HMP Aylesbury in turmoil after change in role - report

The site was changed to a Category C establishment due to prison population pressure

A prison has been "thrown into chaos" after it was turned from a young offender institution to a Category C jail, inspectors said.

HMP Aylesbury's role was changed in October due to national prison population pressures.

HM Inspectorate of Prisons (HMIP) said the prison was "in turmoil" as there was not sufficient support during its transition.

The Ministry of Justice said it had addressed concerns raised by HMIP.

The HMIP report said the prison needed "significant and immediate support".

Aylesbury previously housed young men aged 18-21 convicted of violent crimes and serving long sentences.

Due to rising numbers of prisoners needing accommodation, it was "suddenly and without sufficient consultation, notice or support" redesignated as a Category C training establishment taking in older inmates, HMIP said.

Inspectors visited the prison between 22 November and 9 December.

The report said: "A shortage of officers and staff in other disciplines was impacting nearly all aspects of prison life.

"The prison was, for example, short of about 50 officers and in health care the situation was so dire that it had been determined that it was an unacceptable risk to send prisoners over the age of 40 to the prison."

The number of prisoners held at the time of the inspection was 378

The report said due to staff shortages, about 40% of prisoners were "unemployed" and "those without activity could spend up to 23 hours a day locked up".

Time outside of cells was so limited that "many prisoners" said they were "unable to shower every day".

"Throughout the inspection, prisoners raised lack of work and education and limited time out of cell as being among their principal frustrations," the report said.

The report said new inmates had to rely on other prisoners for important information

Inspectors found there was no induction programme to help prisoners settle in, which they said was "inexplicable".

The inspectorate said work to reduce reoffending was "in flux" and 70% of prisoners were "assessed as high risk of serious harm to the public".

The report praised the installation of exercise bikes on each residential wing and also said its consultation with prisoners about the use of force was "very good".

An occupied cell at HMP Aylesbury

Charlie Taylor, chief inspector of prisons, said: "Aylesbury has been a prison in difficulty for some time - successive inspections have found it struggling with its existing role as a young offender institution.

"But those challenges have been compounded by this sudden and chaotic redesignation to a Category C training jail coupled with extreme staffing problems.

"The prison needs significant and immediate support from the prison service to mitigate the level of risk it presents not only for prisoners held there but also for the community into which high risk offenders are being released with little to no work to reduce their risk of reoffending."

A spokesperson for the Ministry of Justice said: "We have already taken decisive action to address the concerns raised in this report, including bolstering front-line staff and increasing access to education and work for prisoners.

"As the public would rightly expect, we're also working with others across the criminal justice system and making sure the prison estate is being used effectively while we push ahead with delivering the biggest expansion of prison places in a century."