Written evidence from the Northern Ireland
Prison Service
THE BLUEPRINT FOR DEVELOPING THE NORTHERN
IRELAND PRISON SERVICE IN THE 21ST CENTURY
INTRODUCTION
1. The Prison Service recognises the need
for long-term strategic plans and continuous improvement in the
effective management of the prisoner population and the development
of the prison estate. The Government has set high expectations
on the quality and timely delivery of services to prisoners by
the Prison Service.
2. The unique and difficult operating conditions
and tensions of the past 30 years have constrained the Service
in developing the estate and its functions in a way that is conducive
to positive reintegration of prisoners back into the community,
and to reducing re-offending on release.
3. Current conditions, including the continuing
peace process in Northern Ireland, the local Assembly, the prospect
of devolution and recent criminal justice measures, have provided
the Service with the opportunity to take a fresh look at the prison
estate and its core business to ensure that the way people are
held in custody meets the expectations of the courts, respects
their Human Rights and takes forward the public protection agenda
to reduce re-offending.
4. Given the complexity of managing prison
establishments, as well as meeting the diverse and individual
needs of prisoners, this will be a considerable challenge, requiring
a concerted change programme over many years.
5. The Prison Service Senior Management,
therefore, has decided to develop a holistic long-term strategy
for the Service. This will include recruiting and deploying its
staff more representatively and more efficiently to provide for
the full range of prisoner supervision and interaction responsibilities,
reducing unit costs and developing the prison estate to meet the
needs of the projected population for the next 10-15 year period.
6. The developments and strategies proposed
in this report will form the basis for meeting this challenge.
7. NIPS will deliver strategies within the
Blueprint Programme and, in doing so, will take into account its
obligations to comply with the Human Rights Act and will have
regard for international human rights standards.
STRAND 1
Prisoner population trends
8. Since early 2001 the prison population
has risen by over 70%. It is anticipated that the prison population
will continue to rise on an annual basis without any prospect
of a significant reduction in the mid to long term. This is already
placing increased pressure on existing prisoner accommodation
and facilities. Significant doubling of prisoners (ie two prisoners
sharing a cell) is now taking place at Maghaberry.
9. An analysis of the projected prisoner
population has been undertaken, and independently quality assured,
to determine the future rate of growth, this has indicated that
the current population level is likely to increase by as much
as 50% over the next 10-15 year period. NIPS have looked at a
series of population projections based upon Her Majesty's Prison
Service (HMPS) in England and Wales and the Scottish Prison Service
(SPS), as well as medium and short term trend models. The projected
population, should it continue to increase, could rise to between
2,400 and 2,900, with an average of 2,700. For the purposes of
planning NIPS have taken a growth rate of 5% over the next two
years and 4% thereafter. (The actual growth will be kept under
close review). On two dates in October 2007—17 and 27—the
Prisoner population, at 1,518, rose to its highest since 29 September
1998. Although proposals are in hand relating to alternatives
to custody and improving the effectiveness of intervention, detailed
analysis suggests that these will not have a major impact on the
population growth. Indeed proposed legislation for public protection
and other sentences are likely to lead to further increases.
10. The current limited accommodation impacts
on the Service's operational ability and flexibility to locate
prisoners appropriately and work with them according to their
appropriate security categorisation and to address their resettlement
needs.
Prisoner security categorisation
11. A new approach has been developed for
identifying prisoners' security categorisation to ensure that
they are managed at the lowest level of security and in appropriate
conditions. Internal analysis has shown that the current security
categorisation has tended to skew ratings towards medium to high
risk, whereas in practice the majority should be in the lower
risk categories. Testing conducted on the new security categorisation
model has borne this out.
12. Implementation of the new system commenced
in November 2007, and is to be completed by March 2008. Over time
this will help to establish more appropriate staff to prisoner
ratios in various locations across all prison sites. Work has
been taken forward in refining the proposed model with input from
Governing Governors and Security departments.
Developmental activity for Prisoners
13. Daily constructive activities for prisoners
play an essential part in developing the skills required for successful
resettlement back into the community. NIPS analysis has shown
that the existing constructive activity provision for prisoners
is insufficient for the current and future prison population.
14. A strategy is proposed that will enable
the Service to address the multiple and diverse needs of the expanding
prison population and thereby reduce re-offending. The strategy
distinguishes between developmental and non-developmental activity,
and prioritises developmental activity to be delivered to all
prisoners, across a range of skill sets within a core week.
