Report by HM Inspectorate of Prisons on HM Prison, Penninghame 1997

1. Introduction

1.1 An inspection of HM Prison Penninghame was carried out during the period 8-11 December 1996. The previous formal inspection had taken place in the autumn of 1992 though follow up visits to the establishment have continued to be a regular feature over the intervening period.

1.2 In recent times the number of prisoners in the establishment had gradually been reducing at a time when overcrowding was on the increase elsewhere in the SPS. We were, therefore, pleased to note that the centrally-directed criteria for transfer to Penninghame had recently been reviewed with the aim of maximising its capacity. Whereas previously it had been reserved mainly for prisoners who were serving sentences of ten years or more, the new sentence criterion was six years. By the time of our inspection numbers were beginning to increase, which meant that more prisoners would now be able to benefit from the rehabilitative regime on offer.

1.3 Meanwhile the Governor-in-Charge had been posted at short notice to another prison though a replacement was announced after our inspection. Unfortunately, however, this would appear to be the reflection of a growing trend of turbulence amongst SPS Management and which, in some cases, has been acting almost in parallel to our inspections in recent months. This situation is, however, probably unavoidable and could well prevail at a number of other locations (in the short term at least).