Prison staff criticised by inspectors in report

STAFF at Exeter Prison have been criticised by inspectors for their insufficient care and indifference towards prisoners.

Six prisoners have taken their own lives at the facility since May, 2018 – three of those in the last year since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic. Levels of self-harm at the prison have also been found to have increased during the pandemic.

Eight key areas of concern were found by HM Inspectorate of Prisons at Exeter, which holds about 430 men. Because safety was found to be so poor at the Victorian category B prison at a previous scrutiny visit in May, 2018, inspectors issued a ‘rarely used’ urgent notification to the Secretary of State for Justice.

A subsequent independent review of progress in 2019 found that the improvements made to prisoners’ conditions were ‘too little, too late’. Since then, the inspectorate says further progress at the prison has been hampered by a high turnover of staff, as well as their inexperience and lack of confidence in dealing with prisoners.

In March, inspectors found that some key leadership posts had only recently been filled and that onethird of front-line staff had been in post for less than a year. They reported a lack of confidence among members of staff, poor staff-prisoner relationships and problems with staff culture.

The report says there were examples of “unresponsiveness to prisoner requests and enquiries, insufficient care for prisoners at risk of self-harm or suicide, and indifference to the needs of prisoners with physical disabilities”.

In a survey issued by the inspectors, 41% of prisoners said that they had experienced bullying or victimisation from staff, while 24% said they had experienced bullying or victimisation from other prisoners and 29% said they felt unsafe at the time of the visit.

Charlie Taylor, Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Prisons, said: “Despite a clear vision for a safe, decent and secure establishment, we found many areas where outcomes needed to improve. We found that relationships between prisoners and staff were not good enough and many prisoners were frustrated at the difficulties they faced, for example, when making reasonable requests. Prisoners from a black or minority ethnic background had very poor perceptions of staff.

“Despite some progress since our last inspection and during the pandemic, outcomes for prisoners at Exeter still required improvement.

All leaders and managers needed to commit fully to the governor’s vision for the establishment with the development of staff capability based on good quality relationships with prisoners remaining a priority.”

Progress made at the prison includes a reduction in violence among prisoners throughout the pandemic and “reasonably well managed” use of force by prison staff. At the start of 2021, however, there was a sharp increase in violence against staff, which has been attributed to prisoners’ frustration at the reintroduction of restrictions.

A Prison Service spokesperson said: “We’re recruiting more staff and delivering specialist training to all new officers at Exeter, giving them the tools they need to support the most vulnerable prisoners. At the same time, X-ray scanners and enhanced security are driving down drug use and improving safety.”