Elmley prison is well run, report finds

The report raised concerns over activities for prisoners at HMP Elmley

An inspection found a Kent prison is being well run - months after a report found cases of intimidation, bullying, fighting and assaults there.

But Chief Inspector of Prisons Nick Hardwick said HMP Elmley "needed more work, training and education to occupy its prisoners".

Inspectors found it was "reasonably safe", with lower levels of violence and self harm than at comparable jails.

However, the report noted that the jail was 300 prisoners over capacity.

Serious incidents

The inspectors said that staff prisoner relationships were good, but that not all night staff had the confidence to deal with emergency situations where a prisoner had self harmed.

The inspection was carried out between 19 and 23 March.

Mr Hardwick said: "Overall this should be seen as an encouraging report.

"Issues such as cleanliness and the environment required attention, and it was unacceptable that so many prisoners were under-occupied."

In February, a report by the Independent Monitoring Board (IMB) said there had been an "unprecedented number of serious incidents" at Elmley prison.

The report found that 732 incidents were investigated between November 2010 and the end of October 2011, with 593 proven. These included intimidation, bullying, fighting and assaults.