Erlestoke scrutiny visit 2020

Summary

Overall, this was a very troubling visit, and if this had been a full inspection as part of our normal inspection programme, I would have given serious consideration as to whether the Urgent Notification procedure should be invoked. Instead, following the published methodology for Scrutiny Visit inspections, I wrote to the Secretary of State (see Appendix III) on 26 August 2020. In that letter, and in the inspection debriefing paper that accompanied it, I set out in detail the concerns that needed to be addressed as a matter of urgency. Some of those issues should be amenable to local resolution, if effective leadership can be brought to bear. Others appear to be systemic, arising from the apparent inflexibility of the recovery programme. The response to the COVID-19 pandemic at HMP Erlestoke has led to a less safe, less decent and less purposeful prison.

Inspection ratings