HMP Wayland – poor living conditions and staffing shortages
Inspectors to HMP Wayland in Norfolk found a prison struggling to recruit and retain staff and unable to provide adequate conditions in which prisoners can live, learn, and work. The category C jail held 890 men at the time of the inspection and had recently been labelled a ‘black’ site for staff recruitment, enabling an uplift in starting pay for officers.
A new governor had made some positive steps since her appointment at the end of 2021. Charlie Taylor, Chief Inspector of Prisons, said:
“The staff team appreciated her visibility around the jail and her priorities were generally well understood.”
However, he expressed concern about behaviour management owing to the lack of experienced staff:
Standards of behaviour in the under-staffed prison had slipped and inspectors often saw prisoners breaking the rules without challenge or adequate supervision from officers, many of whom had only recently begun working in the jail. With experienced prisoners and inexperienced staff, there is a real risk that things could get much worse.
Behaviour was primarily managed through sanctions, and leaders needed to explore positive incentives to motivate prisoners to behave well.
The accommodation was shabby and in need of repair, although an extensive programme of works was due to start. Ventilation was poor, there were leaks in the laundry rooms, and a hole in the roof of the visits hall.
Prisoners spent long periods of time locked in their cells, and education had restarted just days before inspectors arrived. Colleagues at Ofsted judged learning, skill, and work to be inadequate across the board, highlighting a failure in leaders to prioritise prisoners’ education. There were not enough opportunities to improve
English and mathematics skills.
Mr Taylor said:
“… without sufficient, high-quality officers, there is a real risk that standards of behaviour may deteriorate further and the prison will continue to fail to live up to its category C designation.”
Notes to editors
- Read the HMP Wayland report, published on 12 August 2022.
- HM Inspectorate of Prisons is an independent inspectorate, inspecting places of detention to report on conditions and treatment and promote positive outcomes for those detained and the public.
- HMP Wayland opened in 1985, with residential buildings added on four occasions. The last addition was in 2008, when 300 spaces were added across five new units. In 2020, F and H wings were demolished because of the fire risk of the buildings, reducing capacity by 80 places. A new segregation unit was under construction.
- At the time of this inspection, the establishment held 890 prisoners.
- Inspectors identified four examples of notable positive practice.
- This inspection took place 11–12 and 25–28 April 2022.
- Please contact Tamsin Williamson at tamsin.williamson@hmiprisons.gov.uk if you
would like more information.