Prisoner progression at HMP High Down hampered by population and probation pressures

Prison population pressures are resulting in prisoners being transferred into HMP High Down before they are ready to comply with the regime of a category C prison. This practice threatens the stability of the prison and puts immense pressure on the population and staff alike. Combined with a chronic lack of probation staff, it also significantly impacts prisoners’ ability to progress, says the Independent Monitoring Board (IMB) for HMP High Down in its 2023 annual report, released 11 July 2024.

The Board also notes that:

• Prisoners continue to be held in the care separation and reintegration unit despite being medically assessed as unfit to be segregated. Although the Board raised this as a concern in 2022, it continues to be an issue due to the lack of mental health pathways available to the prison.
• There are not enough work and education places available, and some courses prisoners are required to complete as part of their sentence plans are only available in the last year of their sentence. This leads to frustration amongst prisoners at their perceived lack of progress.
• There has been a significant increase in the number of violent incidents, as well as a huge increase in the number of finds of illicit items. Both of these have had a detrimental impact on the stability of the prison.

However, the Board recognises that:

• Despite a chronic shortage of prison probation workers, staff in the offender management unit at HMP High Down continue to work hard to complete sentence plans for prisoners, completing more than any other OMU in the Greater London area.
• There have been improvements in the provision of visits and family contact facilitation. The Board welcomes the introduction of get togethers for prisoners who do not receive any form of social visit.
• Waiting times for outpatient health services have improved and there has been an encouraging decrease in the number of healthcare related representations made to the IMB by prisoners.

IMB High Down Chair, Nicky Stannard said:

“Despite the hard work of staff and management, prisoners at HMP High Down continue to be negatively impacted by population pressures within the prison estate and staffing shortages within the Probation Service. It is disappointing that prisoners who are not yet ready to comply with the regime are being transferred to High Down in order to make space in the high security estate. This is putting immense pressure on staff and disrupting prisoners’ chances of successful rehabilitation and resettlement.”