10. PRISONERS

Prisoners’ Perceptions

10.1 During the course of our inspection, we met with two groups of prisoners. We have recorded their views as they were put to us but that should not be taken to imply that we are in full agreement with every point raised. Where this report covers any of the issues in more detail, the relevant paragraph numbers are shown.

10.2 Relationships with staff were considered to be generally good and prisoners stated that they had significant contact with their Personal Officers. It was confirmed that staff were undertaking many of the more routine welfare tasks that might otherwise be referred to the Social Worker - paragraphs 1.3, 3.8 and 6.21.

10.3 Drugs. The generally held view was that MDT was not a deterrent for LTPs. That said, it was claimed that many prisoners throughout the SPS were now moving on to opiates instead of cannabis as a means of avoiding detection through the MDT process. The firmly expressed view was that televisions in cells, as part of an incentives scheme linked to drug free areas, would greatly encourage some prisoners to abstain from drugs - paragraphs 5.9-14.

10.4 Visit opportunities were said to be excellent with families being very well treated by staff - paragraphs 6.29-33.

10.5 Mix of prisoners in the NIC. Some prisoners felt that those who had previously served long sentences were gaining nothing from spending time there, whereas others felt that these individuals could be a help to those starting a long sentence for the first time. However, there was unanimous agreement that the whole concept of the NIC was an excellent one for first offenders and for those who had previously only served short sentences - paragraph 10.10.

10.6 Legal books. Given the number of prisoners in the establishment with outstanding appeals, we were told that there was a lack of access to legal books and that these had to be borrowed from the library in the main prison. We were also told that there were no copies of the Prison Rules available - paragraph 10.9.

10.7 Telephone call charges. Prisoners were unhappy with recent increases and whilst it was acknowledged that the recent pay increase had gone some way towards meeting extra costs, it was felt that the SPS should be undertaking a competitive tendering exercise with other Telephone Companies.

10.8 Church Services. Concern was expressed about the current lack of Chaplains, with prisoners being denied their statutory rights - paragraphs 6.25-26.

Comment

10.9 We were pleased to learn that prisoners considered their relationships with staff to be good. We were, however, disappointed to hear their views on drugs and were concerned by the suggestion of an increase in opiate misuse. Meanwhile, the issue of the lack of church services was well on the way to being resolved - see paragraph 6.26. We can also record that immediately following our meetings with prisoners, arrangements were made to provide a set of Prison Rules and their Directions for each landing. Similarly, the Governor recognised that there was an unusually high number of appellants in the establishment and agreed to purchase an appropriate set of legal books.

10.10 Whilst the benefits of the NIC to first offenders were obvious, it was less straightforward to measure the benefits to prisoners who had previously served long-term sentences. However, our impression was that some prisoners who had presented serious management problems in previous sentences had in fact made significant progress as a result of their time spent in the NIC. This is an area worthy of further research.

Prisoners Grievance Procedure

10.11 Co-ordination of the Grievance Procedure (GP) Scheme was the responsibility of an Officer who, as part of that function, delivered an information session on the scheme to prisoners. At the time of our inspection, he was working on the compilation of a similar package specifically designed for staff.

10.12 GP forms were held on each of the landings and were available to prisoners on request. Appropriate records were being maintained and from our scrutiny of those records, we were satisfied that all timescales were generally being met. We were also satisfied that GP6 cases, i.e. those involving direct communication with the Governor-in-Charge, were being dealt with in accordance with standard procedures.

10.13 We noted that the vast majority of cases were completed at the GP1 stage but appropriate arrangements were in place for the relatively small number that went before an Internal Complaints Committee. Any such Hearings were chaired by the Deputy Governor with the other two Committee members being a Supervisor and an Officer, neither of whom would have had any previous involvement in the case.