2.73 In our survey, 18% of boys reported that they had emotional or mental health problems and
63% of these said that someone in the establishment was helping them with this. Working relationships between prison and mental health staff were effective. Some discipline staff had received mental health awareness training since our last inspection, but regular training was required.
2.74 Any mental health needs were promptly identified through reception screening and
appropriate referrals. Boys could also self-refer or be referred for a further assessment while in custody. Any boy with significant mental health needs was referred to CAMHS. There was still no access to speech and language therapy to support boys with communication and behavioural challenges.
2.75 CAMHS offered psychological therapies and a monthly psychiatrist clinic and had an average
caseload of 20 to 30 boys. About six new referrals were received a month. Boys had good levels of service and appointments were rarely cancelled. Liaison with community services was good.
2.76 No boys had been transferred to residential NHS mental health services in the previous
year. However, staff told us that there had been occasions when transfer to another prison establishment with inpatient facilities had been indicated, but had not been carried out due to a lack of nationally agreed transfer pathways.
Recommendations
2.77 Mental health awareness training, including learning disability, for prison staff should be prioritised to ensure they can support and manage children effectively.
(Repeated recommendation 2.94)
2.78 Boys should have access to speech and language therapy on site.
2.79 There should be a national transfer pathway for boys who need admission to a prison establishment with inpatient facilities.
Catering
Expected outcomes:
Children and young people are offered varied meals to meet their individual requirements and food is prepared and served according to religious, cultural and prevailing food safety and hygiene regulations.
2.80 Although boys were negative about the quality and quantity of food, we found it to be adequate. It
was inappropriate to deny some boys the opportunity to eat in association as a sanction.
2.81 Boys remained negative about the quality and quantity of food. We found portion sizes and
food quality to be adequate. Some boys suggested there was favouritism in the size of portions, although the serving of meals that we observed was well supervised.
2.82 The four-week menu cycle included a reasonable range of options, including vegetarian,
vegan, religious and medical diets. Fresh fruit and vegetables were served daily. Breakfast provided an option of cereal or porridge and toast.
2.83 The kitchens and serveries were clean and well maintained. Boys cleaned the kitchen and
prepared food. Not all boys employed on the serveries had received basic hygiene training,
2.84 Boys were only able to eat together at breakfast and dinner and ate lunch in their cells. Boys
on loss of privileges had meals served at their cell doors, which was not an appropriate sanction.
2.85 Consultation arrangements were adequate. The catering manager attended the monthly
boys’ focus group meeting and there was evidence that reasonable requests to change the menu were implemented. A survey was completed bi-annually with further evidence of suggestions being implemented. Comments books were kept behind the servery and boys had to ask the supervising officer for the book if they wished to make a comment.
Comments were seldom made.
Recommendations
2.86 Boys should not be denied the opportunity to eat together as a sanction.
2.87 All boys employed in the preparation and service of food should be appropriately trained to do so.
Purchases
Expected outcomes:
Children and young people can purchase a suitable range of goods at reasonable prices to meet their diverse needs, and can do so safely.
2.88 Purchases were managed efficiently but slowly. Boys arriving late in the week had to wait too long for
2.89 The arrangements for ordering goods were efficient and boys knew how much money they
had in their account. However, it took too long for goods to be delivered. Boys could place an order from the canteen list each Wednesday. Although goods arrived the following Wednesday, they were placed in storage and not delivered until Saturday, 10 days after the order had been placed. We were told that this was because it was easier to deliver goods during the weekend regime.
2.90 There were no interim arrangements for boys arriving in the establishment later than
Wednesday which meant that some could wait up to 16 days for their first canteen order to be delivered.
2.91 Goods could be ordered from Argos, Amazon and Azhar. Newspapers could also be
ordered.
Recommendations
2.92 Goods ordered from the canteen list should be delivered when they arrive at the prison.
2.93 There should be interim arrangements for boys arriving later in the week to purchase some goods.
Section 3. Purposeful activity
Time out of cell
Expected outcomes:
Children and young people spend most of their time out of their cell, engaged in activities such as education, leisure and cultural pursuits, seven days a week.7
3.1 Boys received a similar amount of time unlocked as at the previous inspection, and this still fell short of our expectations. The number of boys who said they could exercise daily had increased but this was still poor as the opportunity for exercise clashed with the need to complete other tasks.
3.2 Over the previous six months, the establishment had recorded an average of 7.1 hours out of cell, significantly less than our expectations. We estimated that most boys received about eight hours. Over the last two months staffing levels had been cited as the reason for regular cancellations of association.
3.3 During our checks, 28% of boys were locked up during core activity time. There did not appear to be a good reason for all of this. In some cases boys had been kept back from activity periods to see agencies, which was not appropriate.
3.4 At the time of the inspection, two boys who presented a risk to themselves or others were locked up for most of the day. Although these boys were discussed regularly at multi-agency safeguarding and health (MASH) meetings, outcomes for them were not satisfactory (see section on victims of bullying and intimidation).
3.5 Survey results indicated that boys had more time out on exercise than at the previous inspection, but only 27% against the comparator of 65% said that they could exercise daily. The exercise period was scheduled during ‘domestic hour’ – a time allocated for a range of tasks.
Recommendations
3.6 All boys should receive 10 hours out of cell each day. (Repeated recommendation
3.5)
3.7 Boys should have at least one hour outside each day. (Repeated recommendation 3.6)
7 Time out of cell, in addition to formal ‘purposeful activity’, includes any time children and young people are out of their cells to associate or use communal facilities to take showers or make telephone calls.