Praise for 'impressive' Parc YOI's Covid-19 response
Nicole Weinstein
Monday, July 25, 2022
Inspectors have praised Parc young offender institution (YOI) for “maintaining the high standards” of its previous inspection, despite the challenges of the pandemic.
Charlie Taylor, chief inspector of prisons, said that this inspection has “yet again” shown the facility to be “arguably the best performing young offender institution in the country”.
Against all four of healthy prison tests, Parc YOI, which is near Bridgend in South Wales, was judged “good” in all outcomes, the highest level of assessment.
The unannounced inspection, which took place at the YOI found that the “excellent” relationships between young people and the staff who cared for them underpinned Parc’s success.
Inspectors found 12 examples of notable positive practice during the inspection.
Taylor said: “The culture was one of engagement, high expectations and incentivisation of good behaviour. Staff modelled high standards of behaviour themselves and were prepared to tackle delinquency among young people when they saw it.
“In our survey, no children reported feeling unsafe and against almost every safety measure we look at, such as the amount of violence or the application of force, levels were lower than at comparable institutions.”
At the time of the inspection in March and April 2022, 20 children were placed in the YOI, which is “fairly low” compared with a maximum capacity of 64 at the YOI, Taylor says.
He added: “With a higher roll it is likely that the maintenance of these high standards will be tested. Notwithstanding, on its current performance Parc is setting a standard for the management of children and young people in custody.”
Angus Jones, team leader for inspection of children’s custody at HMI Prisons, said in a blog that outcomes for children at HMYOI Parc “all the more impressive” given the changing nature of YOIs in recent years.
He added: “Children held in custody are now far more likely to have committed serious violent offences and be serving longer sentences than their counterparts just five years ago. This concentration of very high levels of need in a small number of institutions has meant most of the places holding children are volatile, with high levels of reckless and unpredictable violence.”
His first impression of the Parc was that it had “little going for it”, with “claustrophobic living areas” and “far less outside space than at other YOIs”, he said.
“Rather than focus on these shortcomings, the capable leadership team had concentrated on developing a positive culture among staff and children,” he added.
In a staff survey, 81 per cent of staff, from all areas of the prison, reported that their morale was “high or very high”, contrasting sharply with findings from other sites across England and Wales.
Jones said: “The support for staff and their high morale were fundamental in maintaining a purposeful regime for children during the pandemic.”
He concluded: “Parc YOI is not perfect; there were shortfalls in equality and diversity provision and consultation with children. Yet what the director, head of unit and their team had achieved in a fairly rudimentary facility was impressive and sets the standard for the care of children in all YOIs.”