Violence and drug use rising at UK's largest prison, report finds

VIOLENCE, self-harm and drugs availability are rising at Britain's biggest public sector prison, a report found.

- ANDREW FORGRAVE

Positive progress at HMP Berwyn, Wrexham, was being affected by an influx of short-stay prisoners from overcrowded jails in England.

An unannounced visit by HM Chief Inspector of Prisons earlier this year found a "disappointing drop" in safety levels at the Category C facility - from "reasonably good" to "not sufficiently good".

However, the report also noted that the relatively new prison governor displayed "capable leadership", staff recruitment was much improved and public protection arrangements and the offender management unit had improved.

The report found the drop in safety levels stemmed partly from the increasingly complex environment at HMP Berwyn, originally designed mainly to accommodate referrals from north Wales courts.

Prison population pressures elsewhere have seen its function expanded in the three years since Berwyn's last inspection.

This time, inspectors found around 200 prisoners were remanded or unsentenced prisoners mostly from Merseyside, Greater Manchester and Lancashire - some from as far away as Preston. A third of new arrivals were transfers from other prisons.

"The prison also received prisoners on short sentences who would, in the past, have been held in local reception prisons. This meant that longer-term Category C prisoners, for which the jail had been designed, now made up a much smaller proportion of the population than in the past," said a report published this week.

"Leaders at Berwyn faced additional complexity because of the need to develop effective partnership arrangements with stakeholders in both Wales and England."

At the same time, a recruitment drive to plug staffing gaps had led to a relatively inexperienced workforce, adding to pressures. Too many prisoners were being left locked up for 22 hours a day and random tests showed drugs were being used by 33.5% of inmates.