15. The full implementation of this strategy
is dependent on resource availability, and on other changes taking
place across the Service. The strategy will be implemented on
an incremental basis.
Future role of prison establishments
16. The role of the prison establishments
must take account of the inevitable requirement in Northern Ireland's
small system for co-location of diverse prisoner types, as well
as the projected population size. These requirements and population
growth projections can be best met in the foreseeable future within
a future estate comprising two adult male prison establishments,
of which one is envisaged to be a new build prison to replace
Magilligan Prison. Hydebank Wood is planned to continue as the
third establishment for Young Offenders. It currently houses women
prisoners too and a separate options appraisal is looking at the
scope in the longer term.
17. The work programme for Strand 1 focused
on inter-related objectives concerning prisoner population forecasts,
constructive activity to meet the needs of prisoners, their security
classification and the future role of establishments. In the course
of the work programme, new proposals were formed on constructive
activity and security classification and the existing methodology
for projecting the future prison population was refined. These
proposals and the methodology were informed by best practice principles
that emerged during research in other jurisdictions (GB and Ireland).
18. In the development of these policies
the Prison Service sought advice, input and quality assurance
from the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Branch (SRB)
and from Queen's University Belfast, as well as colleagues from
prison services in other jurisdictions who generously shared their
ideas, policies and time. The development of these proposals and
the accompanying evaluation of existing resources and practices
was a platform to inform other subsequent work streams in the
Strategic Development Programme.
STRAND 2 DEVELOPMENT
OF THE
PRISON SERVICE
ESTATE
19. The Estate Strategy relates to the future
development of the prison estate within Northern Ireland over
the next 10 years and beyond. It creates a long term view of the
projects necessary to meet the organisation's needs and provides
a vehicle to plan, manage and deliver the projects in a more cost
effective and coherent fashion. It builds upon the work in Strand
1. The prison estate has, in the past, been driven reactively
in responding to the needs and demands of the "Troubles"
over the last 30 plus years. The result has been a piece-meal
approach to both the roll-out of the capital programme and the
overall development of the estate. For the first time the Service
has sought proactively to provide a robust assessment of present
and future needs which will help support the future strategic
direction of the Service and its estate.
Assessment of maintenance and fitness for purpose
of the existing accommodation
20. The current prison estate consists of
three establishments, as well as a separate prisoner assessment
unit, a training college and a headquarters, (Belfast Prison having
closed in 1996 and the Maze in 2000). Each of the three establishments
is currently configured to hold a population for which they were
not originally designed. As a result each establishment has had
to accommodate a wide range of categories of prisoner with an
unprecedented level of complexity in Maghaberry, and the movement
of females to accommodation within the male Young Offenders Centre
at Hydebank Wood. The result is an uneasy mix of prisoner categories
housed in close proximity with each other in accommodation that
is not appropriate to meet modern needs.
HMP Maghaberry
21. HMP Maghaberry opened in 1986 and was
divided into two distinct areas. A male prison, developed from
a 1960s design at Frankland. With an original design capacity
of 450, it currently houses over 820 male prisoners. A smaller
prison, originally housing women, with a capacity for 56, known
as Mourne House, is located adjacent to the male prison on the
Maghaberry site. Mourne House was modelled on the concept of the
smaller residential units found at Cornton Vale in Scotland. The
women were moved to Hydebank in 2004. Two additional blocks, Bush
and Roe, were added to the male prison during the mid 1990's,
increasing the male capacity by a further 192. All accommodation
benefits from in-cell sanitation.
22. Bush and Roe cells offer a marked improvement
in design terms over any other cellular accommodation within the
estate. They feature wide landings with clear lines of sight allowing
easier supervision of prisoners. Following the Steele report in
2003, the blocks were enhanced with additional grilles and camera
coverage and now house the separated population. The balance consists
of square block houses which have been criticised in HMCIP reports
in 2002 and 2006.
23. The prison suffers further from a lack
of adequate support facilities for catering, education, healthcare
and vocational training. It contains a complex range of prisoner
categories from separated through to remands and, because of this,
all prisoners tend to be treated in the same manner—as high
risk. The inadequate design, particularly in the block houses,
reinforces this culture of high risk and is reflected in high
staffing levels compared to that achieved in England and Wales,
and those possible in facilities of a more modern design. This
culture of high risk and the presence of separated prisoners has
also promoted a lack of engagement between officers and inmates.
