HMIP Inspections of Grendon

The prison was given an inspection in May 2023, the full report can be read at the Ministry of Justice web site, just follow the links below. In their latest report the inspectors said:

Under the leadership of the excellent governor, Grendon, a therapeutic community in Buckinghamshire, continued to be a unique, pioneering jail. Prisoners, many of whom were serving indeterminate or life sentences and who had extremely troubled pasts, made remarkable progress in an environment in which therapy ran through every aspect of life in the prison. The levels of expertise and skill among the staff were much higher than other prisons, with the well-trained and supported officers critical to its success. Therapy was not limited to the hour-long daily sessions but was woven into almost all activities. Prisoners described excellent relationships with staff, who were there to support them through an often long and painful journey to make sense of their past and learn to regulate their emotions and behaviour in the future. Close cooperation between leaders from health and prison backgrounds created a seamless, therapeutic offer, with a shared set of goals and values across the different disciplines.

These achievements happened despite taking place in a building which looked old and, in places, dilapidated. A programme of refurbishment was slowly improving the fabric of the jail, including the showers, but there continued to be night sanitation which meant that prisoners who needed to use the lavatory at night – including older men or those with medical conditions – either had to put up with long waits, or use a plastic pot, some of which did not even have a lid. There were no sinks in the cells, so prisoners were unable to wash their hands.

The prison was one of the safest in the country, which was remarkable given the histories and offences of the prisoners, and assaults and use of force were very rare. Discipline was maintained not through traditional prison systems such as adjudication, but by standards that were set by prisoners and staff through democratic meetings in which sanctions could be imposed. Prisoners were allocated jobs on the wing as part of their responsibility to the community, but many complained that the part-time wages were not adequate for those who had no other source of income, with recent price rises giving them even less to spend.

Some of the outdoor areas of the prison were neglected; gardens had become overgrown and paving was cracked or crumbling. This was a missed opportunity to involve more prisoners in maintenance.

The provision of education at Grendon was disappointing, and our purposeful activity score dropped from good to not sufficiently good. Leaders had understandably focused on reinstating the therapeutic community after the hiatus caused by the pandemic, in which group work was not permitted, but this meant they had paid insufficient focus to education, training and work. Some prisoners told us they were bored in the afternoon and the education provider’s own assessment showed there was a widespread hunger to do vocational training, even for those who had substantial time left to serve.

The education provider was simply failing to deliver a service that was good enough, and this was not helped by ongoing vacancies. The teaching of reading was non-existent, except through a third-sector organisation, although the very good librarian worked hard to find ways to help prisoners develop some breadth in their reading. The wing for prisoners with learning difficulties provided an adapted therapeutic programme to support prisoners, but the environment did not reflect their needs. For example, notices on the wall contained dense print and there was no use of adaptations such as a visual timetable. Many prisoners rarely went outside, and despite the inspection taking place in good weather, only a quarter were using the exercise yard. Prisoners were inexplicably not allowed to use the wing gardens that contained some good quality exercise equipment. Opportunities for team sports were limited and nothing had replaced football, which had been banned because of injuries to players and staff.

Recent changes to Parole Board rules meant that rather than moving to category D jails, some prisoners were now being released straight from Grendon. This created a new challenge in supporting prisoners – some of whom had served very long sentences – to make the transition back into the community.

The challenge for Grendon is to make substantial improvements to the provision of education, and to the fabric of the building and grounds, to raise them to the standards of the rest of the jail. Education should be dynamic and complimentary to the therapeutic aims of the prison, focusing on the varied needs and aspirations of this group of prisoners. With the current governor in post, I am confident that very good progress will be made.

Charlie Taylor
HM Chief Inspector of Prisons
June 2023

The inspectors provided a brief list of the more important findings and recommendations

What needs to improve at HMP Grendon

During this inspection, we identified nine key concerns, of which four should be treated as priorities. Priority concerns are those that are most important to improving outcomes for prisoners. They require immediate attention by leaders and managers.

Leaders should make sure that all concerns identified here are addressed and that progress is tracked through a plan which sets out how and when the concerns will be resolved. The plan should be provided to HMI Prisons.

Priority concerns

  1. Some residential facilities were not fit for purpose or conducive to a therapeutic environment. Maintenance and repairs often took too long.
  2. Key elements of the governance of health services were being adversely impacted by staffing challenges. Although the issues were being managed, there was inconsistent access to GPs and a lack of professional oversight in pharmacy, leading to avoidable risks in the delivery of patient care.
  3. The overall curriculum was not broad enough to meet the needs of the many prisoners who wanted to develop their vocational expertise alongside their therapeutic programme, such as in construction-related skills. Prisoners told inspectors they were bored in the afternoons.
  4. The education, skills and work provision had not been rigorously managed, monitored or quality assured over time and too much of the improvement work that leaders had commissioned was very recent and so far had had little impact. The quality of education provision had deteriorated compared with the previous two inspections.

Key concerns

  1. Prisoners’ pay had not increased in line with the cost of shop items, and some could no longer afford to buy what they needed.
  2. Most prisoners spent very limited amounts of their leisure time outside. Wing gardens were rarely used and outdoor sports activities were infrequent.
  3. Careers information, advice and guidance was not provided in a sufficiently timely manner at the start of prisoners’ therapeutic programme.
  4. Prisoners with additional learning support needs did not receive the support they needed and made slow progress.
  5. There had been very slow progress in implementing a reading strategy as part of the education offer, particularly for those with very-low-level or no reading skills. There was effectively no support available for such prisoners at the time of the inspection.

Return to Grendon

To read the full reports, go to the Ministry of Justice site or follow the links below: