HMIP
Report on HM Unit
Shotts 1998
ANNEX D
H.M. UNIT, SHOTTS - FORMAL INSPECTION BY H.M.C.I.P. 11th – 13th
NOVEMBER, 1998
GOVERNOR’S BRIEFING
1. INTRODUCTION
1.1 Shotts Unit opened in April 1990 as an additional
facility to Barlinnie Special Unit. Much of the planning for Shotts Unit had taken into
account experience from Barlinnie Special Unit and a number of physical design
improvements were incorporated into the Shotts Unit building. The regime was based on
Barlinnie Special Unit with considerable emphasis being placed on prisoner responsibility
to engage in constructive activity and participation with staff. As in the case of
Barlinnie Special Unit there was no prescribed length of time in terms of how long a
prisoner might spend in Shotts Unit.
1.2 The publication of the Small Units Report in November
1994 which, among other things, heralded the closure of Barlinnie Special Unit set a very
different agenda for Shotts Unit. During a visit by the Inspectorate in February 1996 a
number of criticisms of the regime were noted. Already aware of the deficiencies, Unit
management took the view that the only way to achieve significant progress was to close
for a period and to re-organise. Having gained agreement from the Area Director (South
& West), Shotts Unit closed for a five week period from 26.6.96 until 1.8.96.
1.3 This allowed an opportunity to critically examine all
aspects of the Unit regime and to facilitate the introduction of a number of changes to
systems and procedures. The following points are some of the key changes to the regime and
chart progress since the Unit re-opened in August 1996.
2. CORE DAY
2.1 The oncept of a core day has been introduced and is
rigorously applied by Unit staff. The core day commences at 9.00 a.m. and has a number of
mandatory and optional sessions for prisoners. A weekly activity sheet is raised for each
prisoner on which is recorded what the prisoner does on a day by day basis. The
information feeds into a wage earning system which allows staff to calculate the
appropriate payment for the period. Recording of these hours is not regarded as a passive
procedure but provides an additional opportunity for dialogue and other forms of process
between prisoners and staff. The current centrally approved maximum wage earning is
£10.00 per week and to achieve this a prisoner requires to evidence 27.1/2 hours per week
participation across a range of agreed activities.
2.2 This aspect of the regime gives staff considerable
opportunity to challenge prisoners and to resolve issues through dialogue.
3. RECORDING OF PARTICIPATION
3.1 Although previously prisoners had a personal officer,
the recording of information was not carried out reliably. The current situation is that
each prisoner has a personal officer, but on a shift basis a member of staff is designated
to annotate a written record of activity for that period. These reports (DS12) provide a
weekly and monthly assessment on progress. A considerable amount of time and effort has
been expended in moving this process from a bland descriptor to a factual account of
observed behaviour. This has been met with varying degrees of success but, more recently,
the Supervisors have taken ownership of the process through P.P.P. procedures. Standards
of record keeping are improving generally but still have some way to go. This reporting
system feeds into procedures involving quarterly reviews of individual prisoner contracts
and feedback of performance.
4. CREDIT BASED P.P.C AND WAGE EARNING
4.1 Due to problems previously associated with excess cash
we have introduced a credit based prisoner financial system. The move to credit, coupled
with limited access to P.P.C has considerably reduced the spending activity of individual
prisoners. This has virtually eliminated any advantage in subverting the visits and has
provided an incentive to participate in the wage earning scheme. Since the closure, one
shopping trip has been stopped and is now confined to one per week on a Thursday, largely
to purchase items for the Unit meal which is held on a Friday.
4.2 The three elements of core day, incentive based wage
earning and credit based P.P.C and wage earning have been particularly successful in
encouraging prisoners to participate in the regime. To put it quite bluntly, if they chose
to ignore us they will be poor and, in any event, Unit process requires staff to challenge
non activity or non participation.
5. DAILY PROGRAMME ACTIVITIES
5.1 Motivating prisoners in any Unit setting has always
been difficult and finding appropriate activities for prisoners to participate in
continues to present as a challenge. However during the last year we have moved to a heavy
input from education and, more recently, have introduced a Jewellery/Craft class which is
proving to be very successful.
5.2 The wood draft facility continues to be popular but
following a recent accident in the National Induction Centre the machinery had been
designated out of bounds for the moment until the health and safety implications relative
to the training of staff and prisoners become clear. We would hope to have this facility
back in operation as quickly as possible.
5.3 We have also been able to run one Anger Management
course and one Cognitive Skills programme, although, our experience suggests that this
type of group programme approach does not work well with a Unit prisoner group.
5.4 We have some individual programmes utilising assistance
from Social Work and outside agencies. However, there is a shortage of suitable material
available and we are currently enlisting the assistance of the Psychology Service to
develop new material which can be delivered by staff. Earlier this year we encountered a
considerable setback when a member of staff in whom we had invested training as a Drug
Counsellor came to nothing when he unexpectedly resigned from the service. As yet, we have
not been able to rectify this situation.
5.5 More recently, with a change in management personnel in
the Social Work Unit, we have enjoyed a more fruitful relationship, achieving a service
level agreement which has potential to herald a greater degree of collaboration and
co-operation between Social Work and Unit staff.
6. CHALLENGING INAPPROPRIATE BEHAVIOUR
6.1 Since the closure, one of the more significant
successes has been establishing a culture in which staff feel supported in challenging
inappropriate prisoner behaviour. Staff understand the need to support each other through
regular meetings, proper handovers between shifts, but, more importantly, by operating
correctly as individuals. Management support staff by gaining early insight into
situations, thereby supporting the work of individuals.
