A Leeds prison has been praised for its safety, cleanliness and 'positive feel' in a report by prison inspectors
HMP Leeds was described as 'decent' in a report by HM Inspectorate of Prisons following an unannounced inspection over six days in June. But in his report, HM Chief Inspector of Prisons Charlie Taylor expressed concern about the Armley jail's 'very high' death rate, overcrowding and prisoners' dissatisfaction with the food.
Mr Taylor was also critical of the lack of time prisoners were allowed outside their cells and educational opportunities at the prison. He mentioned the Victorian prison's 'forbidding' appearance.
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Eight inmates had killed themselves since the last inspection in 2019 while 18 had died from natural causes in the last two years, the report noted. But it acknowledged prison management was attempting to address the issue. Although they were 631 incidents of self-harm since the previous inspection, the number of incidents had fallen.
While the category B prison's 'certified' capacity was around 650, it had 1,092 when inspectors visited. The majority of prisoners shared cells designed for one inmate with another prisoner.
Mr Taylor expressed concern about inmates' dissatisfaction with the quantity and quality of prison food. He was critical of the lack of time prisoners spent outside their cells. Inspectors found that although prisoners were supposed to have 10 hours outside the cells on weekdays, those without prison jobs spent one hour a day outside their cells.
The report criticised the prison for its narrow curriculum and lack of training for work after prisoners' release. But it praised the prison's cleanliness – apart from cells in the first night unit which were 'grubby and unwelcoming' – and the positive relationship between prison staff and inmates.
Mr Taylor said: "The old Victorian prison has a forbidding reputation and on first impression conforms to this characterful history. But this is not actually representative; despite the prison’s age, on this visit we were impressed by the excellent environmental standards, cleanliness, and positive feel of both the external grounds and the built environment, all of which were indicative of energy, confidence, and potential.
"Our findings confirmed to us that Leeds is a well-led prison and that leaders and managers were visible about the wings and had a realistic understanding about the challenges and opportunities, and that priorities were communicated successfully to staff and prisoners...
"Staffing levels were reasonable and better than we see in many other prisons and this was reflected in our observation of some quite caring and supportive staff-prisoner relationships."
Mr Taylor concluded: "Overall, this was a decent inspection of HMP Leeds. The prison had a capable and settled leadership as well as an experienced officer group. In most areas, outcomes were either reasonable or improving. Going forward, leaders must focus on efforts to reduce the number of self-inflicted deaths and be more ambitious in delivering a meaningful regime."
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