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Background
HM Prison Portland is a male Adult/Young Offenders Institution in the village of The Grove on the Isle of Portland, in Dorset, England. It is operated by His Majesty's Prison Service. The prison was originally opened in 1848 as an adult convict establishment, before becoming a Borstal in 1921, and a YOI in 1988. In 2011 it became an Adult/Young Offenders establishment.
problems with drugs and violence. young population of which 14% were under 21, and nearly half were under 30. lost its way, struggling with high levels of violence, poor living conditions and a around the jail and comments in our staff survey were positive about the Leaders had successfully challenged and begun to change the culture at Portland, improving consultation with the staff team and addressing negative There had however, been problems with recruiting sufficient mental health staff Although leaders had worked hard to reduce levels of violence which had, in the source of many incidents. Staff had worked hard to ramp up purposeful activity served a particularly deprived population of which nearly 39% were care was hampered by staff shortages, leaving some of the good facilities in the jail We were particularly impressed by many of the middle leaders and custody who were encouraged to innovate by the senior leadership team.
Visiting
Portland was a long way from home, making visits difficult and adding to their
Mailing
defying the national trend with almost all officer posts full at Portland.
Practical info
prison library. Portland is a medium sized category C training and resettlement prison in South lack of purposeful activity. The current governor, who took over in 2020, had There had however, been problems with recruiting sufficient mental health staff of prisoners than usual told us they have mental health difficulties. This may in Although leaders had worked hard to reduce levels of violence which had, in the past had been particularly high, there was more work to be done to continue to source of many incidents.
Known issues
problems with drugs and violence. lost its way, struggling with high levels of violence, poor living conditions and a part have led to levels of self-harm that had increased since the last inspection Although leaders had worked hard to reduce levels of violence which had, in the source of many incidents. Staff had worked hard to ramp up purposeful activity release. In turn, this could lead to less debt, fewer incidents of violence and
What should the prison do?
We want the governor to read the report
we wrote about HMP & YOI Portland and
make a plan.
The plan should tell us how they will fix
the problems at HMP & YOI Portland and
make things better for prisoners.
What do we want to happen?
We want the prison to sort out the
problems with drugs and violence.
We want the prison to do more to help
prisoners who might harm themselves.
You can find the report we wrote in the
prison library.
We want patients to get health care that
is safe.
We want prisoners to get more support
to see and speak to their family and
friends.
We want all prisoners to get enough help
before they leave the prison, with things
like finding somewhere to live.
We want prisoners to be able to speak to
an officer who knows them regularly.
We want all prisoners to be treated fairly.
We want prisoners with physical
disabilities to get the support they need.
What will we do?
We will come back in a few years to
check how well the prison is doing. We
will write a report to tell people what we
find.
If you have any questions, please write
to us:
HM Inspectorate of Prisons
3rd floor
10 South Colonnade
Canary Wharf
London
E14 4PU
Portland is a medium sized category C training and resettlement prison in South
Dorset, which at the time of our inspection held 512 prisoners. The jail had a
young population of which 14% were under 21, and nearly half were under 30.
When HMI Prisons last inspected Portland in 2019, we found a prison that had
lost its way, struggling with high levels of violence, poor living conditions and a
lack of purposeful activity. The current governor, who took over in 2020, had
begun an impressive transformation. He and his senior team were visible
around the jail and comments in our staff survey were positive about the
changes they had made. This was reflected in the prison’s excellent self-
assessment report (SAR), which showed that the senior team had a very good
understanding of the prison’s strengths and weakness alongside credible and
impressive plans to make improvements.
Leaders had successfully challenged and begun to change the culture at
Portland, improving consultation with the staff team and addressing negative
behaviour. There had also been a concerted effort to improve recruitment,
defying the national trend with almost all officer posts full at Portland.
There had however, been problems with recruiting sufficient mental health staff
and this was a particularly serious issue in Portland, where a greater proportion
of prisoners than usual told us they have mental health difficulties. This may in
part have led to levels of self-harm that had increased since the last inspection
and were higher than similar jails.
