1
Annual Report
HMP YOI FELTHAM
January 2015
Section 1
Contents
2.The Statutory Role of the IMB3
3.Description of the Prison
Introduction4
Feltham A4
Feltham B5
4.Executive Summary6
Overall judgement6
Particular issues requiring a response from the minister7
Particular issues requiring a response from NOMS8 Last Year’s concerns 8
5.Areas that must be reported on
Equality and Inclusion9 Education, Learning and Skills 9 Resettlement 13
Healthcare and Mental health15
Safer Custody17
Segregation, Care and Separation, Close Supervision 18
Residential Services19
6.Other Areas Reported On.
Adjudications20
The Chaplaincy Department21
Security and Drug Strategy21
Requests and Complaints22
7.The Work of the Board
The Board23 Training and Development 23 Applications 23 The Board Statistics 24 Applications Statistics 25
Section 2
STATUTORY ROLE OF THE IMB
The Prisons Act 1952 and the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999 require every prison and IRC to be monitored by an independent Board appointed by the Home Secretary from members of the community in which the prison or centre is situated.
The Board is specifically charged to:
(1)satisfy itself as to the humane and just treatment of those held in custody within its prison and the range and adequacy of the programmes preparing them for release.
(2)inform promptly the Secretary of State, or any official to whom he has delegated authority as it judges appropriate, any concern it has.
(3)report annually to the Secretary of State on how well the prison has met the standards and requirements placed on it and what impact these have on those in its custody.
To enable the Board to carry out these duties effectively, its members have right of access to every prisoner and every part of the prison and also to the prison’s records.
Section 3
DESCRIPTION OF THE PRISON
Introduction
3.1This report by the Independent Monitoring Board (IMB) for HMP YOI Feltham covers the period from 1st November 2013 to 31st October 2014. HMP YOI Feltham is situated in West London, close to Heathrow Airport, and holds young adults aged 18 to 21 (Feltham B) and young people aged 15 to 17 (Feltham A), convicted of an imprisonable offence. It takes young people from the age of 15 to 18 deemed as unsuitable for, or not warranting, secure local authority accommodation and young adults from the age of 18 to 21 placed in custody by the courts. The establishment serves some London courts and holds young people and young adults from a wide catchment area within the South East and South of England. The Certified Normal Accommodation remains 762.
3.2Throughout this report the term young adult (YA)has been used to refer to those aged 18-21 on Feltham B, and young person/people (YP) to those aged 15-17 on Feltham A. Where the comments refer to both Feltham A and B, the term young people/adults has been used.
Feltham A
3.3Feltham A holds young people (YP) under 18 years of age on remand, convicted and sentenced. There are 7 residential units plus a First Night/Induction unit (Bittern) Accommodation is predominantly in single rooms.
3.4Many of the young men held are very difficult to manage. The level of violence and the high number of assaults have been of an ongoing concern to the IMB. At the end of October there was an assault on three members of staff which was obviously pre planned which was very worrying. The violence may be gang related or connected to outside prison issues but is often unpredictable. However, it is recognised how hard the staff work to keep the young men in their care safe whilst also maximising their activity and time out of cell. Their commitment and calm approach to the daily challenges they face is to be commended.
3.5There was a smooth transition of management when a new Head of Residence took over in March.
3.6The YJB agreed to reduce the roll to below 180 from the end of April to cope with staff shortages and to allow for closing one unit at a time for refurbishment. By the end of October the roll was approximately 150 and the fifth unit’s refurbishment was almost complete, leaving two still to be done.
3.7In May, Curlew became a workers’ unit. The young men on this unit are those who have shown they can be trusted to behave and as a result have more privileges such as dining out in the evenings and at weekends (staffing permitting). It is hoped to extend this to another unit.
3.8Government ministers announced that they wanted the rules on watching TV to be changed. There were to be stricter controls and a standardised bedtime across the whole Juvenile Estate. TVs were to be turned off at 10.30pm. This was implemented at the beginning of September without causing undue problems.
3.9The BMG continue to work with both victims and perpetrators of assaults, including mediation. Staff shortages though have meant that they may be redeployed to other work. The Advocacy work done by Barnardo’s continues to be appreciated by the young men and the IMB liaise with them as necessary.
Feltham B
3.10Feltham B now holds young adults aged 18 to 21 who are now sentenced only. The re-roll of Feltham B began in September 2013 and during the reporting period the population has become completely sentenced only prisoners.
