Doncaster prison trebles sex offender population to reduce violence
Inspectors say the number of sex offenders in a Doncater prison's trebled in a year - to try and stabilise it after violence there
Last updated 12th Oct 2017
The number of sex offenders in a Doncaster prison has been trebled in a year to try and make it less violent.
Inspectors say an earlier inspection of HMP & YOI Doncaster showed the prison was "unsafe" and, since the introduction of the new prisoners, levels of violence have now stabilised.
But they're worried that the some 300 sex offenders have been introduced to the prison without enough support in place to make sure they're properly rehabilitated.
Chief Inspector of prisons, Peter Clark says it's dissappointing:
"What we found was that in Doncaster not enough had been done, in fact very little had been done, to support the prison in helping them to address the risk posed by these particular prisoners.
"This had been imposed upon them from outside, that's certainly the way it felt to us and the way it was put to us, but nothing had really been done to help them in that process."
An inspection report published earlier this year on a prison in Nottingham, which only has sex offenders inside, found it was an "overwhelmingly safe'' jail with comparatively little violence or anti-social behaviour.
Peter says the introduction of more sex offenders at HMP &YOI Doncaster prison's had a smilar effect:
"What has happened is that the prison has actually become safer and, indeed, we were told that one of the reasons why the sex offenders were put in the prison was to help it to stabilise and become steady.
"Because, typically, they will not exhibit the levels of violence that some other prisoners do."
Inspectors now want the prisoners to recieve proper support for the duration of their sentence, so the prison service can make sure they're no longer a risk to the public when they're released.
Michael Spurr, Chief Executive of Her Majesty’s Prison & Probation Service, says they are taking steps to address it:
“The leadership team at Doncaster are managing an increase in sex offenders and have created a specific houseblock dedicated to providing the right regime to support their rehabilitation as part of our wider population strategy to manage sex offenders effectively.
“The inspectorate has also recognised the progress the team have made regarding violence and now that a tougher new violence reduction policy is in place this will allow the prison to focus resources on improving safety and opportunities for rehabilitation.
“We will work closely with Serco to monitor progress with this move and with implementing the Chief Inspectors recommendations.”
The company who run the jail are Serco - their Contract Director at HMP & YOI Doncaster, Jerry Spencer said:
“We are very pleased that the Chief Inspector has recognised the significant progress we have made since the last inspection two years ago.
“My entire staff has worked incredibly hard to address the complex challenges the prison faces, many of which are found across the prison estate. Our violence reduction strategy, including our innovative Social Responsibility Unit, is starting to make real headway, reducing levels of violence by over a third over the past two years, bucking the national trend.
“As the Chief Inspector notes, a great deal has been achieved, but we know there is much more still to do. We are determined to maintain our momentum and continue to build on this progress over the coming months and years."