Delays in Home Office decision-making kept many men at HMP Huntercombe beyond their earliest removal or release dates, according to the prison inspectorate’s report published in November 2023.
Inspectors found the delays caused frustration and distress and held back release planning. Some men stayed in custody after completing their sentences. The report said this caused avoidable distress and wasted public funds.
Huntercombe, in Oxfordshire, is a category C prison that holds only foreign national men. It held 468 prisoners when inspectors visited in August 2023, against an operational capacity of 480.
Despite those problems, Charlie Taylor, HM Chief Inspector of Prisons, said: “Huntercombe continues to be one of the best prisons in the country.”
Strong on safety and respect
HM Inspectorate of Prisons judged Huntercombe against four healthy prison tests. These were safety, respect, purposeful activity, and rehabilitation and release planning. Purposeful activity covers education, work and time out of cell.
The prison scored good, the highest grade, for safety and respect. It scored not sufficiently good for purposeful activity and for rehabilitation and release planning.
At the previous full inspection in 2017, rehabilitation and release planning received the lowest score, so that area has moved up. Inspectors also carried out a shorter scrutiny visit during the Covid-19 pandemic, in December 2020.
The inspectorate raised 14 key concerns, four of them priorities. It also found five examples of notable positive practice. These included training for wing staff from Narcotics Anonymous, delivered by people who had recovered from opiate addiction.
The Chief Inspector of Prisons praised an excellent governor who was very visible, set high expectations and encouraged innovation. One example was a course based on Stoicism, which the PE department had developed. It aimed to help men understand themselves and make more considered choices.
Huntercombe continues to be one of the best prisons in the country with some very effective practice led by a strong senior team.
Charlie Taylor, HM Chief Inspector of Prisons
Immigration, recategorisation and release
Home Office staff worked inside the prison and tried hard to engage with prisoners. Long backlogs in central decision-making, however, left men anxious and confused. Decisions about deportation often came at the last minute.
Leaders had set up a new resettlement team. It had much improved support for men leaving the prison, especially those facing deportation.
Recategorisation was a major source of frustration. Men often could not move to category D open prisons because of their immigration status. The Chief Inspector of Prisons noted that nearly 60% remained in the UK after release.
Inspectors found that most recategorisation decisions rested solely on Home Office interest rather than individual risk. The report said this wrongly kept men out of open conditions regardless of their progress.
Some gaps in public protection remained. Phone monitoring was not effective for some high-risk prisoners.
Staff attitudes and searching
Inspectors received numerous reports of unhelpful staff who did not understand prisoners’ concerns as foreign nationals. Many officers were excellent, but some sat in offices rather than on the wings.
The Chief Inspector of Prisons said his team was surprised by how often prisoners spoke negatively about some staff. He called for more training on the experiences and needs of foreign national prisoners, some of whom had been victims of torture.
Violence remained low but had risen in recent months, and leaders had not done enough to understand why. There had also been some spikes in drugs entering the prison.
The prison routinely overused strip-searching, which the report called often invasive and unnecessary given that a body scanner was in place. Staff usually failed to use body-worn cameras during incidents.
Health services were generally good. A pop-up health hub on the wings let men check their weight and blood pressure regularly. However, the impending loss of a psychologist risked leaving victims of torture or modern slavery without enough support.
Not enough to do
Most prisoners worked only part time. Even with new provision such as the Clink restaurant opening, there would still not be enough places for everyone to take part in full-time activity. The Chief Inspector of Prisons called this unacceptable in a category C prison.
Staff vacancies and sickness meant classes were often cancelled. The Chief Inspector of Prisons said senior education staff rarely covered for absent colleagues, and that managers had not observed lessons for more than a year.
He described the overall service from the education provider as poor. Most education was at level 2 or below, and prisoners could not access effective careers advice.
The Chief Inspector of Prisons expected progress to continue under the strong senior team. He set two conditions: the education provider must radically improve, and a small minority of officers must become more professional and engaged.
About this story
This story is based on HM Inspectorate of Prisons’ report on HMP Huntercombe, published on 13 November 2023, following an inspection that ended in August 2023. All figures and judgements are the inspectorate’s. Read the full inspection report · See the prison’s profile in our directory.
