High Down inspection report 2023
Report for High Down Prison
Summary
The transition of High Down from a reception prison to a category C training and resettlement jail was originally announced as far back as 2015, with the first prisoners moved over the next three years. Further delays meant that the change was only finally completed in April 2022, with staff and prisoners left in a state of uncertainty for many years. Despite these delays, there had still not been sufficient planning or preparation by the prison service, leading to many of the problems we highlight in this report. There had also been five governors since our last full inspection in 2018, which had added to the instability of the prison. This left the current governor, who arrived in March 2022, with an enormous challenge to affect such considerable physical and cultural change in the jail. She had developed a clear vision of how she wanted the prison to run and had begun to make progress, particularly with improving the capability of the workforce and developing the regime.