Inspectors have raised 'serious concerns' over HMP Nottingham which is 'struggling to maintain a safe environment'. Inspections by HM Inspectorate of Prisons in May and June also led to concerns over a high risk of self harm in prisoners, while some staff members were found to be 'culturally ignorant'.
The Perry Road prison held 855 prisoners during the inspections between May 24-May 25 and June 6-10. Charlie Taylor, Chief Inspector of Prisons, said: “In 2018 we issued an Urgent Notification, a rare event but indicative of the situation in the prison at the time. Since then, we have seen evidence of greater grip and some progress, although this is not yet reflected in our healthy prison scores.
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"Indeed, at this inspection outcomes in rehabilitation and release planning had got worse." Since the last inspection the level of self-harm had reduced by 17%, and there was one self-inflicted death since HMI Inspectorate of Prisons last visited.
Many prisoners on the care and planning process for those at risk of suicide and self harm reported feeling uncared for. The inspection also found the case management and oversight of prisoners who were on constant supervision was not good enough.
The inspection found some prisoners felt there was a lack of awareness amongst staff about equality and diversity, to which a strategy has since been implemented to tackle the issue. Mr Taylor said: “We inspected at a time of transition in the leadership of the prison.
"A new governor had recently arrived, and he seemed to be building on the stability and steady improvement created by the previous incumbent. Oversight arrangements were getting better, and the priorities identified for the prison appeared to make sense.”
Violence at HMP Nottingham is now at a similar level to comparative prisons, but arrangements to help reduce the level of violence further was not understood by staff or prisoners.
Additionally, it was found the use of force remained high and there was an inconsistent attendance at the use of force meetings, and a failure to use data to better inform practice. Other key concerns found following the inspection included prisoners being "justifiably frustrated" over the amount of time for legitimate requests to be resolved, the poor organisation of release planning, and that prisoners did not have timely access to education, skills and work activities relevant to their needs.
Unemployed prisoners, making up about 45% of the prison population, were locked up for 22 hours a day due to workplaces being too limited and an inefficient allocation process. The education curriculum was found to be well defined, but hindered by the lack of education places, especially for functional skills and language classes for non-English speakers.
The inspection also found the quality of education provision, specifically English lessons, had not been improved, and needed further improvement to make sure prisoners receive a good standard of teaching.
However, prisoners on vocational workshops were developing good skills, which are expected to increase their employability upon release. Improvement is also required on the promotion of good family ties, supporting effective resettlement, and providing prisoners with enough careers information, advice and guidance ahead of their release.
A Prison Service spokesperson from the Ministry of Justice said: “We welcome the progress noted in this report and have already taken a series to address issues over self-harm – including extra training for staff and pairing prolific self-harmers with named safety workers – which has helped to reduce instances of self-harm by 17% since the last inspection.”
Specialist safety keyworkers will be introduced at HMP Nottingham to help reduce the number of self harming prisoners, and new triage facilities will be implemented to help specifically vulnerable prisoners.
The safety team leadership and staffing is also expected to be strengthened, and prolific self harmers will be supported with a specific safety team keyworker. There will also be more workshops around Black History Month to bring staff and prisoners together to support prison diversity and inclusion.
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