Prison 'failing to provide inmates with enough to do'

Inspectors have said HMP Dovegate is failing to provide enough education and enrichment to prisoners

Inspectors have linked a recent increase in violence and drug use at a Staffordshire prison to a failure to provide inmates with adequate opportunities for training and enrichment.

HMP Dovegate near Uttoxeter had nevertheless seen improvements in other aspects, they found.

The category B prison - inspected in September and October 2023 - holds long-term and on-remand prisoners, and is privately operated by Serco.

Serco said it was aware of the areas where improvement was needed and was working hard to address them.

The most recent figures show HMP Dovegate has a population of 1,150 inmates.

The current prison director took up his role in January 2023, and was the seventh postholder within a decade.

This lack of stability, inspectors said, meant improvements had not happened as quickly as expected.

This was particularly the case in the prison’s provision of education and other activities, according to inspectors – who graded it “poor” in that regard.

They said it also meant the site was failing to fulfil its role as a training prison.

'Not enough to do'

They said this was particularly disappointing because education provision was run directly by Serco, meaning there were none of the issues with managing education contracts often found elsewhere.

Inspectors found that while most of the long-term population was in work or education, many jobs were on the wings where prisoners were underemployed and spent much of their time without enough to do.

Prison staff had, however, introduced several enrichment activities such as a film club or gardening, much of which was prisoner-led.

Levels of violence at HMP Dovegate were lower than in comparable prisons, but there had been a recent increase in assaults by prisoners on other inmates, inspectors said.

Staff were often reluctant to challenge low-level transgressions, inspectors added, such as vaping or improper dress. This meant rules were unclear.

HM Chief Inspector of Prisons Charlie Taylor said there was much for staff at HMP Dovegate to be proud of.

He highlighted how well officers knew inmates despite low staffing levels.

He commented: “The jail is performing better than most prisons with big remand populations and longer-term prisoners.

“In the next year, the prison needs to completely re-orientate towards education, training, and work, making sure that prisoners have a greater sense of purpose and are better prepared to get work on release.”

He added: “A more productive jail will also lead to a reduction in the high demand for drugs and its consequent violence.”

He said he was confident progress would be made, provided the prison had a sustained period of more stable leadership.

Andy Johnson, Serco prison director at HMP Dovegate, said he was pleased the prison was performing better than most of its type, adding: "We are particularly proud of the key work that we undertake with prisoners and our therapeutic dog training programme.

"However we fully recognise that there are areas where we need to improve, particularly in prisoner education, training and work and we will be working hard to address this."