3.11There are 9 residential units on Feltham B that can each accommodate up to 56 Young Adults. All cells have integral sanitation facilities and are either single or double occupancy.. All units operate the IEP scheme. Kingfisher is the first night/induction wing. It has intakes on Monday, Wednesday and Friday only. The unit also houses the prisons Red Bands, which are increasing in number and currently stand at 16.
3.12Feltham B has undergone substantial redecoration and refurbishment during the past year, with each unit being closed at some point for repainting and extensive maintenance. Those units that have been completed are looking much brighter and cleaner.
3.13Due to the closure of the units, the population on the B side has been lower during the past year. At the time of writing there were 380 young adults housed in Feltham B.
3.14The change in population to a sentenced one has certainly had a positive effect on the levels of violence with the B side, on the whole, being a much less volatile place. The use of batons has been significantly reduced to almost nil since the last reporting period. This can be attributed to a more settled population as well as the ability of the staff to deal with situations that arise.
3.15The change of population has not been without challenges for the staff on Feltham B, particularly in the areas of Offender Management and Sentence Planning. Additional training is to be given to staff on how to work with and build relationships with sentenced prisoners. Officers will run the training, which is scheduled to begin in January 2015.
3.16The regimes on Feltham A and Feltham B are separate, although certain services are shared. These are
a)the segregation unit, Ibis
b)the gym ( but YPs and YAs do not mix)
c)healthcare services ( but YPS and YAS do not mix apart from the inpatient unit)
d)the library
e)the chaplaincy ( services are separate)
f)visits ( YPs and YAs on different days
Section 4
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Feltham B
4.1The re-roll of Feltham B continued throughout the reporting period and at the beginning of 2014 there were no more remands on this side of the prison. This transition to a sentenced establishment had taken longer to complete than had been hoped for and led to some frustrations especially with the sentenced YAs held there.
4.2As a result, the number of assaults decreased markedly as hoped for and batons were used on a limited number of occasions only. The Board welcomes this improvement in the conditions for YAs held, and staff who work on Feltham B.
4.3The senior management and staff have worked tirelessly to deliver new opportunities for this sentenced population and the Board acknowledges their dedication to this task.
4.4There has been an issue with the delivery of education on Feltham B during this reporting period and A4e have now relinquished their contract early as payment by results has meant a significant loss for them. Feltham has amongst the lowest rates for cancellation and the highest rates for attendance in the London region. New contractors are due early in the New Year.
4.5The dispersal of remand YAs to London local prisons has not been without problems and some of the violence experienced at Feltham has merely been transferred elsewhere. Many man hours of staff time and IMB time has been given to trying to locate the property of these young men as they frequently change establishments in the London area.
Feltham A
4.6Feltham A continues to be a real concern to the IMB both in terms of the high levels of violence reached and nature of the violence. The number of assaults on staff has also increased. A letter was sent to the Secretary of State for Justice expressing these concerns.
4.7The response falls outside the reporting period but many new initiatives, studies, assessments and sub-groups were mentioned. All of these will take a long time to set up. It is hoped that in our next annual report there will be something tangible to report on.
4.8In the meantime, the Behaviour Management Group and all the A side staff are to be commended for the difficult job they have to do in managing these young men often with complex needs on a day to day basis.
4.9There has been a significant rise in the number of YP placed on GOOD as removal from the unit is no longer an option for an adjudication award. The decision to hold YP on GOOD is not taken lightly and the board supports the management over such decisions.
Staffing Issues
4.10Staffing levels have been a constant problem all year with the prison averaging some 57 officers short overall.
4.11At the end of the reporting period the Board was so concerned that a letter was written to the Secretary of State relaying its concerns of staffing levels and violence on Feltham A.
4.12The response received stated that there was a recruitment campaign that was to close at the end of December and would begin again until vacancies are filled. This is little help to the prison now who need extra staff immediately.
Shared Areas
4.13The Board acknowledges the improvements made by the healthcare provider CareUK and has monitored the implementation of several new initiatives.
4.14The Board remains concerned about the overall provision of mental healthcare to prisoners on both sides of the establishment, and is aware of the impact that a small number of individuals showing very disturbed behaviour may have on the rest of the prison.
4.15Education at Feltham continues to present problems, largely because of the challenging nature of many of the boys. However, the Board does acknowledge that teachers generally are dedicated to their task. Attendance on A-side has been low at least in part because of behavioural issues. This appears to be a persistent problem requires greater attention. Education outreach is provided to excluded boys but this service may need to be strengthened and made more relevant.
4.16On the B-side, there may be a case for improving the process by which boys apply for courses provided by external bodies such as the OU.
4.17In August 2014 there was a planned full HMIP inspection of Feltham A and B. The Board observed the considerable preparation and hard work involved.
