The chief inspector of prisons has demanded the justice secretary, David Gauke, take immediate action to safeguard lives at Nottingham prison which he describes as “fundamentally unsafe” and “in a dangerous state”.
It is the first time Peter Clarke has invoked the urgent notification process requiring the justice secretary to respond publicly since it was introduced in November last year.
Prison inspectors who went to Nottingham on 8 January found what they described as “serious failures in safety” which had been highlighted during two previous inspections.
In his letter to the justice secretary, Clarke said there have been eight self-inflicted deaths at HMP Nottingham in the past two years and he fears that unless urgent safety measures are taken there will be “further tragedies”.
The inspectors found high levels of drugs, violence, assaults and use of force by staff. They said that, while workforce shortages were not a problem, the inexperience of staff – more than half of whom had worked in the profession for less than a year – and of managers clearly showed in their dealings with prisoners. More than two-thirds of prisoners told inspectors they had felt unsafe at some point.
“In the six months prior to our inspection, the prison had recorded more than 200 assaults, about half of them against staff. We estimated the rate of assaults against staff to be over twice the rate we normally see in similar prisons,” Clarke told the justice secretary.
“Other indicators were similarly concerning. The number of fights was much higher than similar prisons, force had been used nearly 500 times in six months which we estimate to be more than twice as much as normally seen in similar prisons, and staff had drawn batons at least 33 times.”
Clarke said this was the third time in a row that Nottingham has been found to be unsafe since 2014 – a situation which inspectors could only recall happening at one prison before. He said this alone was enough to invoke the call for the justice secretary to intervene, adding that Nottingham also suffered widespread failings including the “very significant” rise in levels of self-harm at the jail.
He said it was extraordinary there had not been a more robust response: “An action plan was drawn up to guide the implementation of recommendations, but has obviously not received consistent focused attention nor close monitoring from HM Prison and Probation Service senior leadership.
“It appears that the problems at Nottingham are intractable and that staff there are unable to improve safety despite the fact that this failing increases the vulnerability both of those who are held in the prison and of those who work there.”
Gauke responded by committing to publishing a plan of action within 28 days. The justice secretary added that more experienced staff had been provided to the prison and the number of officers boosted by 100.
“We have been clear that we should be held to account for the state of our prisons and that is why we introduced this urgent notification process,” he said. “The chief inspector has rightly identified the very difficult challenges and circumstances staff at HMP Nottingham are facing and it is clear they need support to help deliver a safer establishment for staff and offenders.”
