HMP Swaleside: Persistent challenges with staffing hampering rehabilitation for high risk offenders
A prison holding men convicted of serious offences and who pose a high risk of harm to the public is continuing to struggle because of its reliance on officers bussed in from other jails.
Read the report: HMP Swaleside
Over 40% of prisoners at HMP Swaleside were serving lengthy sentences of more than 10 years, a further 43% were serving indeterminate sentences, mostly life, and one unit was dedicated to the accommodation of men convicted of a sexual offence. The prison was relying on staff on detached duty loaned from other prisons to deliver even a severely restricted daily routine, which failed to provide the kind of purposeful, rehabilitative environment needed for such a high-risk population.
This was our sixth visit to Swaleside since 2016. During that time, we have repeatedly raised significant concerns about the prison. I therefore decided to announce this inspection six months in advance to give leaders the opportunity to use our inspection as a focus for improvement. Our findings suggest that they grasped that opportunity. Outcomes in all four of our healthy prison areas remain concerning, but the governor has shown commendable commitment to the prison and has evidenced an energy and application that has helped keep it remarkably stable despite all the challenges.
One of the key improvements that inspectors noted was the reduction of self-harm, which, while it remained higher than other comparable prisons, had fallen by 56% since the 2021 inspection. Ongoing weaknesses, however, included inconsistent support for prisoners at risk, a failure by some night staff to carry anti-ligature knives, slow responses to cell bells and inadequate reviews of Coroners’ and PPO recommendations. This was despite seven prisoners having taken their own lives since 2021.
Good work was being done to understand the causes of violence, but the prison remained too violent with higher levels than other category B prisons and with increasing numbers of assaults between prisoners.
There were few progression opportunities, and many category C prisoners were unable to transfer to a more suitable prison because of national population pressures, which was a source of understandable frustration. More prisoners were therefore being released directly from Swaleside at the end of their sentence, and the prison was doing good work to improve public protection measures and provide some resettlement support. One of the key staffing shortfalls, however, continued to be prison offender managers, who should have played a vital role in supporting the management of the high-risk population held at Swaleside.
Overall this was a concerning inspection. Swaleside is a prison that continues to struggle and where outcomes still need to improve dramatically.
Without the reduction in the prisoner population and the deployment of staff from other jails, it is hard to imagine how the prison would have coped.”
Notes to editors
- Read the HMP Swaleside report, published on 12 December 2023.
- HMP Swaleside is a category B training prison located on the Isle of Sheppey in Kent. At the time of the inspection, it held 813 prisoners.
- This inspection took place between 11-21 September 2021.
- While most prison inspections are unannounced, HM Chief Inspector of Prisons decided to announce the dates that we would inspect Swaleside six months in advance to give leaders the opportunity to use our inspection as a focus for improvement. This followed a series of concerning inspections which found the prison was struggling to recruit enough staff to deliver sufficiently good outcomes for prisoners.
- 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.
- Please email media@hmiprisons.gov.uk if you would like more information.