HMP Magilligan
24. HMP Magilligan, with the capacity to
hold 446 prisoners, is a medium to low risk establishment approximately
six miles from Coleraine and 70 miles from Belfast. It opened
in 1972 on the site of an old prisoner of war camp, some of whose
buildings remain in use today. The site is sub-divided into two
distinct areas—a small low risk element adjacent to the
main prison, surrounded by a perimeter fence; and the main prison
itself, inside the wall, which caters for medium risk prisoners
and incorporates three H-blocks, an administration building and
the bulk of support services.
25. It is widely recognised that there is
a requirement to replace the cells and infrastructure at Magilligan
where the facilities comprise a mixture of temporary single storey
buildings (timber framed sectional buildings), corrugated steel
facilities (circa 1940) and flat roofed H-blocks (erected
as short term accommodation in the 1970's) all of which are in
need of replacement. All cells lack in-cell sanitation.
26. The prison currently holds low risk
and medium risk offenders nearing the end of their sentence. However,
due in part to its relatively remote location in relation to Maghaberry
and courts, it cannot hold remand prisoners. Neither can it hold
the large majority of medium, high risk or separated prisoners.
The dispersed nature of the site, with its inappropriate and poorly
designed facilities, also lends itself to high staffing levels,
and a lack of engagement and association.
Hydebank Wood Prison and Young Offenders Centre
27. Hydebank Wood was opened in 1978 to
provide 240 places for young offenders. The facility comprises
five blocks holding between 52 and 64 inmates, one of which now
holds women. All blocks will very shortly include in-cell sanitation.
Ancillary services have been improved in recent years, including
a new visitor's centre and skills centre.
28. In June 2004 the female population (encompassing
all ages and categories of prisoner) were transferred to Ash House
at Hydebank Wood from Mourne House. However, it is not appropriate
long-term accommodation, and it has been accepted that a new purpose
built female facility is appropriate. While the Hydebank estate
is in an improving condition, work is needed to improve healthcare,
gymnasium, trade and other facilities.
Wider estate
29. Elsewhere the Service has a training
college located remotely from the main prison estate. Comprising
30 acres, with 22 houses in addition to the main building, the
Prison Service is currently assessing the potential for planning
permission and future disposal of the site. As part of the development
of an Integrated Training College for Northern Ireland, NIPS has
agreed to co-locate its training facilities at the Desertcreat
site near Cookstown, in partnership with the PSNI and Fire and
Rescue Services. The relocation is not expected before 2011-12.
30. The Prison Service headquarters is located
in part of Dundonald House which is owned by the Department of
Finance and Personnel and is located on the Stormont Estate. It,
too, is inappropriate, and, due to a lack of office space, three
of the branches are located remotely from Dundonald House in prefabricated
sectional buildings. The Workplace 2010 initiative has recently
been launched which seeks the sale and lease back of numerous
Government buildings, including Dundonald House, through the vehicle
of PPP. It is envisaged that this will create open plan environments.
The Service intends to remain on the Stormont Estate, as part
of the wider Criminal Justice system there.
Estate short-comings
31. The Service has carried out an assessment
of its estate against the criteria of safety of staff and prisoners,
flexibility in its management and in-cell sanitation. As previously
outlined, the estate has some poorly designed and inappropriate
facilities, principally on its adult male sites, which also happen
to be the areas of greatest pressure in terms of population growth.
Management of the stock is limited in that, due to the inadequate
facilities and location of the Magilligan site, there is limited
flexibility between locations and a high level of complexity at
the high security prison at Maghaberry. In respect of sanitation
almost 35% of the prison estate still lacks in-cell facilities
nearing the end of 2007.
Alternative design solutions
32. The Service has conducted extensive
research through the United Kingdom and Ireland in looking at
best practice in design solutions which meet the criteria previously
identified, and achieve the staffing efficiencies, cost reductions
and value for money objectives demanded for public finance. The
proposals for new accommodation must not only address the inadequacies
of our existing stock, but also provide the flexibility and capacity
to provide for the rising prisoner population over the next 10-15
years.
33. The examples of best practice viewed
and analysed indicate that the use of X or L Blocks provides for
the best solution, offering improvements in the supervision and
management of inmates, whilst also bringing increased efficiency
in operational costs.
