Nottingham Prison 'Not Safe Enough'

10 February 2015, 06:27 | Updated: 30 March 2016, 13:50

Inspectors have called Nottingham Prison not safe enough.

The government report found it was violent, including assaults, protests, barricading and hostage taking.

This more recent inspection raises significant concerns.

Outcomes for prisoners were rated "poor", the worst assessment inspectors can give, across three of the four tests of a healthy prison.

Nick Hardwick, Chief Inspector of Prisons:

'At the time of our inspection, Nottingham prison was in a very difficult place. The prison faced challenges common to many other prisons, but was failing in most of its core responsibilities.

'The prison was not safe enough; conditions were not good enough; prisoners were not sufficiently active; and not enough was done to manage risks and reduce the likelihood of reoffending.'

Prison Takes Action

Michael Spurr, Chief Executive Officer of the National Offender Management Service, said:

'This inspection took place during a very difficult period at Nottingham where performance had fallen below acceptable standards.

'Immediately before the unannounced visit we had deployed additional managers and staff to the prison to support the Governor to improve conditions, and we took swift action in response to the inspection findings to further address safety issues and to provide a more purposeful and consistent regime for prisoners.

'As a result the prison is now cleaner, calmer and safer.'