HMIP Inspections of Pentonville

The prison was given an inspection in July 2022 and 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:

HMP Pentonville in north London is one the oldest prisons in the country. It received its first prisoners in 1842 and was designed to hold 520 people in single cells. In recent times, it has routinely been one of most challenging and troubled prisons, with a succession of poor inspections. Our last full inspection in 2019 was no exception to this sorry history, but at our scrutiny visit in 2020 we saw evidence of fragile progress.

At this inspection, the promise of improvements had been realised in part, but many serious concerns remained, including some fundamental weaknesses in offender management and provision of activities. Safety had improved, with much reduced violence, a well-run segregation unit and better governance of force. Nevertheless, there was still a high rate of illicit drug use, there had been seven self-inflicted deaths since 2019 and care for those at risk of self-harm was not yet good enough. In addition, time out of cell and constructive activities were seen, at least in the short-term, as acceptable collateral damage in the drive to improve safety. This approach did not sufficiently recognise that an institution that promotes safety is also one that considers the impact of lengthy periods of lock-up on mental health and on prisoners’ chances of being released into society with the skills that might help them to stay out of trouble.

There were other indications of a prison that was headed in the right direction. For example, it was positive to see the ambitious long-term vision represented by the plan for a new unit intended to care for neurodiverse prisoners, and the unusually good work that was done to support young offenders. Leaders had also taken steps to address deep-rooted problems in the staff culture and capability even if results were, so far, limited. However, Pentonville has had more false dawns than most prisons. It is an indication of the profound problems it faces that, despite the improvements that were being made and the considerable dedication and capability of its leaders, outcomes for prisoners were still not good enough in any of our healthy prison tests.

This report gives the reasons for these judgements in some detail, but one concern is worthy of particular mention. Pentonville remains a cramped early Victorian relic, with claustrophobic wings and a crumbling physical infrastructure that require constant repair and refurbishment to meet the most basic standards of decency. The prison currently holds over 1,100 prisoners and this number is continuing to rise. While it has added some new living units, the increased capacity has come about largely by placing two people in cells designed for one. Over 60% of prisoners are in overcrowded cells and the prison’s footprint is not markedly different from when it held fewer than half the current number. It is hard to avoid the conclusion that Pentonville cannot safely and decently care for its current population, as illustrated, for example, by the high number of prisoners with mental health needs who could not get prompt appointments, and the wholly inadequate access to purposeful activity. If the prison is to make further progress, national leaders need to accept the limitations of an establishment that has to work harder than most to battle through its entrenched problems.

Charlie Taylor
HM Chief Inspector of Prisons
August 2022

 

The inspectors also provided details of area’s of special concern

 

What needs to improve at HMP Pentonville

During this inspection we identified 15 key concerns, of which eight 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. A high proportion of prisoners said they felt unsafe and in our survey over half said they had experienced some form of victimisation from staff.
  2. There had been seven self-inflicted deaths since the last full inspection and support for prisoners in crisis was not good enough.
  3. The prison was severely overcrowded and it could not decently or safely care for the number of prisoners it was currently required to hold.
  4. The high number of prisoners with low-level mental health needs had long waits for appointments and few prisoners in our survey said they had been helped with their mental health problems.
  5. Time out of cell was poor for most prisoners. There were frequent regime curtailments, attendance and punctuality at activities were poor, most prisoners could not visit the library and they had inadequate access to the gym.
  6. Prisoners did not receive sufficient or equitable access to a broad range of education, skills and work based on their needs.
  7. There were serious deficiencies in the performance of the offender management unit, including work on public protection. There had been some recent progress to address this concern, but it was fragile and depended on temporary staff remaining in post.
  8. There was little funded resettlement support for almost one half of prisoners who were on remand, affecting their access to release accommodation and other resettlement services.

Key concerns

  1. Fewer than half of new arrivals said they felt safe on their first night in custody, and the management of risks was undermined by safety interviews that did not take place with sufficient privacy and the lack of first night checks for most prisoners.
  2. There was a high level of illicit drug use and staff did not consistently challenge the use of drugs.
  3. Body-worn cameras were not well enough used and footage from CCTV and body-worn video cameras was not retained beyond a month to inform learning and improve practice.
  4. Meals continued to be served too early and with lengthy gaps between mealtimes. We saw lunch served from 10.30–11am and the evening meal from 4pm. Breakfast packs were handed out at lunchtime the day before they were to be eaten.
  5. There was insufficient support for prisoners from protected groups, including the large population of foreign nationals.
  6. The primary care health service had a high nursing vacancy rate and not all agency staff had access to keys, which limited the duties they were able to carry out independently.
  7. There was too much variation in the quality of teaching across education, skills and work.

Return to Pentonville

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