Strategy for managing prison estate has produced significant savings in running costs
25 Apr 2014 11:30 AM
The Public Accounts publishes its 53rd Report,
on Ministry of Justice and National Offender Management Services: managing the
prison estate.
The
Rt Hon Margaret Hodge MP, Chair of the Committee of Public Accounts, today
said:
"The National Offender Management Service’s
strategy for managing the prison estate has produced significant savings in
running costs – the Agency is on track to achieve reductions of £70
million a year – and a good standard of accommodation on time and within
budget. The programme has been well managed and has benefited from experienced
and consistent leadership.
The
strategy has not, however, done as well at creating constructive regimes in
which to work with offenders to support rehabilitation and prevent reoffending
by preparing prisoners for work.
Although the two new large, contracted-out prisons were
constructed on time, they have not performed well since opening. They were two
of only three prisons to receive the lowest performance rating last year.
Neither prison gives enough priority to meeting offenders’ rehabilitation
needs. HMP Oakwood does not provide enough education time, and relies too much
on less purposeful activities such as cleaning. HMP Thameside has no
workshops.
On
the other hand, the Agency has closed some prisons that were performing well.
Although it considered a range of criteria in deciding which prisons to close,
such as their geographic location and relative running costs, the Agency did
not take their performance into account. Three of those closed had recently
been awarded top performance ratings.
Performance in reducing the number of foreign national
prisoners continues to be frustratingly poor, costing the taxpayer hundreds of
millions of pounds. While more than 1,000 foreign national offenders are
deported each quarter, a similar number are convicted, so the overall number of
foreign national prisoners stays at the same level of around 11,000 – 13%
of the total prison population. The Agency should work with the Home Office to
understand why there are delays in removing foreign national offenders, and
tackle the barriers to their removal.
The
Agency needs to do more to make sure prisoners are prepared for release at the
earliest opportunity. There is also much room for better performance in
preparing prisoners for release at the earliest opportunity. In June 2013, the
prison population included more than 6,000 prisoners with indeterminate
sentences who had served the minimum term of their sentence so potentially
could be released. However to qualify, many prisoners are expected to attend
courses like behaviour management; yet these have been cut, making it less
likely for many prisoners to secure release."
Margaret Hodge was speaking as the Committee published
its 53rd Report of this Session which, on the basis of evidence from the
National Offender Management Service, the Ministry of Justice and the Home
Office, examined the prison estate.
The
National Offender Management Service (the Agency) is responsible for the prison
system in England and Wales which holds around 84,000 prisoners. The prison
estate consists of some 130 prisons of varying layout, geographical location,
age and state of repair. Prisons also vary in the type of prisoner they hold
and the activities they offer. The prison population has stabilised since the
late 2000s, allowing the Agency to take a more strategic approach to the prison
estate. The main factor behind the Agency’s estate strategy, of closing
small costly prisons and building new accommodation which is cheaper to run, is
the need to make recurring savings. Under the strategy, the Agency had by the
end of 2013, closed 13 prisons and built two new prisons and a new prison block
in an existing prison. The Agency has little control over the prison
population, except through its role in rehabilitating prisoners to prepare them
for release at the earliest opportunity and in assisting in the removal of
foreign national prisoners.
The
Agency has achieved significant savings in running costs and made considerable
progress towards meeting its other objectives for the prison estate. The estate
strategy’s objectives are to reduce resource costs; create durable, good
standard accommodation and provide an estate that better meets offenders’
needs, allowing more of them to work and be kept closer to their homes. Against
these objectives, the Agency has built new, good quality, accommodation to time
and within budget; is on track to achieve cost reductions of £70 million
a year; and is starting to match better the geographical spread of prisons to
the prison population. Key factors behind this good performance are that senior
staff in the Agency have experience and knowledge and have remained in post
throughout this period of change.
They have been well supported by a management team that
has the necessary commercial, contract management, and estates management
skills.
Recommendation: The Ministry of
Justice should use examples and experience of the Agency’s management of
the prison estate to develop a best practice in achieving cost reductions,
which HM Treasury should disseminate widely across Government.
However, although the two new large contracted-out
prisons were constructed in a timely manner, their performance has been poor
and disappointing since they opened. They do not give sufficient priority to
meeting offenders’ rehabilitation needs. The new prisons, HMP Oakwood and
HMP Thameside, were two of only three prisons to receive the lowest performance
rating of 1 out of 4 in the Agency’s performance ratings for 2012-13.
Neither prison provides enough quality purposeful activity for prisoners. HMP
Oakwood does not provide sufficient education time and it relies too much on
less purposeful activities, such as cleaning. HMP Thameside does not have any
workshops. HM Chief Inspector of Prisons noted in his Annual Report for
2012-13, that the quantity and quality of purposeful activity across the prison
system had ‘plummeted’ in the last year.
Recommendation: The Agency
should:
- Identify the reasons for the poor performance of the
large prisons and address these as a matter of urgency, exploring new operating
models to improve these prisons.
- Work with the contractors at HMP Oakwood and HMP
Thameside, to achieve a performance rating of 4 for 2014-15. If either prison
fails to achieve this quality threshold, the Agency should write to the
Committee to set out the reasons for the lower rating and the steps it is
taking to improve performance.
- Ensure the factors that contributed to the poor
performance at these prisons, particularly HMP Oakwood, are not repeated at the
new prison being built in Wrexham.
- Monitor the level of good-quality purposeful activity
provided by each prison, and use this information to improve the quality and
extend the amount of purposeful activities to a level deemed acceptable by HM
Chief Inspector of Prisons. As a first step, the Agency should satisfy the
Chief Inspector that the quantity and quality of purposeful activity across the
prison system has increased by the end of 2014-15.
The
Agency has closed some prisons, even when they were performing well. The Agency
considered a range of criteria in selecting prisons for closure including:
relative running costs; maintenance costs; potential income from selling sites;
special features or facilities; and geographical location. However, it did not
take prison performance into account and closed some high performing prisons,
including three that the Agency had awarded the top rating of 4 in their most
recent performance rating.
Recommendation: When selecting
prisons for closure, the Agency should consider prisons’ performance, and
the likely impact on overall performance across the prison estate, in addition
to the factors it already considers.
More could be done to reduce the prison population by ensuring prisoners are
prepared for release at the earliest opportunity. In June 2013, the prison
population included over 6,000 prisoners with indeterminate sentences who had
served the minimum period required by their sentence. They could be released if
the Parole Board believed it was safe to do so. The Parole Board views offender
behaviour programmes as very important to demonstrate progress, but the number
of courses completed by prisoners has fallen from 8,739 in 2010-11, to 8,431 in
2012-13 making it less likely that these prisoners would secure early
release
Recommendation: The Agency should
provide more programmes to help prisoners on indeterminate sentences become
safe to release.
Little progress has been made in reducing the number of foreign national
prisoners. The Home Office aims to remove as many foreign national prisoners as
possible, but while over 1,000 foreign national offenders are deported each
quarter, a similar number are convicted. As a result the actual number of
foreign national offenders in prisons in England and Wales has remained fairly
constant at around 11,000 (13% of the prison population) which costs the Agency
around £300 million a year.
- Recommendation: The Agency should work with the Home
Office to better understand the reasons for delays in removing foreign national
offenders, tackle the barriers to removal, and take all steps to improve
performance in this area.