Return to High Down

To read the full reports, go to the Ministry of Justice site or follow the links below: