Staffing crisis at prison near Rugby is 'one of the worst' ever seen, say inspectors - The Rugby Observer

Staffing crisis at prison near Rugby is 'one of the worst' ever seen, say inspectors

Rugby Editorial 7th Sep, 2022   0

A ’STAFFING crisis’ at a prison near Rugby is ‘one of the worst’ ever seen by inspectors.

A new HM Inspectorate of Prisons (HMIP) report into HMP Onley says acute staffing shortages are having a ‘severe impact’ on the provision of activities and progression for prisoners.

Following an inspection of the category C training and resettlement prison which took place in May and June, the Chief Inspector of Prisons described the staffing situation as ‘one of the worst’ he had seen.

Charlie Taylor said: “The prison was unable to deliver a proper category C regime.




“Out of a population of 732, less than half were working or attending education, and because the prison was operating a split regime even these prisoners were only spending half the day off the wing.

“Moreover, this restrictive regime wasn’t always being carried out – short staffing was leading to it being frequently curtailed, a situation that was worse during the weekends.”


The report added quality of education was poor and the curriculum did not meet the needs of prisoners. Prisoners were not effectively allocated to work, training, and education, and attendance was too low.

The offender management unit was judged as not providing good enough support to prisoners, many of whom told inspectors they rarely saw their prison offender manager.

But the report said HMP Onley was now a safer prison, after a 2019 inspection found it to be ‘fundamentally unsafe’.

Violent incidents against prisoners had reduced by 65 per cent, with most incidents caused by limited time out of cells and poor access to work.

Fewer prisoners than at the last inspection reported that drugs were easily available at Onley.

Mr Taylor added: “Lower levels of violence, and the end of Covid restrictions, offer a springboard for leaders at Onley to open up the regime and motivate prisoners, many of whom have become indolent after two years of lockdowns, so that the prison can really fulfil its function as a category C prison.

“Unless the dire staffing situation improves however, it is hard to see how this can be achieved.”

Andrew Neilson, Director of Campaigns at the Howard League for Penal Reform, said: “Inadequate staffing contributes to a deepening prison overcrowding crisis and an alarming rise in the number of self-inflicted deaths in custody.

“People in prison should be engaged in exercise, education, employment and training – which overstretched, understaffed jails are unable to provide. Instead, people are warehoused in unsafe conditions for hours on end with nothing to do, with suicides, assaults and riots becoming increasingly common.

“Urgent action must be taken to ease the strain on the prison system through increasing officer numbers and reducing prisoner numbers.”

A Prison Service spokesperson said outcomes for prisoners were now ‘reasonably good’, all safety recommendations from the last HMIP report had been achieved, and there had been a 24 per cent decrease in violent incidents against staff.

They added: “Across the prison estate, we have recruited 4,000 extra staff in the last four years and have committed to increasing the number of officers in public and private sector prisons by 5,000 by the mid-2020s.”

Visit www.justiceinspectorates.gov.uk/hmiprisons/inspections to read the full report.

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