Ministry of Justice
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HMP Leyhill - resettlement needs strengthening
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.
