High levels of violence and self harm at Yorkshire prison caused by staff shortages, damning report finds

High levels of violence and self harm at a west Yorkshire prison were caused by staff shortages which led to inmates being locked in their cells for up to 24 hours a day, according to a new report.

Staffing levels had been a "major problem" and had an adverse effect on prison regimes, the Independent Monitoring Board (IMB) at HMP Wealstun, near Wetherby in West Yorkshire, said.

The levels of violence, self-harm and availability of drugs at the category C site, which holds around 800 inmates, remained high for nine months despite funding from the 10 Prisons Project, the report states.

The project saw £10m allocated to a select number of facilities in a bid to reduce violence and raise standards.

Extra support eventually resulted in improvements but the board questioned whether progress made since March would continue given the "remaining instability with staffing, funding and support".

"As we reported last year, we did not expect 2018/19 to be any easier for HMP Wealstun although we were hopeful that its inclusion in the 10 Prisons Project would have some positive impact," chairman of the IMB Rebecca Major said. "Unfortunately, the anticipated improvements did not occur until the project had been running for more than six months.

"The shortage of staff had a number of impacts on prisoners, with restricted regimes (prisoners locked up for 24 hours at weekends), delays in starting visits from families and lack of officers to escort prisoners to healthcare appointments. This shortage led to high levels of violence, against both staff and prisoners, and self-harm incidents, all compounded by the continuing high volume of drugs and illicitly-brewed alcohol available.

"The level of staffing has been a major problem throughout the year, with a considerable number of new officers recruited who require training at college and then time on the wings to gain experience. The majority of wing staff have less than two years' experience and attrition is high. In addition, officers absent on long- and short-term sickness or on limited duties impacts on the available staffing levels."

She said the "significant changes to staffing" helped to quell violence and self-harm incidents, adding: "We hope that the changes made and the support available can be maintained, otherwise we are not confident that the improvements can be sustained."

IMBs are made up of volunteers appointed by justice ministers to scrutinise prison conditions.