Report on an Announced inspection of HMP Parkhurst, HMP Albany and HMP Camp Hill 4–15 October 2010 by HMCIP. Report compiled January 2011, published Wednesday 22nd March 2011

Since the amalgamation of the three Isle of Wight prisons into one, there has been some progress but it has been inconsistent. In 2009, the Prison Service clustered the three Isle of Wight prisons - HMP Parkhurst, HMP Albany and HMP Camp Hill - under a single governor. Each site is a significant challenge in its own right and each has been criticised by the Inspectorate previously. Amalgamating three disparate prisons was fraught with risk, not least that managers would be distracted by the upheaval from delivering the improvements that have frequently been called for.

Concerns:
- safety had deteriorated at Camp Hill, where illegal drugs appeared endemic and, in consequence, too many prisoners sought sanctuary in the segregation unit;

- use of force remained high, and there were a number of examples of inappropriate use of special accommodation;

- Albany's poorly functioning automatic night sanitation arrangements remained unacceptable and degrading;

- the management of diversity issues varied markedly, as did the quality of personal officer schemes;

- a quarter of prisoners were locked in their cells during the core day at Camp Hill, despite its avowed training role and the quality of learning and skills there was inadequate; and

- overall, there was not enough education, training and work to keep prisoners purposefully occupied, too many prisoners were unemployed and not enough focus was placed on vocational qualifications; and

- resettlement and offender management remained underdeveloped across the prison, despite some excellent offending behaviour programmes, especially at Albany.

In 2009, largely in the search for efficiencies, the Prison Service ambitiously clustered the three Isle of Wight prisons under a single governor. Each site is a significant challenge in its own right and each has been criticised by us previously: Parkhurst is a category B prison with a chequered history, also holding a few local remand prisoners; Albany is a category B prison holding mainly sex offenders; and Camp Hill is a category C training prison. So amalgamating such disparate prisons was fraught with risk, not least that managers would be distracted by the upheaval from delivering the fundamental improvements that we have frequently called for in the past. It is to the considerable credit of the senior management team that this full announced inspection found at least some progress.

Prisoners reported improvements in safety at both Parkhurst and Albany but a deterioration at Camp Hill, where illegal drugs appeared endemic and, in consequence, too many prisoners sought sanctuary in the segregation unit. Conversely, both Parkhurst and Albany had taken steps to reduce their disproportionate use of segregation. Parkhurst had also safely integrated its regime, mixing vulnerable and ordinary prisoners. Overall, suicide and self-harm prevention issues were generally well managed. Use of force across the prison remained high, not all of it apparently justified, and we were particularly concerned by a number of examples of inappropriate use of special accommodation.

Accommodation was generally satisfactory, with the glaring exception of Albany's poorly functioning automatic night sanitation arrangements, which remained unacceptable and degrading. There had been considerable management efforts to improve staff prisoner relationships, with notable progress at Parkhurst, but the quality of personal officer schemes remained variable. The management of diversity issues also varied markedly. Faith services were good. Primary health care was in need of urgent improvement but mental health services were good.

Time out of cell and levels of purposeful activity varied. Overall, there was not enough education, training and work to keep prisoners purposefully occupied, too many prisoners were unemployed and not enough focus was placed on vocational qualifications. It was particularly unsatisfactory that we found a quarter of prisoners locked in their cells during the core day at Camp Hill, despite its avowed training role. Moreover, the quality of learning and skills at Camp Hill was inadequate, although better at Parkhurst and good at Albany. Access to library facilities varied, but PE had improved with clustering.

Resettlement and offender management remained underdeveloped across the prison, despite some excellent offending behaviour programmes, especially at Albany. The management of public protection issues was generally good, but work with indeterminate sentenced prisoners varied and was particularly underdeveloped at Camp Hill. There were some good, basic reintegration services but there was considerable scope for further improvement, particularly to develop arrangements to maintain contact with families and friends.

HMP Isle of Wight is, in many ways, the sum of its three disparate parts: Parkhurst, Albany and Camp Hill prisons. However, the single senior management team has worked hard to combat the many frailties and unique - and sometimes negative - cultures of the three sites, and has had some success. Thus Parkhurst, which was the subject of coruscating previous criticism from the Inspectorate, has demonstrated considerable improvements in terms of safety and decency. There has also been some improvement at Albany. By contrast, Camp Hill appears to have slipped off the management's radar and has deteriorated significantly in terms of both safety and its core training function.

This inconsistent progress exemplifies the challenges facing HMP Isle of Wight: it is now a huge prison, with a large number of inherited weaknesses. Some of these have been addressed but many more remain. Moreover, on the final day of the inspection the prison's governor, who had been with the cluster since its inception, announced his resignation to join the private sector. This has left an enormous prison with a huge, unfinished agenda for change facing a difficult economic future under new leadership. The National Offender Management Service will need to ensure that HMP Isle of Wight and its managers are well supported if the progress we found, albeit inconsistent, is to be sustained and the many remaining issues addressed.

Nick Hardwick
HM Chief Inspector of Prisons