HMP Kirklevington Grange

Reports

• HMIP2 Sept 2024

  Under an experienced governor, Kirklevington Grange was a thriving and innovative open prison that held a little over 200 prisoners at the time of inspection. The focus was on getting prisoners, some of whom were coming to the end of long sentences, into good working habits and preparing them for their eventual release back into the community. Serving a population that came mostly from the north-east of England, the prison had made good connections with local employers and about a quarter of the population was released on temporary licence (ROTL) to go out to work every day. With 60% in employment six months after release, there was a strong record in finding sustainable work for those leaving prison. Prisoners approaching the end of their sentences were also allowed home leave to reconnect with their families. We were, however, concerned that staff were not conducting any follow-up checks on those going on home leave and that this was well known among the prisoner group. The prison was using ROTL creatively to support the progress of the men, including going to Gambling and Narcotics Anonymous meetings and having driving lessons. Prisoners also ran a successful café and car wash just outside the main gate. Relationships between prisoners and staff were good, with many experienced officers offering authoritative care and support. There was clear motivation for prisoners to behave well, and violence was very rare. Despite the unnecessary and imposing fences round the prison that were, we were told, too costly to remove, there was an open feel and men were given freedom to move round the jail and take advantage of the extensive, well- tended grounds. Although some accommodation was old and shabby, few prisoners complained because they were never locked in their rooms and most were not locked onto their units until 8pm every evening. Food was well prepared and 72% of prisoners told us it was good in our survey. The men ate communally in the dining room where there was a positive, lively atmosphere. It was disappointing that prisoners had limited self-catering facilities even in the new pod accommodation, particularly as there was a very good range of vegetables grown in the greenhouses and market gardens. Despite our rating of ‘good’ across each of our four healthy prison tests, leaders were keen to learn from the inspection and had taken action against almost all of the concerns we had raised at our last visit. Some areas, however, needed improvement. While use of force was rare, body-worn cameras were not routinely used and some aspects of oversight were not good enough. Management of prisoners who were segregated, most of whom were waiting to be transferred back to closed conditions, was not robust, with health care screening and regular checks not always completed. Education, assessed as ‘good’ by Ofsted, took placed in the New Directions Centre, which was also a hub for other services. The impressive neurodiversity lead provided support for prisoners, had arranged training for staff, and helped to increase the access to ROTL for neurodivergent prisoners. The health care provision was well led and of particularly good quality, with very good access to primary care. Staff and prisoners were invited to come up with ideas for enrichment activities. On the day of my visit, there was a traditional sports day set up by an imaginative PE instructor in which the whole prison community competed. There were also football and basketball matches which included staff and prisoners, and guitar lessons taught by one of the officers. Leaders and staff should be proud of their achievements at Kirklevington Grange and there was no sense that the prison would rest on its laurels after this inspection. We left confident that the prison would take on our concerns and would continue to improve. Charlie Taylor HM Chief Inspector of Prisons October 2024

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• NPM-uk-imb-safety1 Jan 2024

  The inspection by HMIP in September 2024 found that the outcomes for prisoners in the safety category were ‘good’ (the highest level), although some concerns were identified in their report. During our regular monitoring and observing various meetings, we would agree with their comments. 4.1 Intelligence gathering Security and intelligence information is submitted in the form of intelligence reports (IRs), which are categorised by subject. The analysis of IRs in 2024 is shown below. Change from Threat area 2024 2023 previous year UAL (unlawfully at large) 3 2 1 Breach of ROTL (release on 106 93 13 temporary licence) Drugs 483 745 -262 Mobile phones 91 165 -74 Other illicit articles 33 65 -32 Serious and organised crime 20 41 -21 Violence 56 114 -58 Safer custody 36 58 -22 Order and stability 936 1108 -172 Public protection 23 50 -27 Sexual abuse 9 10 -1 Race relations/extremism 9 10 -1 Extremism 0 0 0 Corruptors 0 0 0 Corruption Prevention 0 0 0 TOTAL 1805 2461 -656 There was a decrease in the number of intelligence reports, although there doesn’t seem to be a single clear cause for this. The authors of these reports said there is no rhyme or reason behind the downward trend. It is very much dependent on consistency of employed staff at the prison and of completing reports. In past years, these figures have not been consistent. 4.2 Reception and induction During the reporting year, there were 301 receptions into the prison from various other establishments, compared with 240 [...]

