A CHAOTIC picture of prison officers being bussed from one jail to another to plug gaps caused by staff shortages has emerged in a watchdog report.
HM Prisons Inspectorate visited HMP Swaleside on the Isle of Sheppey in Kent and found that he prison remained “far too violent,” “continues to struggle” and that its “outcomes still need to improve dramatically.”
According to the inspectorate, the prison is relying on staff on “detached duty” loaned from other prisons to deliver “even a severely restricted daily routine.”
Prison Officers Association (POA) general secretary Steve Gillan said: “The scandal of bussing prison officers from one prison to another has been going on for years.
“This is no way to run the prison service. It’s no wonder we are in crisis.”
Over 40 per cent of the 813 prisoners at HMP Swaleside are serving sentences of more than 10 years, the inspectorate reported.
A further 43 per cent are serving indeterminate sentences, mostly for life, and one unit holds only men convicted of a sexual offence.
The resports also shows that prisoners are being discharged direct from Swaleside, instead of being transferred to other prisons to be prepared for release.
HM Chief Inspector of Prison Charlie Taylor said: “Overall, this was a concerning inspection.”
He said that “ongoing weaknesses” included “inconsistent support for prisoners at risk, a failure by some night staff to carry anti-ligature knives, slow responses to cell bells and inadequate reviews of coroners’ and recommendations from the Prisons and Probation Ombudsman.
“This was despite seven prisoners having taken their own lives since 2021,” Mr Taylor noted.
“Swaleside is a prison that continues to struggle and where outcomes still need to improve dramatically.”
He said that had there not been a reduction in the prisoner population and the deployment of staff from other jails, “it is hard to imagine how the prison would have coped.”
Rob Preece of the Howard League for Penal Reform said: “Swaleside prison has been struggling for many years…
“Even now, after a determined effort to reduced self-harm, the prison is not safe enough and it is being forced to rely on temporary staff arriving from elsewhere.
“Locking men in their cells when they could be working or in education will not help them to turn their lives around and move on from crime.”
A Prison Service spokesperson said: “We are pleased inspectors recognised the efforts of our hardworking staff which have helped reduce incidents of self-harm at the prison.
“With significantly increased salaries of over £30,000, we’re also recruiting and retaining more prison officers – with 4,600 more across the country than in 2017 – enabling us to quickly deploy staff to where they’re needed most.”
