AN unannounced inspection of HMP Risley by the Chief Inspector of Prisons has revealed an “astonishing failure by the prison service” with unstable leadership and some parts of the prison now beyond repair!
With 1,032 prisoners at the time of the inspection last April, the mixed sex offender and general category C resettlement prison had a myriad of problems, including inadequate public protection arrangements, higher than average violence among the general population, high levels of self-harm, and very poor time out of cell and access to education or employment.
Living conditions at Risley prison had deteriorated since the last inspection and the proportion of men serving sentences for sexual offences had increased significantly representing 40% of the population. However, there were still no accredited programmes for these prisoners, which was described as an “astonishing failure by the prison service”.
A report by Charlie Taylor HM Chief Inspector of Prisons, said: “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 Report on an unannounced inspection of HMP Risley 4 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.
The full report can be read here https://www.justiceinspectorates.gov.uk/hmiprisons/inspections/hmp-risley-3/
Drone gang who flew drugs and money into Risley prison jailed