Although leaders had worked hard to reduce levels of violence which had, in the
past had been particularly high, there was more work to be done to continue to
bear down on the causes. Specifically, the accrual of debt appeared to be the
source of many incidents. Staff had worked hard to ramp up purposeful activity
and it was good to see that all but a few prisoners were able to work or attend
education. Many, however, were frustrated by the levels of pay which, at £11
per week, was low, particularly as almost all work was part time. The prison
served a particularly deprived population of which nearly 39% were care
leavers, many of whom did not get money sent in and were reliant on what they
could earn in prison. Frustration over low wages had been compounded by
recent increases in the prices of canteen goods. For many of these prisoners,
Portland was a long way from home, making visits difficult and adding to their
sense of isolation. Progress towards opening up workshops and classrooms
was hampered by staff shortages, leaving some of the good facilities in the jail
were underused.
We were particularly impressed by many of the middle leaders and custody
managers, who had been given responsibility for making improvements and
who were encouraged to innovate by the senior leadership team.
Portland has come a long way since our last inspection and the staff team
should be proud of the progress they have made. Leaders will need to maintain
focus on the prison’s primary role as a training and resettlement jail, in which
men are working on or learning the skills and habits that they need to be
successful when they are released. This means a much larger proportion in full-
time education or work in a regime that better prepares prisoners for eventual
release. In turn, this could lead to less debt, fewer incidents of violence and
improved mental health, particularly if the prison can overcome difficulties
recruiting enough mental health staff.
Charlie Taylor
HM Chief Inspector of Prisons
September 2022
HM Inspectorate of Prisons (HMIP) and HM Inspectorate of Probation for England and Wales are independent inspectorates which provide scrutiny of
the conditions for, and treatment of prisoners and offenders. They report their findings for prisons, Young Offender Institutions and effectiveness of the
work of probation, Community Rehabilitation Companies (CRCs) and youth offending services across England and Wales to Ministry of Justice (MoJ)
and Her Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS). In response to the report HMPPS / MoJ are required to draft a robust and timely action plan
to address the recommendations. The action plan confirms whether recommendations are agreed, partly agreed or not agreed (see categorisations
below). Where a recommendation is agreed or partly agreed, the action plans provides specific steps and actions to address these. Actions are clear,
measurable, achievable and relevant with the owner and timescale of each step clearly identified. Action plans are sent to HMIP and published on the
HMPPS web based Prison Finder. Progress against the implementation and delivery of the action plans will also be monitored and reported on.
Term
Definition
Additional comment
Agreed
All of the recommendation is agreed
with, can be achieved and is affordable.
The response should clearly explain how the recommendation will be
achieved along with timescales. Actions should be as SMART (Specific,
Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and Time-bound) as possible.
Actions should be specific enough to be tracked for progress.
Partly Agreed
Only part of the recommendation is
agreed with, is achievable, affordable
and will be implemented.
This might be because we cannot
implement the whole recommendation
because of commissioning, policy,
operational or affordability reasons.
The response must state clearly which part of the recommendation will
be implemented along with SMART actions and tracked for progress.
There must be an explanation of why we cannot fully agree the
recommendation - this must state clearly whether this is due to
commissioning, policy, operational or affordability reasons.
Not Agreed
The recommendation is not agreed and
will not be implemented.
This might be because of
commissioning, policy, operational or
affordability reasons.
The response must clearly state the reasons why we have chosen this
option.
There must be an explanation of why we cannot agree the
recommendation - this must state clearly whether this is due to
commissioning, policy, operational or affordability reasons.
ACTION PLAN: HMCIP REPORT
ESTABLISHMENT: HMP/YOI Portland
1.
Rec
No
2.
Recommendation
3.
Agreed/
Partly
Agreed/
Not Agreed
4.
Response
Action Taken/Planned
5.
Responsible Owner
6.
Target Date