Particular Issues requiring a response from the Minister
4.18Staffing is not just a question of recruitment campaigns as these have been ongoing all year. Feltham now has more vacancies than this time last year. The problem seems to be the low financial rewardfor a dangerous job. For example, jobs at nearby Heathrow airport are far better paid and considerably less dangerous.
What incentives can the Minister offer to attract new prison officers and deter experienced officers from leaving?
4.19The Board has already made known its concern about the level of violence on A-side. The exact means of tackling this issue is a matter for the prison and the YJB. However, the prison has indicated a couple of areas that might be considered. These include providing greater resources to the existing Behaviour Management Group – and establishing more specialised residential units to manage the behaviour of difficult boys.
Can the Minister give some assurance that these measures will soon be in place?
4.20Next year’s roll-out of Managing and Minimising Physical Restraint (MMPR) should help to reduce violence levels on the A side. However, the current high risk to the lives, health and wellbeing of officers is completely unacceptable. There is a need for urgent short-term as well as longer term measures.
What solutions does the Minister intend to implement in order to deal with this?
Particular Issues Requiring a Response from NOMS
4.21One of the most frequent subjects for applications to the Board has been locating prisoner’s property. Both prison staff and IMB members spend considerable time trying to trace missing items of property.
Is there something that can be done to ensure that all of a prisoners’ property is moved with them when they are transferred between prisons?
Previous Year’s Concerns
4.22Once again the Board has raised concerns of education provision and staffing issues. Neither of these concerns have been sufficiently addressed in this reporting year.
Section 5
Equality and Inclusion
5.1 Every functional department in Feltham is involved in Equalities and Inclusions. The profile of the Equality Action Team has been raised this year with additional training for staff and more detailed explanations for prisoners. This has resulted in more prisoner complaints, but this increase has been embraced as positive as clearly more prisoners now have an understanding of equalities within the prison.
5.2 Feltham continues to hold a very diverse population of young people and young adults. A total of 24 different nationalities are currently housed in the prison. At the time of writing there was a large number of both Portuguese and Somali prisoners. During the past year Feltham has housed a number of immigration detainees. At the time of writing there were 6 and also one prisoner awaiting extradition. The Board is concerned at the length of time it takes to facilitate the removal of some of these sentence expired prisoners to IRCs. Non-British nationals are not entitled to Legal Aid and we received several enquiries during this period relating to lack of access to independent legal advice. This group are also at higher risk of self-harm.
5.3 A wide range of religious beliefs is held among prisoners in Feltham. The highest percentage is Muslim with currently 34.6% of the population declaring this faith. This is an increase from last year when the Muslim population was 33.9%. Other predominant faiths are Roman Catholic with 16.4% (down from 20.6% last year), Church of England with 9.3% and 18.4% of prisoners stated being Christian (an increase from 17.5%last year).
5.4The chaplaincy provides a very good support mechanism, with communal worship and opportunities for one-to-one discussion and reflections that are valued by prisoners. Unfortunately, incidents are still prevalent at the various religious services, particularly in the Mosque.
5.5There is evidence of effective staff training to appropriately facilitate the observance of Ramadan for the large Muslim population that Feltham holds. However, the feedback from the Prisoner Ramadan Focus Group was not positive this year. The food provided was generally poor with weekends being problem times as no provision was made for hot meals. Quality as well as quantity was lacking and it was believed that food did not meet nutritional minimum requirements. The Board noted that prisoners on the basic regime did not have kettles so were unable to use vacuum packed food or flasks. It was generally believed that other prisons coped better with Ramadan.
5.6 The Equalities team continue to be supported by the Zahid Murbarak Trust, who send a representative to all EAT meetings where possible. They also check all complaints made once they have been signed off by the Governor. This provides a valuable crosscheck for these complaints.
Education Learning and Skills
A Side Education
5.7Education is compulsory for A-side boys with attendance generally being 5 half days per week.
5.8The poor behaviour seen on A-side generally is also reflected at times on A-side Education, presenting a challenge for the teaching staff. Fights and other disturbances still occur in spite of exclusions.
5.9 Despite Education being compulsory for A-side, too many boys have had to be excluded because of keep-apart issues or behavioural problems. Sometimes, as many as 20 boys may be excluded for reasons associated with behavioural issues – and total attendance can be below 30 (sometimes much lower) when there are 75 classroom spaces available. Efforts are made to re-introduce excluded boys to mainstream classes wherever possible.However, in view of the persisting low attendance, greater efforts and new initiatives may be required to improve this situation.