Inspectors found HMP Morton Hall safe and respectful, awarding good grades, the highest available, for both. However, the inspectorate’s report, published in February 2024, judged purposeful activity and preparation for release not sufficiently good. Inspectors said this was a concern in a resettlement prison.
Morton Hall is a category C resettlement prison for adult male foreign nationals, set in the grounds of a former RAF station near Lincoln. It was formerly an immigration removal centre and now operates as a prison for adult men. This was its first inspection since it became a prison.
The prison held 332 men at the time of the inspection, against an operational capacity of 353. Inspectors completed their fieldwork in November 2023. The report said Morton Hall is one of three such prisons across the country.
Grades and leadership
Inspectors judge prisons against four healthy prison tests: safety, respect, purposeful activity and preparation for release. Purposeful activity covers education, work and time out of cell. Each test receives one of four grades: good, reasonably good, not sufficiently good or poor.
Morton Hall scored good for safety and good for respect. It scored not sufficiently good for purposeful activity and not sufficiently good for preparation for release.
Inspectors praised senior leaders, who had created an encouraging and respectful culture with high standards that staff understood. However, leaders had not ensured consistent supervision or mentoring for the many new staff. Some staff felt they needed more training.
The Chief Inspector of Prisons, Charlie Taylor, ended on a hopeful note. “Morton Hall is a capable prison and the issues we have identified are solvable,” he said. Inspectors identified 15 key concerns, five of them priorities.
Despite these criticisms, Morton Hall is a capable prison and the issues we have identified are solvable.
Charlie Taylor, HM Chief Inspector of Prisons
A calm and caring prison
The prison was calm, and new arrivals received a good induction. Violence and use of force were lower than at comparable prisons. Positive relationships with staff, good access to the grounds and, for some, activities gave men good reasons to behave well.
The prison made little use of segregation, and security procedures were generally proportionate. There had been one self-inflicted death earlier in the year. Self-harm was fairly low, and men who were struggling received reasonably good care.
Living accommodation was generally in good condition and clean. The grounds were welcoming and supported prisoners’ well-being. The caring ethos helped make outcomes across different groups generally positive, despite a fair treatment strategy that lacked cohesion.
Inspectors found three examples of notable positive practice. Gym staff ran a popular course that combined exercise with the study of Stoic philosophy. Lincolnshire Action Trust gave good support to families and children on visits.
Not enough to do
The main shortcomings concerned the regime and access to work and education. On some units, prisoners spent all day out of their cells. On others, time out of cell could fall to three hours a day. Men on Windsor and Fry units received far less time out of cell than others, and this did not reflect individual risk.
Just under half of the population took full part in activity. Ofsted, which inspects education in prisons, criticised the lack of ambition in the curriculum and the underemployment of many prisoners. Its overall assessment was requires improvement.
Vocational qualifications were only available at level 1, and men had too few chances to gain accredited work qualifications. There were not enough places for men who wanted to learn English as a second language. Many prisoners worked in unchallenging wing-based jobs.
Men could rarely eat together, as staff seldom used the dining hall and self-catering equipment was inadequate. Prices in the prison shop had risen sharply, and orders often arrived with items missing or damaged.
Delays and stalled progression
Inspectors found that delays in Home Office decision-making left many prisoners held beyond their earliest removal or release dates. These delays hindered release planning and caused men avoidable frustration and distress. About two-thirds of IS91 notifications, which authorise a person’s detention, reached prisoners later than the target of 30 days before release.
In the previous year, 37% of prisoners were deported directly from the prison and 18% were released to the UK. Yet the prison had made no use of release on temporary licence. Only a very small number of men had moved to open conditions or left on home detention curfew.
Men whose sentence plans required offending behaviour programmes could not complete them at Morton Hall. Contact with offender managers was infrequent, and prison-employed offender managers lacked adequate training. Support with parenting, money, jobs and housing before release was underdeveloped.
Health services were well led, but the report highlighted a major gap. It stated: “There was no provision for psychological treatment, which was a major gap for a population that was disproportionately likely to have had traumatic experiences” through torture and modern slavery. Most staff had no safeguarding training. Inspectors found one case where the prison failed to identify a confirmed victim of modern slavery.
About this story
This story is based on HM Inspectorate of Prisons’ report on HMP Morton Hall, published on 26 February 2024, following an inspection that ended in November 2023. All figures and judgements are the inspectorate’s. Read the full inspection report · See the prison’s profile in our directory.
