Men’s prison not fit for 21st century, says report

A MIDLAND prison cannot be considered fit as a 21st century jail, a damning inspection report said.

HMP Hewell, a large men’s prison near Redditch, was forced to implement stringent restrictions at the start of the pandemic.

The Independent Monitoring Board (IMB), which monitors prisons to ensure that people in custody are treated humanely, said in a report that such measures may cause “collateral damage” to prisoners’ welfare. It added that self-harm at the prison remained ‘‘stubbornly high’’ and that it still lacked decent accommodation fit for the 21st century.

An IMB spokesman said: “HMP Hewell endured a tumultuous year dominated by the impact of the pandemic.

“While the agile and effective response to the pandemic kept the men largely safe from infection, there is concern that the measures will cause collateral damage to prisoners’ broader welfare, rehabilitation, sentence management and, crucially, their mental health.”

A previous inspection in August 2020 revealed a series of concerns after five months of Covid-19 restrictions.

Issues highlighted were self-isolating prisoners waiting up to a fortnight for a shower and one hour a day out of cells was “not enough”.

Peter Clarke, HM chief inspector of prisons, said the restrictions put in place at the start of the pandemic were no longer proportionate.

“There had been little progress in ensuring that prisoners had sufficient time out of cell or purposeful activity,” he said at the time.

“This contributed to prisoners’ frustration and potentially to a deterioration in mental and emotional wellbeing.

“Prison leaders at both local and national level should take note of the fact that 70 per cent of the prisoners we surveyed at Hewell reported problems with their mental health.”

However, the report concluded that recent improvements in terms of culture and investment could have a positive impact and a new governor was determined to raise standards.