34. One key issue in providing future facilities
is how best the delivery can be managed to ensure they are delivered
on time and to cost. The Service is examining the model which
will best provide for delivery to time and cost, whether through
the continuing use of Central Procurement Division (CPD) -DOE—or
the use of specialised consultancy or management contractors.
More strategically, the Service will also evaluate in more detail
(at the stage of the outline business case) whether there is an
argument for future new or replacement prisons to be built using
Public Private Partnership (PPP) or through capital expenditure.
An Options Appraisal was commissioned by the Minister which is
required to report in late 2007. This major exercise, in which
the Strategic Investment Board has been fully involved, is nearing
completion. It is intended to enable Ministers to take firm decisions
on the future estate strategy. (See also the final section.)
Options in relation to the site
35. The relative remoteness of the Magilligan
site and its requirement for a complete purpose-built replacement
offer a possible option of re-locating the facility.
36. In line with the population projections
of Strand 1 and the future role of prisons, the Service clearly
needs two adult male prisons. A search has been undertaken of
existing Crown land to locate suitably sized sites in appropriate
locations. (In the event that no suitable locations are available
this might be extended to commercial sites.)
Potential consequences for employment in local
areas
37. The Prison Service commissioned BDO
Stoy Hayward to undertake an assessment of the socio-economic
impact of the location of the second adult prison replacing Magilligan
in varying localities within Northern Ireland. The report assessed
the comparative impact on the local economy, and of tourism in
the Limavady area, of siting the second adult prison on the Magilligan
site and on sites yet to be identified in three other localities.
It concluded that the siting of the prison was unlikely to have
any significant effect on tourism and that the impact on the Limavady
local economy was likely to be a reduction of between 0.17% (if
the new prison is built at Magilligan) and 1.09% if it was built
in either the Lisburn or Portadown/Craigavon/Dungannon areas.
If it is built in the Ballymena area the adverse impact on the
economy of the Limavady area was assessed at around 0.6%. The
report was published by NIPS in 2006.
STRAND 3: THE
SERVICE'S
APPROACH TO
CONTESTABILITY
38. Contestability is a measure of the extent
to which a market is open to new entry. One question for the Northern
Ireland Prison Service is how much it can, or should, engage the
private sector in the provision of custodial services. Strand
3 initially reviewed the introduction of private sector provision
in the US, Australian, Canadian, and European Markets with specific
emphasis on the England and Wales experience. HMPS is a major
innovator in the provision of new prisons by the private sector,
with all new prisons since 1993 provided by this route, using
the Design, Construct, Manage and Finance (DCMF) model. The report
noted that France and Germany had also used a hybrid private sector
model but retained the core custodial function within the public
sector. The report also noted that the private sector had thus
far engaged in new prisons and not in replacing existing public
sector prisons.
39. One perceived outcome of this policy
was the driving down of costs within the public sector as contestability
had encouraged cost effective and more competitive solutions.
This has been re-inforced in recent years with the split into
a purchaser/provider role with the creation of the National Offender
Management System (NOMS) covering prisons and probation services.
The reports concluded, however, that whilst HMPS had taken this
path, it represented only 11% of its total capacity.
40. In addition, an analysis of the potential
risks was undertaken in 2006 in relation to both the DCMF and
the hybrid model.
STRAND 4: EXPLORING
THE OPTION
OF CONTRACTING-OUT
THE FULL
RANGE OF
ESCORT SERVICES—PRISONER
ESCORT AND
COURT CUSTODY
SERVICES (PECCS)
41. This strand originated from the Hamill
review in May 2005 and appraised the option of contracting out
Escort Services as opposed to what he described as re-activating
the Prisoner Custody Option (PCO). As part of the then ongoing
NIPS efficiency programme, NIPS had previously planned to recruit
around 80 Prisoner Custody Officers (PCOs) to replace the fully
trained prison officers working in the Prisoner Escort Group (PEG).
It was also felt that the same new grade of officer should be
used to take over the magistrates' courts duties from the PSNI
and replace Police Officers in the management of detained persons
at courts, and for transporting prisoners between the courts and
prisons. Whilst this was delayed for various reasons, a private
sector contractor was appointed to provide temporary cover whilst
the options were reviewed.
