Section two Focus on detention issues
present to open their doors or escort them)
had more limited access to exercise, showers
and telephone calls.
Case study: limitations on the regime in a
segregation unit
Half an hour exercise, use of telephone,
chance to clean the cell and a short
walk to the servery were the only daily
entitlements to leave the cell, because
showers were in cell. Exercise took place
individually, and we saw that basic grade
officers exercised discretion to refuse
telephone calls if the prisoner was judged
to be behaving inappropriately.
Access to corporate worship was supposed
to be offered on a risk-assessed basis, but in
several instances NPM members found no
examples where it had been provided.
In the CSC, inspectors found that most men
had reasonable opportunities for time out
of cell, contact with peers and staff, and
reasonably constructive regimes.
The prisoners who found themselves
informally isolated in their cells could access
only a limited regime and their contact with
others depended on their access to only a
limited time out of their cells. In one prison,
men on basic regime could only have two
showers a week, and in others they had
only 30 or 60 minutes a day for exercise or
domestic duties. In several establishments,
prisoners had no access to education. In
one prison, the NPM member noted that
prisoners had their televisions and radios
removed and had been given a basic prison
radio instead. Visits for 20 prisoners on a basic
regime in one prison had been restricted to
30 minutes in closed visits booths.
In one prison where inspectors found
prisoners with significant mental health
needs isolated in the inpatient unit of the
health care department, they noted that
the men were subject to controlled unlock
protocols and had very little contact with
staff, and less with peers.
Good practice from one prison in England
Communal areas in the segregation unit
were clean and brightly decorated, flooring
had been repaired and normalising
features such as murals and posters on
walls improved the environment. The
16 cells located across two landings
were clean and free from graffiti. They
were adequately furnished and some
were equipped with televisions. The
daily regime for prisoners located in the
segregation unit was better than we often
find and included daily access to exercise,
telephones and showers. Prisoners were
sometimes allowed to dine out of their
cells if they posed no risk to others and
some had been allowed short periods of
association following risk assessment.
Procedures and governance
In Scotland, those held in separation and
reintegration units for more than three
months have individual care plans, and their
cases are reviewed by a multidisciplinary
committee. Prisons in England and Wales are
supposed to develop care plans for individual
prisoners held in segregation for over a
month and segregation monitoring and
review groups (SMARG), but these provided
varying levels of oversight. In two prisons,
inspectors found SMARG monitoring was
sophisticated in identifying the individuals
ending up repeatedly in segregation; in
another prison SMARG monitoring had lapsed
and so the personal knowledge of staff was
relied on to identify repeat isolations.
27
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