An independent monitoring board found that, despite the pressure of budget cuts, improvements had been made at Warren Hill juvenile prison since rioting inmates caused more than £200,000 of damage last November.
Ministerially appointed volunteers reported on 283 visits to the institution at Hollesley, near Woodbridge, in the last year and reflected the findings of Nick Hardwick, Chief Inspector of Prisons, who - in a separate report last week - praised standards following an unannounced inspection.
The board was satisfied that prisoners are dealt with humanely and justly by staff but members raised concerns that boys in the Carlford Unit, which separately contains some of the country’s most dangerous young criminals, will be adequately provided for when moved to a new building on the main prison site and required to spend more time with “more turbulent” inmates serving lesser sentences.
The annual report described the prison, which accommodates 230 boys aged 15 to 17 of varying nationality and ability, as a “difficult place to run”, saying that expenditure cuts and a “restless and fast-changing population” had created many pressures in the last year, but that improvements are under way.
Board Chairman Colin Reid added: “We are worried that the prison has to deal with some boys with significant mental health problems, though the provision for these has recently improved. There are also foreign nationals with little or no English and an uncertain legal status.”
Mr Reid added that the long distance many boys are from their homes handicaps the hard work done by staff to prepare them for release. Located approximately half a mile from Warren Hill main site, Carlford Unit houses 29 juveniles serving longer sentences, including lifers and sex offenders.
The unit is due to be closed when a new building on the main site, with improved reception and health units and properly separated accommodation for boys on their first few nights, comes into use early next year.
Two out of four units on the main site were withdrawn following damage caused by rioting inmates in November last year, leading to a temporary reduction in the prison roll which has in turn masked any adverse effects of cuts to spending.
The report said that, before the outbreak of indiscipline, which caused more than £200,000 of damage, there had been continuing improvement in “caring safely and appropriately for its often troubled population”, and that there had since been appointed a new Governor, who had made improvements to security, discipline and staff morale.
Mr Reid concluded: “We are the eyes and ears of the community in the prison. We check on the fairness and decency with which the boys are treated and on whether there are constructive programmes in place to prepare them for release.”