Brinsford inspection report 2023
Report for Brinsford Prison
Summary
When we inspected Brinsford in August 2021 we raised concerns their cells. On this inspection we found a slightly improved picture with more prisoners in at least part-time work, but our score of ‘poor’ for purposeful activity reflects a jail that still has a long way to go. The prison was held back by a culture among a significant minority of staff and middle managers that Brinsford prisoners were so risky that it was better to keep them locked behind their doors, where too many continued to spend their days sleeping and watching television. This attitude remained a huge block to the ambition of the governor, and she will need to take on these influential vested interests if the jail is to make further progress. An example of this inertia was the use of force: at our last inspection, we criticised poor governance and in particular the apparent reluctance of staff to turn on body-worn cameras. Since then, the prison had acquired enough new cameras for every staff member, but leaders had not done enough to make sure they were activated.