Warwickshire jail ‘needs to do more’ for prisoners

A report says a prison near Rugby isn’t doing enough to try to stop inmates re-offending.



Prison inspectors have released the findings of a routine visit to HMP Rye Hill in Willoughby.

Their conclusion is that staff are getting the basics right but need to do more, especially when it comes to stopping the cycle a lot of criminals find themselves in.

In all they had five concerns:

* The use of force wasn’t always the last resort when dealing with incidents.
* There isn’t enough support for foreign nationals who do not speak English.
* The number of vocational training places has dropped from 250 in 2009 to less than 25.
* Not one set system for reducing re-offending.
* Not enough support for people with alcohol problems.

But inspectors also said there had been several improvements, especially with the quality of healthcare prisoners are getting and the amount of support for vulnerable people who are at risk of suicide or self-harming.

Chief Inspector of Prisons, Nick Hardwick said: “For prisoners serving their sentence at Rye Hill, many of whom have committed serious offences, the prison gets some of the basics right.

“However, the prison needs to do more than that and its work to help me prepare to live productive and law-abiding lives on release needs improvement.

“The prison needs a greater focus on tackling the men’s offending behaviour, managing the risks they pose to others and ensuring those with drug and alcohol problems get the interventions they need.

Michael Spur, Chief Executive Officer of the National Offender Management Service, said: “I am pleased that the Chief Inspector recognises the work that has been done at Rye Hill to maintain a safe and respectful environment. The prison is working towards improving training and offender behaviour programmes, both of which contribute to reducing re-offending on release.”