Swaleside Prison: Inspectors find staffing 'now at crisis point'

Swaleside holds more than 1,000 prisoners, including a number of "vulnerable" inmates

Staffing is at a "crisis point" and violence remains high at HMP Swaleside in Kent, inspectors have found during a return visit.

Charlie Taylor, chief inspector of prisons, said there had been "no meaningful progress" since a "disappointing" inspection in 2021.

He said staff and prisoners felt unsafe and there had been five "self-inflicted" deaths since that visit.

The Prison Service said it was deploying "extra staff" to Swaleside.

The high security men's prison on the Isle of Sheppey houses more than 1,000 inmates, many of whom have psychological problems.

In the 2021 inspection, inspectors found safety and "purposeful activity" were judged "not sufficiently good", while rehabilitation and release planning was "poor", the lowest grade.

After a return visit in July, Mr Taylor said there had been "no meaningful progress" in addressing staff shortfalls.

Inspectors spoke to "exhausted" prison officers "on the brink of resignation"

He said staffing was "now at crisis point and having an impact on all aspects of the regime".

Prisoners were getting "severely limited" time out of their cells, while education classes had been cancelled more often than they had taken place, he added.

Violence remained high, he said, with both staff and prisoners reporting feeling unsafe, despite analysis of safety data having improved.

'Exhausted' officers

Andrew Neilson, director of campaigns at the Howard League for Penal Reform, said: "Inadequate staffing creates unsafe environments for both workers and people in prison.

"People in prison should be engaged in exercise, education, employment and training.

"Instead, people are warehoused in unsafe conditions for hours on end with nothing to do."

Mr Taylor described "exhausted" officers on the brink of resignation and pressed the Ministry of Justice to "take immediate action".

"The scale of the task is huge, but I strongly urge leaders at all levels to find solutions.

"This situation cannot be allowed to continue."

A Prison Service spokesperson said: "We know improvement is needed at HMP Swaleside which is why we are deploying extra staff to help while we recruit new officers."

The government has recruited 4,000 extra staff across the country, and is increasing the number of officers in prisons by 5,000 by the mid-2020s, the spokesperson added.

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