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• NPM-uk-imb-purposeful-activity1 Jan 2024

  Novus held the contract for education within the prison. The annual delivery plan for April to December 2024 had a 99.7% achievement rate. A total of 85.38% of eligible prisoners were allocated education placements, with an 87.67% attendance rate between April and December. The pass rates for various qualifications from April 2024 were as follows: Course/Level 1st quarter 2nd quarter 3rd quarter Total Maths E1/E2 0 0 0 0 Maths E3 5 8 1 14 Maths L1 18 13 19 50 Maths L2 8 10 3 21 English E1/E2 0 0 0 0 Maths E3 1 2 1 4 English L1 14 10 12 36 English L2 12 22 17 51 EDSQ (essential digital skills 1 4 8 13 qualification) Total 59 69 61 189 The service level provides the highest attainment for English in the region at 77%. The Ofsted inspection, as part of the wider prison inspection, graded education as ‘good with outstanding features’. • Overall effectiveness: good • Quality of education: good • Behaviour and attitudes: outstanding • Personal development: good • Leadership and management good Our ongoing weekly monitoring of education gives us figures that confirm the recent Ofsted report, and we appreciate the work done by the education department for the benefit of the prisoners. The Ofsted inspection reported: ‘The education, skills and work department in the prison was well led and our previous concerns had been taken seriously, resulting in significant improvements to activities provision and quality assurance. Efforts to cultivate links with community employers had led to [...]

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• NPM-uk-imb-respect1 Jan 2024

  5.1 Accommodation, clothing, food The accommodation at Kirklevington is basic and tired in places, with some men expressing disappointment in the facilities on arrival at a category D open establishment. Bathroom and shower facilities are rudimentary, and the shower enclosures are small. Cleaning appears to be carried out thoroughly, but the ageing flooring and fittings can make cleaning difficult. During 2024, the prison itself painted the induction unit to make it more welcoming. They also hung a woodland mural and added waterfall stickers to the unit staircase. On other units, pictures of nature were hung to brighten the appearance. Work began to construct a garden area behind the unit that houses prisoners over 50s, so that those who are at retirement age could grow fruit and vegetables. However, this had to be suspended due to bad weather. There are plans to undertake improvement works to other areas of the prison and to construct a wildlife pond. In an exit survey in the reporting period, completed by all prisoners on release, 81% said the living accommodation was good. Due to national prison population challenges, doubling up in the 20 cells in the induction block had been necessary and this was perceived as a regressive step by prisoners transferring to an open prison. The issue with bed-bug infestations continued, despite the best efforts of managers, who followed established protocols. This was contained to a few units, with regular visits by a pest control team. [...]

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• NPM-uk-imb-preparation-for-release1 Jan 2024

  The offender management unit (OMU) is led by the head of offender management services and the head of offender management delivery and has 18 members of staff. Each prison offender manager (POM) has a case load of 20-30 prisoners. Despite the challenges of the emergency early release policies, there were no backlogs in the offender assessment system (OASys) reviews and none in releasing prisoners. The reporting year was extremely challenging for the OMU, with several national initiatives and policy changes being introduced to support population pressures, which affected the whole estate. The team seemed to work hard to ensure prisoners received timely communication regarding changes to their release date, as well as completing hundreds of additional sentence calculations. Handovers, prior to the prisoners’ release with community offender managers, were held with little notice. The positive outcomes evidenced much goodwill from the OMU staff and strong partnerships between the prison and probation services. All risk assessments for ROTL were completed within 12 weeks. The POMs contributed to the induction process and met with prisoners during their first week. They can be accessed via the kiosk system, and some drop-in sessions were conducted to clarify the changes around early release schemes, such as SDS40, and increased eligibility for the home detention curfew (HDC) scheme. Personal officers (PO) supported the prisoners, generally, in twice-monthly meetings and often [...]

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• HMIP12 Aug 2019

  Full inspection of HMP Kirklevington Grange (2019-08-12)

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