MINISTRY OF JUSTICE
News Release issued by The Government News Network on 11 July 2007
There are many
strengths at HMP Leyhill, but resettlement work needs to be
strengthened so that it is the core activity of the whole prison,
said Anne Owers, Chief Inspector of Prisons, publishing the report
of an announced inspection into the open prison in Gloucestershire.
The prison's resettlement difficulties were partly due to a
mismatch between what the prison can reasonably provide and what
prisoners expect in an open prison, or need in order to be
eligible for parole or prepared for work. Many prisoners cannot in
practice work outside the prison, and some are then not eligible
for parole. But the prison itself needed to increase the
opportunities for outside employment for those who were eligible,
and improve its sentence planning systems.
The prison also needed to improve staff-prisoner relationships.
Inspectors found that there was distance and mistrust, and that
residential staff were not sufficiently involved in supporting
prisoners and preparing them for release. Consequently,
prisoners' concerns and frustrations about resettlement were
not dealt with.
Elsewhere, inspectors found improvements and good work:
* The environment was good, with plenty of open space and a
variety of work settings ;
* Security had been tightened;
especially in relation to drugs and absconding, which had greatly
reduced, in spite of the prison's changed population;
*
The prison was reasonably safe with little evident bullying and
self-harm;
* Public protection was sound, and there were very
good offending behaviour programmes.
* The range and quality
of activities had improved since the last inspection. Many
workshops provided skills to help get work. However, there were
not enough places to ensure prisoners are fully employed;
Anne Owers said:
"Like all open prisons, Leyhill is receiving a wider range
of prisoners. There should be discussions with the National
Offender Management Service and the Parole Board about the
appropriateness of placing some prisoners there.
"Leyhill has risen to some of those challenges and has many
strengths, including improved activities within the prison.
However, it needs to strengthen its resettlement work, by
providing and supporting more outside work for those prisoners who
are eligible for it, and improving sentence planning and
rehabilitation support. The new offender management unit was set
to deal with some of those problems, but it will be important to
ensure that all staff in the prison are, and believe themselves to
be, part of its resettlement function."
Phil Wheatley, Director General of the Prison Service, said:
"I welcome the Chief Inspectors report and her recognition
of the increase in purposeful activity for prisoners and improving
security with reduced absconds and drug abuse.
"I recognise that there are other areas that need
improvement. The Governor will be giving greater emphasis to
resettlement work and improving staff prisoner relationships."
NOTES TO EDITORS
HMP Leyhill has an operational capacity of
512 and was last inspected in September 2001.