The Verne inspection report 2024
Report for The Verne Prison
Summary
Although HMP The Verne was a generally safe and respectful jail holding 604 prisoners convicted of sexual offences (PCoSOs) at the time of our inspection, this report also reveals some worrying weaknesses in addressing the offending behaviour of many prisoners. With no offending behaviour programmes on offer (although we have been subsequently told these will now be funded) and a seriously understaffed and stretched offender management unit, it was possible for high-risk prisoners to spend years at the jail without any challenge or support towards changing their thinking or dangerous behaviour. It was concerning that despite having a relatively settled staff team, only 2% had completed the HM Prison and Probation Service online training for working with PCoSOs in the past year. Officers also told inspectors that they did not want to know what offences individuals had committed because they felt it might prejudice their response. As a result, they were not aware what offencemirroring behaviour might have been manifested by prisoners and they were unable to contribute more sophisticated analysis to prisoner offender managers before parole hearings. We were also disappointed to find that key work, which had been good at our last inspection, was now poor, particularly given the nature of offences committed by men in the jail.