6.2 The key to developing some of this work has been the
introduction of new shift patterns. Staff take duty later in the day, Monday to Sunday,
with the opportunity of flexible attendance during the hand over period at the middle of
the day. Toil hours have been eliminated, despite a recent local training initiative of
almost 500 hours involving the entire staff group. Currently the overall staff hours
position within the Unit is 50.58 banked.
6.3 The outturn for staff sick absence at the end of the
last financial year was 4.9 shifts per man. The current figure is about the same as last
year and this is a significant improvement over the situation prior to the closure. This
is an indication of the quality of our staff and the high level of commitment and morale.
7. MISUSE OF DRUGS
7.1 Despite the historical difficulties of introducing such
initiatives, during the period September 1997 to October 1998 every Unit prisoner has been
tested by the M.D.T unit within H.M.P. Shotts. Of a total number of 38 tests, 20 have
provided negative results, giving an annual result of 43% of tests being positive.
7.2 Bearing in mind that prisoners presenting acute
management problems are usually associated with drugs misuse, these statistics demonstrate
that we have gone some considerable way in tackling drug abuse issues within the Unit.
Despite our successes there are a number of prisoners who continue to misuse drugs and we
cannot be complacent about this situation. However, there are others who are making a
concerted effort to address a drug abusing lifestyle.
7.3 In line with other Establishments we can offer the full
range of counselling and support to any prisoner willing to tackle their drug problems.
Additionally, a high staff complement and willingness of the staff to become involved,
allows prisoners to receive a high level of support and guidance. There is also a certain
amount of peer pressure which can come to bear if a large enough percentage of the
prisoner group are sustaining a drug free lifestyle and this has been the case in the
past. Unfortunately, recent admissions have swung this balance but, on the positive side,
recent developments with regards to discussions on the subject of drug abuse with some
prisoners are encouraging. Implementation of a stick indicator voluntary drug testing
programme within the last few weeks has dramatically changed the nature of dialogue
between prisoners and staff. After commencing the programme with one prisoner, the number
now being routinely tested is 5 and personal officers are currently negotiating with the
rest of the prisoners as to whether it would benefit them to enrol on this programme.
Early results from this initiative are encouraging.
7.4 In view of the nature of the population in terms of
time left to serve and because they are rarely co-operative, our experience over the last
year or so indicates that the orderly room mechanism has little or no impact on the level
of drug taking. In terms of the physical resources the number of prisoners located within
the Unit at any one time, allow both time and space to be utilised by the staff to
challenge, understand and discuss problem issues with the prisoners. The staff numbers
coupled with their insight into general prisoner culture enhances the dynamic security
within the Unit setting. At present, the Unit has no ready access to closed visit
facilities and, in terms of physical deterrence, the practice of strip searching a
prisoner after completion of a visit has been proposed. In my view, this adds nothing to
the security integrity of the Unit in relation to the drug abuse problem. Drugs are easily
concealed or swallowed and can be passed by a simple kiss at the start of a visit.
7.5 As an organisation, we are concerned about our levels
of staff supervision within visit rooms in general and the level of contraband they
successfully prevent from reaching residential areas highlights the lack of security in
our admission procedures at the Gate. It is in this area we should concentrate our efforts
and, in this respect, H.M.P. Shotts have introduced positive changes in procedures that
will assist us in our objective of reducing the drug abuse by our prisoner group. We have
come a long way in a very short space of time but, above all else, the one thing that we
have learned is that we will never force prisoners to give up drug taking lifestyles until
they themselves are motivated to do so. In some respects this is entirely consistent with
the philosophy of Small Units and provides us with an additional challenge.
8. UNIT MANAGEMENT STRUCTURE & STAFFING
8.1 The Unit Deputy Governor post has been vacant for some
nine months since the transfer of the previous incumbent. A number of options for the
future management of Shotts Unit have been considered by the Area Director (South &
West). As an interim measure, the Governor of Shotts National Induction Centre has
provided leave cover to Shotts Unit with the development of a written protocol to cover
this arrangement. This has meant a number of staff taking on additional work, particularly
administrative tasks. It is testimony to the interest, skill and professionalism of the
Supervisor group that this arrangement appears to have worked well and we are continuing
to make significant progress.
8.2 Residential staff complement for Shotts unit is
currently 17 Officers excluding a service level agreement with H.M.P. Shotts to facilitate
operations group staff covering the nightshift. This arrangement has now been in place for
some five months and appears to be working well.
8.3 Contrary to an earlier perspective, the last two trawls
for staff have provided more than sufficient candidates and we are delighted with the
quality of the people that we have been able to recruit. It is anticipated that the next
trawl for staff will take place in the Spring of next year.
9. CONCLUSION
9.1 We are currently operating at maximum prisoner
occupancy for the second occasion this year. Against this background of sustained high
prisoner numbers, Shotts Unit has been able to develop a sense of order and purpose in its
routines and daily activity. Following the closure we experienced a lengthy period of
turmoil in which prisoners constantly argued against the significant changes that were
implemented. With due credit to the staff the line has been held firmly and such arguments
and discussions are becoming less frequent. The changes implemented during the closure
were very significant and, with few exceptions, the differences between the Unit regime
and mainstream are less pronounced than before.
9.2 Without losing the therapeutic component of the regime,
in my view, we are operating at about the limit of secure custody. There are now very few
elements left in our regime to provide incentives for prisoners to remain with us. The
challenge is now to deliver the prisoner change agenda and to further develop the range of
opportunities for our prisoner group, without compromising the considerable progress that
has been made. |
