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HMP Rochester

Published:
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Report on an unannounced inspection of HMP Rochester by HM Chief Inspector of Prisons (12–22 August 2024)

Rochester healthy prison scores

What we found

In September, a very concerning inspection of HMP Rochester led Charlie Taylor, HM Chief Inspector of Prisons, to write to the Secretary of State to invoke the first Urgent Notification for improvement at a category C prison. Today, the full report from that inspection further outlines the dilapidated accommodation, rising violence and self-harm, widespread illicit drug use, and the lack of purposeful activity and risk reduction work inside the jail.

Safety, much like the fabric of the prison, was deteriorating. Assaults against prisoners had increased by 67% over the past year, self-harm had risen 79% since the last inspection in 2021, and the positive drug testing rate was 42%, yet there was no coordinated action plan to tackle these cross-cutting, prison-wide issues.

Rochester was fundamentally failing in its rehabilitative purpose as a category C training and resettlement prison. Less than a third of the population was engaged in purposeful activity and Ofsted graded the overall effectiveness of education, skills and work as inadequate. Although prisoners were generally unlocked during the day, most had nothing to do.
HM Chief Inspector of Prisons, Charlie Taylor