HMP Thameside – poor time out of cell, but impressive work in supporting prisoners and improving behaviour
Many prisoners at HMP Thameside, a category B local men’s prison based in south-east London, were spending too much time locked in their cells, HM Inspectorate of Prisons found. Some, such as remand prisoners – 61 of whom had been on remand for over a year – were locked up for up to 23.5 hours a day. HM Chief Inspector of Prisons Charlie Taylor said the prison had been too slow to increase the amount of time that prisoners were unlocked after an outbreak of COVID-19 and more should have been done to open up the regime.
Inspectors found that purposeful activity outcomes for prisoners had deteriorated and were now poor. Too few prisoners were attending education classes, only a tiny proportion of the population was being taught and Ofsted rated the provision inadequate.
The education provider and prison leaders needed to apply some real grip and ambition, getting many more prisoners into education and training.
There were, however, notable positives. Prison offender managers contacted prisoners proactively, had a visible presence on the wings and offered good support.
This was the best provision I had seen during the last year and, because the prison had outsourced offender management work to Catch 22, staff were not cross-deployed to other duties as we so often see in jails.
There were also improvements in the management of segregation – the unit was used on fewer occasions, the regime was more predictable and staff gave prisoners the help they needed to return to the normal prison location. A small team of forensic psychologists drew up plans to help individuals and wing staff understand what triggered violent behaviour, offering additional support to staff in the segregation unit.
This service provided all segregation unit staff with regular, one-to-one meetings to talk about the challenges with dealing with this complex and often violent group of prisoners. Other prisons would do well to emulate and learn from this practice.
In addition, the prison found creative ways of encouraging its sizeable younger population to improve their behaviour. Its equine project, bringing horses on site, offered the opportunity to take part in an accredited programme in animal therapy and had shown promising results.
The prison’s approach to dealing with gang members was equally innovative. Members from different gangs were not separated – instead they remained living together and work was undertaken to improve relationships between them. Early indications were encouraging – in the previous six months, only seven prisoners had been segregated for their own protection and there was little evidence of individuals self-isolating on the wings.
Mr Taylor commended the prison on tackling some difficult issues. He said:
“Inspectors were impressed to see leaders challenging some poor staff practice and disciplining or dismissing those who had seriously breached the rules.”
However, he noted: “the prison’s biggest, ongoing challenge will remain recruiting and retaining enough high-quality staff so that it can expand the regime and make sure that prisoners, particularly those on remand, are given opportunities for education and training.”
Notes to editors
- Read the HMP Thameside report, published on 1 March 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 Thameside opened in March 2012. In February 2015, an additional house block opened, creating 332 extra spaces. It is run by Serco.
- Inspectors identified three examples of notable positive practice during this inspection.
- The inspection took place on 8–9 and 15–19 November 2021.
- Catch 22 is a charity providing offender management and rehabilitation services.
- Please email media@hmiprisons.gov.uk if you would like more information.