Deerbolt YOI governor praised for tackling drugs problem

Improvements at Deerbolt Young Offenders’ Institute have been recognised in a report by an independent watchdog.
According to the Independent Monitoring Board, Deerbolt, in Startforth, “has a better regime” compared to last year. The Governor has been praised for taking “vigorous practical steps” to tackle problems such as too many drugs in the prison and too many prisoners spending their days in their cells.
In the last two years, the board has reported concerns about the number of prisoners remaining in their cells all day instead of attending education or other activities.
The most recent report, which covers the period between October 1, 2015, and September 30, 2016, stated that those who refuse to engage in these activities “miss out on learning life-skills which would help them keep in employment and out of trouble in later life”.
Having made it more difficult for prisoners to opt out, less than 20 per cent of prisoners now regularly remain in their cells because refusal leads to loss of privileges.
Work has also been carried out to transform the education experience at Deerbolt.
It is hoped that prison time can be used to improve employability or create skills for self-employment after their release.
Purposeful activity is also being promoted in the prison with prisoners being able to engage in activities which meet their needs. New activities have been introduced and others reclassified so that they can be offered to higher risk prisoners.
The number of prisoners requiring medical attention after taking a psychoactive drug had reached a critical level with almost daily incidents. Due to measures put in place to prevent access to such substances, this problem has largely been resolved with around three instances per month.
Funding has also been provided to replace windows in the residential wing which faces the prison’s outer walls. This was done to “close off one of the main routes by which dangerous drugs were entering the prison”.
However, the board pointed out that the prison was “operating against a contrary tide” due to a more difficult prisoner population. This increase is due to a longer average sentence being served and an increase in the number of prisoners with mental health issues.
As stated in last year’s report, no prisoners were sectioned but over the past year, five prisoners required assessment for section under the Mental Health Act.
The board also described the waiting time for assessment and transfer to a secure mental health facility as “excessive” but explained that it was due to a national shortage of high secure mental health places.
There has also been a rise in the number of self-harm incidents at the prison.
A total of 218 incidents of self-harm were recorded compared with 165 the year before – an additional case every week. A suicide happened in May 2016, the first at Deerbolt for at least 20 years. The board noted that the staff reaction to this tragic event showed that Deerbolt is “a very caring environment”.
The board also expressed concern that “45 per cent of prisoners are released direct from Deerbolt having received quite limited preparation for re-entering the outside world”.
Despite a re-organisation of the Probation Service and the introduction of the Community Resettlement Company, the board found that “new arrangements are not working nearly as well as they should.”
Nevertheless, staff at the prison were praised for performing “extremely well in often trying conditions”. A “growing competence and confidence” was also observed in recently recruited members of the team.