Inspectors praise progress at YOI blighted by violence
Joe Lepper
Wednesday, March 24, 2021
Inspectors have praised “commendable progress” at Feltham young offender institution (YOI), which had been singled out for intensive support by the government to tackle its rising incidents of violence and self-harm.
Feltham A, which houses 15- to 18-year-olds, was selected in February last year, alongside five adult prisons, for a new government prison improvement plan for “challenging” secure settings.
The move was made after the previous full inspection, in 2019, that found the YOI was blighted by poor outcomes for its young inmates as well as increasing violence and self-harm.
But at its its most recent visit, in February 2021, HM Inspectorate of Prisons found that self-harm “had reduced dramatically”. In the six months prior to the inspectorates' visit there were five incidents, compared to 242 in the same period before the 2019 inspection.
Inspectors noted a successful relaunch of Feltham A’s enhanced support unit, to offer additional support to children before being reintegrated into the general YOI population. The three children in the unit when inspectors visited were “engaged in a full programme of activities and interventions”.
This unit fosters a “positive ethos” that is enabling children to spend more time out of their cells, such as to attend schooling, inspectors found.
Across the YOI children had more time out of their cells, around 4.5 hours a day during the week and 3.5 hours on Saturday and Sunday.
“Attendance at education had improved dramatically but punctuality remained a problem,” inspectors found.
Rates of violence have also fallen. In the six months prior to inspectors’ visit the number of incidents had more than halved, compared to the same period before the last inspection.
However, inspectors are still concerned that one in five children feel unsafe. There is also a “concerning rise” in attacks involving groups of inmates on single children.
YOI managers say this rise in group attacks is a factor in the high use of force by staff. Almost three quarters (71 per cent) of children said they had had force used against them.
Conditions for young inmates were so bad in 2019 that the inspectorate invoked a rarely used urgent notification (UN) process for the first time in the youth secure estate.
“While the improvement made at Feltham A is commendable, some of this reflects how bad things had been at the time of the urgent notification,” said chief inspector of prisons Charlie Taylor.
He urged YOI bosses to ensure there are no setbacks in progress as its population increases. At the time of the latest inspection it held 63 children, which is fewer than at the time of the UN process.
Taylor also praised Feltham A’s handling of social distancing restrictions around the Covid-19 pandemic.
He noted that despite the YOI operating “in the middle of a pandemic outcomes in some areas had improved”. This included splitting children into groups of four when accessing education and other activities.
“We found that being in small groups had improved the quality of relationships between children and staff, with more children than at the previous inspection reporting feeling cared for or being encouraged to attend education,” added Taylor.
