Reports published 10 July 2023
Reports on inspections of HMP Ford and HMP/YOI Moorland and independent reviews of progress at HMP Isle of Wight and HMP Norwich
HMP Ford
Type of inspection: Full unannounced inspection
Dates of inspection: 4-20 April 2023
Summary of findings: HMP Ford is an open prison, and the inspection found it to be a more positive, purposeful place than before. Good links with local employers with support from the employment board meant that prisoners were supported into full-time work both during their sentence and on release. The most common reason for prisoners being returned to closed conditions was drug use. The prison had worked hard to reduce the supply of drugs, but needed to do more to reduce the demand: prisoners were bored outside of working hours and overly rigid health and safety rules meant that they were not allowed to play football on the playing field without supervision.
Points to note: The prison held a weekly ‘Offender Management Unit drop-in’, whereby all probation- and prison-employed prison offender managers on-site that day, along with the senior probation officer, head of OMU services and a case administrator, attended to help prisoners with any progression or resettlement-related problems and queries.
Read the report: HMP Ford
HMP/YOI Moorland
Type of inspection: Full unannounced inspection
Dates of inspection: 13-24 March 2023
Summary of findings: HMP & YOI Moorland primarily holds prisoners convicted of a sexual offence. It continues to be a successful institution where outcomes for prisoners are reasonably good against all four tests of a healthy prison. Oversight of interventions such as security, segregation and use of force was rigorous and proportionate, while work to promote safeguarding was effective, evidenced by a significant fall in self-harm since we last inspected. Outcomes in rehabilitation, public protection and resettlement planning had all improved – again reflecting good oversight and multi-disciplinary working practices – and were now reasonably good.
Points to note: Leaders had not done enough to understand and address the needs of, or improve outcomes for, certain minority groups: black and minority ethnic prisoners, Muslim prisoners, those with disabilities and young adults were more negative in response to several questions. For example, only 52% of respondents from an ethnic minority background said that most staff treated them with respect, compared with 82% of white prisoners.
Read the report: HMP & YOI Moorland
HMP Isle of Wight
Type of inspection: Independent review of progress
Dates of review: 5-7 June 2023
Summary of findings: HMP Isle of Wight is a high security category B prison which now holds a large proportion of category C prisoners. The review found good or reasonable progress against all but one concern raised at the previous inspection. Despite continuing staffing challenges, a more reliable regime was being delivered and access to work and education was considerably better. There were still considerable gaps in specialist staffing, but the delivery of accredited programmes was moving ahead with some confidence and there was better management of the release of high-risk prisoners.
Points to note: Leaders had taken the findings of the inspection very seriously and had acted swiftly. Soon after the inspection, they had consulted widely on the next steps with about 370 staff and prisoners. They had also visited similar establishments to learn about different ways of managing prisoners convicted of sexual offences.
Read the report: HMP Isle of Wight
HMP Norwich
Type of inspection: Independent review of progress
Dates of review: 30 May – 1 June 2023
Summary of findings: HMP Norwich is primarily a reception prison, but with a category C training site and an open resettlement facility. The previous inspection found serious shortfalls in staffing which were underpinning a number of problems, including very poor time out of cell and access to education or other purposeful activity. This was a positive review which found improved time unlocked as well as good progress in efforts to reduce violence and prevent suicide and self-harm.
Points to note: Plans for a new central library and a prison-wide reading strategy were encouraging, although we found insufficient progress so far.
Read the report: HMP Norwich