HMP Nottingham

Reports

• HMIP24 Feb 2025

  1.1 HMP Nottingham is an inner-city category B reception and resettlement male prison serving the courts of Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire. The prison opened in 1890, but the original Victorian buildings were demolished in 2008. The new prison opened in February 2010. 1.2 This review visit followed up on the concerns we raised at our last inspection of HMP Nottingham in May 2024. What we found at our last inspection 1.3 At our previous inspections of HMP Nottingham in 2022 and 2024 we made the following judgements about outcomes for prisoners. Figure 1: HMP Nottingham healthy prison outcomes in 2022 and 2024 Note: rehabilitation and release planning became ‘preparation for release’ in October 2023. 1.4 At the last full inspection in May 2024, we found that violence was high, particularly among prisoners, and was often exacerbated by the availability of drugs. Mental health issues were also prevalent, with some of the most unwell prisoners, who were awaiting transfer to more secure hospital accommodation, held in segregation under unsuitable

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• HMIP13 May 2024

  There were 924 prisoners at this busy East Midlands reception jail at the time of inspection. Nottingham is a prison that has had many challenges over the years, so it was encouraging to find stability provided by an experienced and capable governor and his team. With an enormous churn of prisoners, including those coming from as far away as North Yorkshire and County Durham, the prison was operating under considerable strain with constant pressure to accommodate new arrivals, move sentenced prisoners on and operate the early release scheme (ECSL) which was now on its 18th version since it had been introduced at the end of 2023. Levels of violence were high, particularly assaults between prisoners. These were partly fuelled by the ingress of drugs which, although not present to the degree that we see in some prisons, were nevertheless too freely available. The prison contained a complex population, many of whom had mental health difficulties. Some of the most unwell, waiting for transfer to hospital, were stuck in the segregation unit where a capable team did their best to provide support in wholly unsuitable conditions. The regime at Nottingham was too restricted, with many prisoners locked in their cells for 22 hours a day. On days when there was staff training, prisoners were behind their doors for 23 hours and did not even get a shower. Although there were not enough activity places in the jail, when I visited the education centre many classrooms were unoccupied or only contained a handful of prisoners, despite very high levels of need. With such a limited regime and some very vulnerable prisoners, it was not surprising that levels of self-harm remained high and although the safer custody team had been bolstered by new staff, there was no action plan in place. However, it was good to see an evening regime being reintroduced for the better-behaved men. Relationships between prisoners and staff were mostly good, although we received complaints about the behaviour of some officers. There were some capable middle leaders who maintained standards on the wings and offered support to the many inexperienced officers. Despite being a priority concern at our last inspection, we were disappointed to find that arrangements for public protection were still not good enough, with not enough focus on riskier prisoners coming up to release and inadequate phone monitoring arrangements. There had been some good improvements in provision for family visits, although there were not enough slots to give the many remanded prisoners their full entitlement. While staff were doing their best, ECSL meant that preparation for release was often chaotic and rushed. A quarter of prisoners released on this scheme were homeless and although data was not clear, it resulted in inevitable recalls. Overall Nottingham is a jail that is coping with the many challenges that it faces, but it remains a fragile institution that carries a lot of risk within its constantly churning population. Although we judged it to be reasonably good in our healthy prison test of respect, safety and preparation for release remained not sufficiently good, and purposeful activity had fallen to poor. Improvements to the regime and a more comprehensive work and education offer would help to relieve much of the prisoner frustration we found at the jail. Leaders, often tied up dealing with HMPPS bureaucracy, could nevertheless do with spending more time out on the wings talking to prisoners and supporting staff. Charlie Taylor HM Chief Inspector of Prisons June 2024

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• HMIP6 Jun 2022

  Nottingham is a very difficult prison to run and many challenges remain, but this inspection was encouraging, particularly given the Inspectorate’s criticism of the prison in the past. In 2018 we issued an Urgent Notification, a rare event but indicative of the situation in the prison at the time. Since then, we have seen evidence of greater grip and some progress, although this is not yet reflected in our healthy prison scores. Indeed, at this inspection outcomes in rehabilitation and release planning had got worse. The prison retained the feel and character of an old Victorian local, despite much of the jail being re-built in the early part of this century. Comprising seven fairly modern wings, it held up to 900 adult men and served mainly the Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire area as a reception and resettlement prison. Cells were of a better standard than in similar prisons, but cleanliness varied, furniture was in short supply, the food was poor, and the system for the redress of legitimate grievances was inadequate. This was in keeping with a repeated theme throughout our visit: whenever we found positive evidence it was invariably balanced by some frustrating and often avoidable omissions and shortcomings. Work to promote equality had been sustained to some extent throughout the pandemic and was receiving a boost in the interest, energy, and leadership of the recently appointed governor. In general, about two-thirds of prisoners told us in our survey that they felt respected by staff, a finding consistent with similar prisons. However, other evidence pointed to a lack of prisoner confidence in the capability of staff and their ability to get things done. This is a criticism we have made before at the jail. Nottingham was receiving prisoners with high levels of need. Around 90% of respondents to our survey indicated they had problems when they arrived and induction and work to promote behaviour needed to be more effective. However, many important indicators of safety, such as the amount of violence, had stabilised and were not getting worse. There had been one self-inflicted death since we last inspected, and self-harm was falling, although it remained comparatively high. Again, despite some encouraging signs, some of the practice we observed in the prevention of self-harm remained weak. Work to open up the regime following the pandemic was tentative. Just under half of prisoners were unemployed, spending 22 hours a day locked in their cells. There were insufficient workspaces for the population, and allocation arrangements and attendance for the spaces available were poor. Our colleagues in Ofsted judged the learning and skills opportunities available as ‘requiring improvement’. The important rehabilitative task of promoting family ties was limited, as were other aspects of release planning. There was, however, evidence of improvement in the service offered to prisoners who required offender management. We inspected at a time of transition in the leadership of the prison. A new governor had recently arrived, and he seemed to be building on the stability and steady improvement created by the previous incumbent. Oversight arrangements were getting better, and the priorities identified for the prison appeared to make sense. We leave the prison with a series of concerns which we hope will assist this improvement. Charlie Taylor HM Chief Inspector of Prisons July 2022

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• HMI Prisons Urgent Notification20 Feb 2020

  Second Urgent Notification in 18 months — six self-inflicted deaths in 13 months, regime restrictions worse than at the previous UN.

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• HMIP6 Jan 2020

  Full inspection of HMP Nottingham (2020-01-06)

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