HMP Manchester report: cutbacks have 'negative impact' on inmates

BBC  20th September 2011


Savings made at HMP Manchester are having a negative effect on prisoners, a report has found.

The Independent Monitoring Board (IMB) report said problems arose as fewer overtime shifts were being offered to cover for staff absences.

It also found the transfer of inmates with severe mental health problems from the prison to secure hospitals was cause for "extreme concern".

The Ministry of Justice said cutbacks had not affected core staffing levels.

The annual report, which was published on Tuesday, said inmates who have been identified as needing to be moved to a secure mental unit should be transferred within 14 days.
'Positive step'

The IMB said this sometimes does not happen and patients could sometimes wait for a few months for a suitable bed.

It said last year, 26 patients were transferred to secure mental units, while eight patients were transferred into Manchester from secure mental units.

The report, which looked at the year up to February 28, also raised concerns over the number of prisoners arriving late from court and the need for some prisoners to eat in their cells.

The IMB praised staff for responding well to very difficult situations, and said the extension of family visits to Category A prisoners was a "positive step towards rehabilitation and resettlement".

In response to the report, the Ministry of Justice said: "Staffing levels across the prisons estate are strictly risk-assessed.

"We take the safety of our staff and security within our prisons very seriously.

"Savings have been made without the removal of frontline staff and minimum staffing levels have remained unaffected."

HMP Manchester, formerly known as Strangeways, is a local prison which accepts people remanded into custody from the courts in the Greater Manchester area.

Prisoner rehabilitation masks real agenda

The Guardian, Thursday 10 March 2011

The Prison Officers Association represents prison officer grades and nursing staff in secure hospitals and has been warning politicians that they are playing Russian roulette with the criminal justice system (Threat to community sentencing, 8 March). The wisdom of professional prison officer grades is unfortunately not always listened to by politicians who tend to use the prison service as a political football, and my members are left to pick up the pieces from ill-thought-out policies that are normally underfunded and quick to create a headline. The so-called rehabilitation revolution is a smoke-screen for cuts and will not reduce reoffending.

When you look closely, the major detail is missing. Nobody believes payment by results will work and few understand it. Nothing has been tested yet Ken Clarke is bouncing ahead, not listening to the concerns of unions or the general public. Front-loaded budget cuts are imminent, not just in the Ministry of Justice but in health, education, welfare, policing and every other aspect of life, and they will have a detrimental impact. Lessons of the past will be forgotten, such as the disastrous care in the community programme where there was no investment in community places when mental hospitals were closed. The justice minister in recent interviews talks about 20 years ago. These cuts are happening now, and are dangerous; too much and too quick. I am glad he has copied what the POA has being stating for some time – that until you solve drug abuse, alcohol abuse, mental health issues, education and social exclusion, you will never address the root causes of crime, and our prisons will remain at capacity because reoffending will not have been addressed. Investment in these key areas will pay dividends in the long run. Cuts, not rehabilitation, is the real agenda, and getting something on the cheap.

Steve Gillan

General secretary, Prison Officers Association