Prison delivery plan committed to rehabilitation and education

Continued progress on the joint prison and probation operating model for offender management is one of the key priorities among a number of projects planned at Les Nicolles this year.

A budget of £5.58m. has been set aside.

The budget will cover the Early Conditional Release scheme, a newly-established recycling contract with Guernsey Recycling Group further to discussions with the College of Further Education to enable a new apprenticeship within the prison, increased hours for a resettlement officer, a modernisation of prison healthcare, as well as an upgrade to its current facilities.

Prison governor John De Carteret said although the plan was written before the coronavirus pandemic, which as a consequence will affect many of the project’s timeframes, the priorities they want to focus on remain exactly the same.

‘This document aims to outline where we believe we can achieve improvements,’ he said.

‘For instance, the ambitious update of the prison healthcare department is one of the items I am most passionate about, and it will need to be achieved in conjunction with our partners in Health & Social Care.

‘We are also aiming to maximise purposeful activity, qualifications and employment opportunities.

‘This will increase the number of prisoners attending both work and education, and will link into clear objectives set out during the sentence planning process, which in turn will assist in reducing reoffending.’

The initiatives scheduled for 2020 are focused on reducing re-offending.

It is hoped these will effect real change in behaviours and ultimately limit the amount of people returning to custody.

Mr De Carteret added there were several updates to the facilities, such as a replacement of the cell call system to enable the prison to report on the amount of calls received, the type of call and the time taken to answer.

In addition there were plans to repair the J-wing showers and the subsequent removal of the wings laundry, as well as discussions on going out to tender for external repairs and painting of the prison building.

‘The prison will continue to deliver on its progressive programme of works for the maintenance and upgrading of its internal and external facilities in conjunction with our partners from Property Services,’ he said.

‘An all-encompassing strategy to ensure there continues to be a safe prison environment is also planned for the year.

‘Outcomes for prisoners will be monitored through appropriate key performance indicators and remain focused towards compliance with Her Majesty’s Inspectorate Prisons expectations.’