42. The study considered a range of options
in relation to Escorting including full privatisation, in-house
bids and competitive tendering. It also considered the potential
scope of the work by extending it to cover further escorting for
the PSNI and Youth Justice Agencies. Furthermore the scope also
included "Bedwatches" (when a prisoner has to spend
time in a hospital in the community) and temporary release escorting
which are currently provided by Prison Officers withdrawn from
normal duties. The implications of Transfer of Undertakings (Protection
of Employment) Regulations (TUPE) were also considered and legal
advice was sought on the potential legal and financial implications.
43. The study concluded that PCO and full
privatisation were the only realistic options. The PCO option
would have several advantages and might be expected to create
a base on which progress was possible on a wide range of issues.
A privatisation option would be likely to have the opposite effect
but would reduce NIPS management's role in relation to the work
when contracted out. The study concluded that agreement must be
reached with the staff side on terms and conditions and the other
matters identified.
44. After discussion the POA indicated their
willingness to engage and, following Ministerial approval in early
April 2006, NIPS pursued the PCO option. After an agreed period
a proposal, including a comprehensive delivery plan, was further
approved by the Minister in September 2006. This included the
merger of the current Prisoner Escort Group and the (private)
Maybin contract into a new group termed the Prisoner Escort and
Court Custody Service (PECCS) which assumed operational responsibility
on 5 February 2007. A total of 101 staff from Maybin were contracted
into the Service under TUPE regulations as part of this project.
This was projected to provide significant annual savings, although
since 2005, court sittings have increased by 14% and this has
put additional demands and pressure on PECCS, delaying the full
release of main grade officers.
STRAND 5: REWARD
AND RECOGNITION
45. A major part of NIPS cost is that of
labour. For various reasons the salaries of many Prison Officers
in Northern Ireland are higher than in the remainder of the United
Kingdom.
46. In the late 1990's NIPS recruited Auxiliary
Officers in a support role. They were required to perform a reduced
range of roles at a reduced cost, though, after review, they are
regraded as Prison Officers, and the salary levels are higher.
NIPS plans to extend the use of support grades, using Operational
Support Grades (OSGs), to release Prison Officers from those roles
which do not require the full range of duties, to those front
line duties where there is greater interaction with prisoners.
This will in part provide the full range of Officers required
to meet the current Target Staffing Level (TSL), reduce the level
of overtime or Additional Emergency Hours (AEH) required to cover
for staff shortages, sickness, bedwatches, death in service or
through retirement. Furthermore it will provide capacity to meet
the requirements for staffing new accommodation (RTUs).
47. As part of the future development of
NIPS there is a need to provide for a change in the manner in
which the Service and its officers operate and engage with prisoners.
The role of the Prison Officer in engaging directly in rehabilitation,
education and prevention of re-offending will be central to achieving
this. Gradual implementation of support grades with an enhanced
role for front-line Prison Officers is seen as the most productive
way forward. Over time there will be sufficient ventilation of
staff to reduce the overall staffing costs substantially.
48. A three year pay and efficiency package
was agreed with the PGA/POA, Treasury and the Pay Review Body.
Implemented in late April 2007, it delivered up front efficiencies
of 10% in the deployment of staff.
HR strategy
49. In support, a comprehensive Human Resource
Strategy has been developed. New accommodation will be needed
and additional programmes and interventions will be required to
deliver the resettlement agenda. Managers will face new challenges
in addressing these changes, as well as the Service bringing in
different grades of staff. Another is likely to be the changing
of emphasis away from security and control towards a greater degree
of engagement and intervention. This will involve significant
training. The Human Resource Strategy for the NIPS addresses these
issues and sets out a programme of delivery. Separately the Service
is also finalising its diversity strategy to ensure that, over
time, the composition of the workforce more closely reflects the
population from which it is drawn. Good progress has been made
in recent competitions.
STRAND 6: EFFICIENCY
PROGRAMME PROJECTS
50. This strand of work was carried across
from the original "Delivering Better Value" Programme
reviewed by Hamish Hamill as part of the SR2004 settlement. It
encompasses a diverse range of work from staffing issues, recruitment
and healthcare through to a Management Development Programme.
Workforce review
51. The purpose of the Workforce Review
was to ensure that all of the future business needs of the NIPS
would be capable of being met through its workforce. The required
outcome was that the workforce would be structured in such a way
that the correct skills mix would be available to all operational
managers at times when they are required to carry out the work.
