In November 2017 HMIP agreed a system where the Inspector could give a letter to the Government regarding urgent action needed at a prison. This system has been used for the first time ever in respect of HMP Nottingham and was published 18th Jan 2018 on HMIP’s own web site. The full letter can be read by following the links below to the HMIP web site; in their note the inspectors said:
“First use of ‘Urgent Notification’ protocol following HMP Nottingham inspection
The Chief Inspector of Prisons, Peter Clarke, has demanded that the Secretary of State for Justice intervenes to ensure urgent action to save lives and protect fearful prisoners in the “fundamentally unsafe” HMP Nottingham.
In the first use of a recently signed ‘Urgent Notification’ protocol, Peter Clarke put the new Secretary of State, David Gauke, publicly on notice that Nottingham jail requires immediate action. The protocol, signed by his predecessor David Lidington, gives Mr Gauke 28 days to respond in public.
Inspectors visited HMP Nottingham on 8 January – the third inspection in little over three years. The last two inspections have been announced – two of only a handful where the prison is warned in advance. Despite this, inspectors found serious failures in safety which were repeated from the earlier inspections.
Read the protocol and Peter Clarke’s letter to David Gauke here.”(Welcome to the MoJ Mr Gauke!!)
UPDATED RESPONSE
As dictated by the protocols the MoJ have responded within the 28 day timeframe, and a copy of this, along with the proposed action plan can be found here Response, or Action Plan