HMIP Inspection of Thorn Cross

The prison was given an inspection in May 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:

Thorn Cross is an open prison in Cheshire with a capacity of 429 adult men. Located in a rural setting, it has consistently been a successful institution, and our findings at this inspection indicate that this continues to be the case. When we last inspected in 2016, we found that outcomes for prisoners were good in all four of our healthy prison tests. At this inspection, outcomes remained good in three tests, but had declined marginally to reasonably good in our healthy prison area of respect.

The prison was overwhelmingly safe. Violence and delinquency were rare and absconds were lower than nearly all comparator prisons. Prisoners reported that they felt safe, both when they arrived and throughout their stay. There had been some increase in the use of force, but this mainly concerned recording the use of handcuffs in circumstances where a prisoner had to return to closed conditions. That said, decisions to return prisoners were proportionate and second chances were afforded to many. Self-harm was similarly uncommon, although the prison had more work to do to limit the ingress of illicit items, such as drugs.

The prison remained a respectful place. Relationships were positive, although greater efforts were needed to ensure a more open and supportive stance from some offender management staff. The external environment was excellent which, when combined with good accommodation and very good communal facilities, was conducive to the support of well-being generally. Consultation and procedures for redress were reasonable and access to health care was good. The promotion of equality had lapsed, however, and leaders had only recently begun to re-energise initiatives. Despite this, outcomes and perceptions among those with protected characteristics were generally proportionate.

As an open prison, prisoners were not locked up and good efforts were made to promote family ties, especially the use of temporary release (ROTL) for home visits. ROTL was also used extensively to support other regime and resettlement activity, including the many prisoners who worked in paid employment outside the prison each day. The prison had developed plans to extend real work opportunities on ROTL still further and our colleagues in Ofsted judged the overall effectiveness of education, work and skills to be ‘good’. Offender management and services for those being resettled were similarly effective, with prisoners receiving generally good support, but many prisoners told us that a small number of staff were rude and unhelpful.

Leadership at the prison was visible and strong. The central mission – to provide activity, allow prisoners to progress through their sentence, and eventually to support resettlement – was being delivered. The governor provided energy, direction and a leadership vision, and was well respected by enthusiastic staff. The prison’s close work with partners, combined with their other efforts, contributed to the delivery of some very good outcomes for prisoners.

Charlie Taylor
HM Chief Inspector of Prisons
June 2023

 

The inspectors also provide a short list of their key findings.

 

What needs to improve at HMP/YOI Thorn Cross

During this inspection we identified five key concerns, of which one should be treated as a priority. 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 concern

  1. Almost all prisoners we spoke to reported disrespectful and dismissive treatment by a small number of staff in the offender management unit (OMU).

Key concerns

  1. Senior managers had not paid sufficient attention to making sure there was fair treatment across different groups of prisoners. There had been a lack of prisoner consultation, use of discrimination complaints processes and the monitoring of outcomes for those with protected characteristics.
  2. The quality of food served from the main kitchen was poor and prisoners had fewer opportunities to do their own cooking than in similar prisons.
  3. Leaders had not developed a strategy to support prisoners’ personal development and did not have a common set of topics or values that they wanted to teach or introduce to them before release. Prisoners’ grasp of values in modern Britain was superficial. Prisoners could not describe what they had learned to prepare themselves for their return to their communities. Teachers had not helped prisoners to improve their understanding of equality and diversity.
  4. There were weaknesses in public protection arrangements. The interdepartmental risk management meeting did not routinely consider all prisoners who presented the greatest risk before their release. Oversight of arrangements to monitor prisoners’ mail and telephone calls was not robust.

Return to Thorn Cross

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

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