The report identified posts and work which did not require the
full range of officer's duties and has been used to inform the
work on future grading in strand 5.
The future provision of training
52. This project developed into a small
programme encompassing the future requirements for training, the
relocation of the Dog section and the disposal of the current
PSC site. The project scoped the current and future training requirements
for the service and quantified the resource requirements. A further
project through Estate Management is exploring the potential planning
permission and the applications necessary to maximise the potential
income from disposal of the site. A response on an Outline Planning
Permission (OPP) for the PSC site is not yet available.
53. A further project considered the relocation
of the Dog section from the Millisle site. At the same time it
assessed the potential to out-source the kennelling requirement
to cover times of leave, and provide the training externally.
This has not proved practical and, indeed, the outsourcing exercise
attracted no commercial interest.
54. The agreement in early 2007 to relocate
to an Integrated Training College at Desertcreat in conjunction
with the PSNI and the Fire and Rescue Service has superseded this
programme of work. All training facilities and the Dog kennelling
and training section will relocate to the site. This should occur
by 2012. NIPS will contribute to the College through the disposal
of its current site at Millisle.
Exit package
55. The recruitment of Operational Support
Grades will ensure that shortages in current staffing levels are
filled, thus reducing overtime requirements. It will also provide
for sufficient staff to meet the growing prisoner population needs,
and staff new accommodation coming on stream in late 2008-09.
It has been considered whether there may be limited opportunity
for some staff to avail of an exit package. While the prison population
continues to grow, along with the associated staffing requirements
and the loss of Main Grade Officers (MGOs) through wastage, this
is not on the current agenda.
Recruitment programme for support staff
56. This is an on-going process which supports
the introduction of support grade staff, to release Prison Officers
for roles requiring the full range of Prison officer duties. The
Service has now completed the recruitment and training of the
second tranche of Night Custody Officers (NCOs) with full deployment
in late 2006. This project will have released the equivalent of
over 160 Main Grade Officers (MGOs) back to front line duties.
57. The further development of grading structures
to support the introduction of Operational Support Grades and
Prisoner Custody Officers within strands 4 and 5 will lead to
additional recruitment in the future. This will be particularly
important in the medium term as there is a need to generate the
additional staffing for new accommodation coming on stream in
late 2008.
Healthcare
58. It was planned that lead responsibility
for the provision of prisoner healthcare in Northern Ireland would
transfer to the DHSSPS in April 2007. (Since 2000, the Home Office
and the Department of Health in England have been working in a
formal partnership to improve health services for prisoners, culminating
in the transfer of commissioning responsibility for those services
to the NHS).
59. A review of Prison Healthcare Services
was completed in Northern Ireland in April 2002. The conclusions
of the review very much reflected the position reported for England
in The Future Organisation of Prison Health Care. The Review
endorsed the existing aim for prison healthcare, "to give
prisoners' access to the same quality and range of healthcare
services that the general public receives" and found that
there were examples of good practice in the prison service here.
However, it was felt that the service required a coordinated multi-disciplinary
team approach, with a large measure of delegated professional
independence to team members.
60. NIPS does not have the range of skills
or capacity to provide the wide range of services required to
meet the demanding healthcare needs of its prisoner population.
It therefore makes sense for the Prison Service here to follow
the HM Prison Service model by making the Health Service in Northern
Ireland responsible for commissioning all health care services,
both primary and secondary care.
61. The Strategic Steering Group, consisting
of senior officials from NIPS and DHSSPS met on 10 January 2006,
when the Programme Initiation Document was signed off, and membership
of a Programme Board was agreed. The Programme Board first met
in March 2006, where agreement was reached that the Eastern Health
& Social Services Board should act as a single commissioner
for all three prisons until the new Health & Social Services
Authority has been established. Partnership Boards were established
consisting of the appropriate staff from HSS Trusts, the Eastern
HSS Board and the Prisons management and staff. This group is
an integral part of the programme for change and is responsible
for producing the detailed plans essential for the successful
introduction of the new arrangements.
62. The programme was targeted for an April
2007 handover and the transfer of £5.47 million took place
on 1 April 2007. However, the Reform of Public Administration
(RPA) and the local Assembly taking responsibility for Healthcare
have delayed the full transfer.
