A damning report by his Majesties Inspector of Prisons has described a Greater Manchester Prison with levels of violence were very high, driven to a great extent by significant quantities of illegal drugs and a poor regime.
The report on HMP Hindley near Wigan, a category C training and resettlement prison for up to 600 adult and young adult men found The availability and use of illicit drugs posed a critical threat to the security of the prison, contributing to prisoner debt, bullying and fear.
The positive drug testing rate at Hindley was the highest of all prisons in England and Wales, and work so far to tackle this crisis had achieved minimal impact.
Inspectors found that Prison officers were not maintaining effective relationships with prisoners.
There was a high level of inexperience, and too many staff lacked confidence in enforcing basic standards and did not challenge low-level poor behaviour. Not enough key work (see Glossary) was delivered, and for some prisoners it was not happening at all.
They also found that Prisoners spent far too long locked up.
The regime offered too little time out of cell, especially for the unemployed. Many prisoners, particularly those in full-time employment, did not have sufficient time out of their cells for domestic routines, or to take part in outdoor exercise.
Self-harm was high and was increasing. In the last 12 months, there had been 494 incidents of self-harm, which placed Hindley in the top three among comparable prisons.
