Concerns over Stafford Prison sex offender rehabilitation

HMP Stafford became a sex offender-only jail in 2014

The Chief Inspector of Prisons said he is not "not confident" the release of more than 120 sex offenders from Stafford Prison was "safe".

A surprise inspection found "serious weaknesses" in the resettlement of prisoners and said many were discharged without undergoing rehabilitation work.

The prison was "making progress", his report added.

The National Offender Management Service (Noms) said the governor was working to address the concerns raised.

Homeless prisoners

Inspectors, who visited in February, said during the previous six months 126 prisoners had been released from Stafford Prison, which became a sex offender-only jail in 2014.

"We were not confident these releases were co-ordinated and safe given the risk level posed by the men and their outstanding resettlement needs," they wrote.

Inspectors said despite "considerable efforts" to move more than 100 "high-risk" men to resettlement prisons, which provide more support to help prepare for life outside, they were released.

The report said there was no assistance in helping prisoners find accommodation and more than 10% of those released were homeless.

"We found one particularly worrying case of a high-risk sex offender, who had done nothing to reduce his risk of reoffending, being released without an address," inspectors said.

'Considerable progress'

Peter Clarke, Chief Inspector of Prisons, said: "HMP Stafford has grasped the challenge presented by its change of role and has made considerable progress."

He added there was "still much work to be done", particularly in the areas of health care and resettlement.

Michael Spurr, head of Noms, said: "This is a positive report which shows the progress Stafford has made.

"There are low levels of violence and self-harm, good staff-prisoner relationships and high levels of prisoners taking part in work and education - which is a credit to the governor and his staff.

"The governor is now working with partners, including NHS England, to address the concerns around resettlement provision and health care".

The Ministry of Justice added that since the inspection, Stafford had strengthened ties with the local probation services and started working with HMP North Sea Camp so risk-assessed prisoners can progress to open prisons.

"These measures have resulted in 98.5% of prisoners being successfully resettled over the last five months," a spokeswoman said.

She said the service would "always work to ensure prisoners have suitable accommodation upon release".