Management development programme
63. A Management Development Scheme (MDS)
has been developed to provide opportunities for a limited number
of existing officers to be selected for development as future
managers. The scheme is designed to bring on talented Officers
within the organisation to a level where they can compete for
future vacancies at Governor Grade. The Service is also determined
to provide arrangements for the professional and managerial development
of its future managers. The recruitment and selection phase was
completed in early 2007, with the first course of 6 successful
applicants commencing the one year training in March 2007.
New developments—additional accommodation
64. In response to the strands 1 and 2 reports
on Prisoner Projections and the Estate Strategy in 2006, the Service
has already scoped the future projections and accommodation needs
for the next 10-15 years. It has also identified a medium term
need, over the next 2-4 years, to provide accommodation suitable
to meet the increase in prisoner numbers, and provide contingency
accommodation.
65. This project commenced work early in
2006 and, using the National Offender Management System (NOMS)
specification for Ready To Use (RTU) accommodation, is currently
targeted to deliver in mid 2008. In preparation for future major
build projects, NIPS is actively participating in the Office of
Government (OGC) Gateway process to ensure major procurement projects
are delivered on time, to cost and of the right quality.
66. Two new Ready To Use (RTU) accommodation
blocks providing 60 cells each (including, where necessary, ancillary
services) are being developed for the Maghaberry and Magilligan
sites. These will provide cover whilst the larger more permanent
blocks, capable of housing 240 or more inmates, are developed
for delivery in 2010-11. With the delivery of these modern well
designed, permanent buildings, NIPS can deliver greater efficiencies
in staffing ratios, and better engagement with prisoners to assist
in the prevention of re-offending. In response to the continuing
increase in the prisoner population active consideration has been
given to extending the Maghaberry option to 120 cells to meet
the growing population needs.
67. The RTU accommodation will go some way
to promoting lower staffing ratios and greater engagement with
prisoners, assisted by association on the landings, as opposed
to separate locked rooms. The engagement with prisoners will be
supported by the revised security categorisation which will classify
prisoners more accurately and appropriately. This accommodation
will comprise some of the most modern, spacious and well equipped
cell stock possessed by NIPS, with the larger cells providing
in-cell sanitation and capable of doubling.
68. The Service has also looked at other
short term options to provide adult male accommodation. An additional
50 bed dormitory type accommodation came on stream at Magilligan
in October 2007. This is, however, only suitable for low risk
prisoners in the later stages of their sentence.
Options appraisals
69. The Prisons Minister, Mr Paul Goggins,
announced on 21 February 2007 that he had tasked the Prison Service
"in consultation with other interested parties to provide
him with a comprehensive options appraisal by the end of the summer".
This work—in preparation for the announcement of the location
of the replacement to the existing Magilligan prison—is
to enable the Minister to take a final decision on whether to
rebuild on the existing site or at another location.
70. The study focuses upon the replacement
of Magilligan and the decision to replace at the current or an
alternative site elsewhere in Northern Ireland. Any decision to
locate elsewhere will impact upon the role the replacement prison
will play and the category of prisoner. The study will also examine
the future impact for Maghaberry, including the impact of providing
additional accommodation on the Maghaberry site, and the implications
and requirements for ancillary services and support facilities.
71. The study will examine the resource
requirements for procurement of a new prison and the methodology
by which this may be achieved. It will also review the method
for project delivery for the options identified, and the necessary
blend of skills and resources required internally and externally.
This will include identifying the range and extent of external
partnership and consultancy necessary to deliver the final product.
The project will also deliver high level financial model costs
for capital and resource for the recommended options. The project
is due to report by end November 2007.
72. The Service has also received criticism
over the location of women prisoners in Ash House, a building
previously occupied by young offenders and on the young offender's
site at Hydebank. It has accepted that this is not the appropriate
long term location. The Minister has asked NIPS to carry out a
review of the needs of women and the facilities to support this.
The first phase of this project is scheduled to report by the
end of February 2008. The study focuses on the options for relocation,
either on the current site or, potentially, elsewhere. The study
will examine the needs of women prisoners, both sentenced and
remand, and, from that, identify the future shape and design of
female housing, as well as devising an overall strategy. Throughout
the development of this work, NIPS will work closely with all
interested stakeholders. The Minister has also asked that the
study should look at the potential for providing a Women's hostel
in the community.
Northern Ireland Prison Service
November 2007
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