HMIP Inspections of Risley

The prison was given an inspection in April 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:

HMP Risley is a mixed sex offender and general category C resettlement prison in Cheshire, that held 1,032 prisoners at the time of our inspection. For the last two years, the leadership had been unstable, with temporary governors being in post for most of that time. The current acting governor had worked hard to maintain stability and set an agenda that sought to improve decency in the jail and support his staff team, but the prison was still not fulfilling its function as a category C resettlement prison.

The many prisoners who were unemployed were locked up for 22 hours a day, in a prison that had not created enough places in work or education for the size of the population. The jail operated a split regime which meant that most prisoners were only in poorly paid, part-time work or education. They did not have enough time out of their cells, with no evening association and an even worse situation at the weekend. Only those on the excellent, enhanced living unit had a regime that was commensurate with the category of the prison.

Inspectors were particularly concerned about the public protection arrangements at Risley. The offender management unit was understaffed and there was insufficient support from probation services; this meant that some of the public protection arrangements were inadequate, men were not supported to reduce their risk of harm, and preparations for release were often not good enough. Some high-risk prisoners were released homeless, systems to monitor phone calls and other contact were not managed effectively, and some were leaving having had little or no interaction with a prison offender manager.

Since the last inspection the proportion of men serving sentences for sexual offences had increased significantly, and they now represented 40% of the total population, but there was a failure to provide for them. Despite HMI Prisons raising this issue in 2016, there were still no accredited programmes for these prisoners. This represents an astonishing failure by the prison service, which has been far too slow in putting provision in place. Although the effectiveness of these programmes has, at times been questioned, if the prison service believes they are effective and necessary, they should make sure that the right prisoners get access to them.

Other prison service bureaucracy was hampering progress. The lack of suitable dentist facilities meant that there was a huge waiting list and prisoners had to be sent in small groups to HMP Thorn Cross for treatment. The governor was waiting to hear if he could have the funds to refurbish the existing dental suite, but progress on this application was slow.

Since our last inspection, when we commented on poor living conditions, the situation had deteriorated, with parts of the prison now beyond repair. Progress had been slow in refurbishing the showers, some of which were in appalling condition; this had not been picked up by leaders’ decency checks.

The Ofsted inspection revealed that the provision of education, training and work was inadequate, much of the work on offer was repetitive and boring, and prisoners were not provided with skills that would be useful when they were released. Rates of pay were also very low, at just £10.20 a week even for some full-time workers. This was likely to have led to the increased levels of debt which were contributing to violence in the jail.

Our score for safety had improved to ‘reasonably good’, with better oversight of the use of force and some excellent work with Cheshire police in reducing the supply of drugs, which remained an ongoing challenge for the jail. Overall levels of violence were similar to those of comparator prisons and it felt reasonably safe. However, leaders had not identified that levels of violence among the general population were higher than similar prisons when excluding those convicted of sexual offences. Levels of self-harm remained too high and support was patchy for these prisoners and for those who were a suicide risk.

Behaviour management relied on punitive measures, which meant that some prisoners spent long periods of time on the lowest level of the incentives scheme. Not enough thought had gone into motivating men to improve their behaviour.

Risley held 200 foreign national prisoners who were placed on the wing that had some of the worst conditions. Although there was Home Office support on site, there was a lack of coordination of services for these prisoners. More than 20 were being held beyond the end of their sentence under immigration legislation, including one who had been at the prison since his custodial sentence ended in 2021. These prisoners did not always receive their entitlements and the Home Office was taking too long to process their cases.

If Risley is to prepare prisoners adequately for their eventual release, it must provide far more purposeful activity that gives prisoners the skills and experience they need to settle successfully on release. The prison must also make sure that its critical public protection function is being met, particularly for the large population of prisoners convicted of sexual offences.

Charlie Taylor
HM Chief Inspector of Prisons
June 2023

 

The inspectors provide a brief list of their major concerns

What needs to improve at HMP Risley

 

During this inspection we identified 14 key concerns (they actually only list 13!), of which five (actually give 6) 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. Recorded levels of self-harm among prisoners were high and too often support ended without the underlying causes having been addressed.
  2. Living conditions had deteriorated across many wings and showers were in a particularly poor state.
  3. Health care provision was undermined by a lack of onsite dental services and weak management of long-term conditions.
  4. The regime did not provide sufficient time out of cell for a category C resettlement prison.
  5. Leaders did not provide a broad enough range of education, skills or work activities to meet prisoners’ needs.
  6. Far too many prisoners convicted of sexual offences were released without having completed offending behaviour work specific to their risks.

Key concerns

  1. Data were not used well and so leaders had not identified that recorded levels of violence, excluding the large population of prisoners convicted of sexual offences, were higher than similar prisons. Violence and self-harm were often related to prisoners being in debt to others. There was little constructive help for these prisoners and their situation was worsened by low wages.
  2. Conditions in the segregation unit were poor and the regime was very limited.
  3. Prisoners from some protected characteristic groups reported far more negative outcomes in some important areas. Far more disabled prisoners than those who did not have a disability felt unsafe, while some from a minority ethnic and Muslim background said they had experienced racism.
  4. Oversight of education, skills and work did not drive improvements quickly enough.
  5. Careers education, information, advice and guidance were not effective and did not promote prisoners’ progression fully.
  6. Prisoners accessing vocational training in industries did not have enough opportunities to achieve a qualification or have their employment skills recorded.
  7. The application of some public protection measures was weak.

Return to Risley

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

  • Inspection report (1 MB), Report on an unannounced inspection of HMP Risley by HM Chief Inspector of Prisons (12–27 April 2023)
  • HMP Risley – report (PDF) (728 kB), Report on a scrutiny visit to HMP Risley by HM Chief Inspector of Prisons (17 and 24–25 November 2020)
  • HMP Risley (832.17 kB), Report on an unannounced inspection of HMP Risley (13-24 June 2016)
  • HMP Risley, Unannounced inspection of HMP Risley (8–19 July 2013)
  • HMP Risley, Announced inspection of HMP Risley (7 – 11 February 2011)
  • HMP Risley, Unannounced full follow-up inspection of HMP Risley (14-18 April 2008)

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