Wellingborough prison's first inspection finds widespread drug use

The first government inspection of a new prison has found illegal drugs are widely available and inmates are not suitably supported by staff.

Category C jail HMP Five Wells opened in Wellingborough, Northamptonshire, in 2022 and is run by security firm G4S.

His Majesty's Inspectorate of Prisons (HMIP) noted high levels of self-harm among prisoners and poor food.

The prison said it had put an action plan in place to address the concerns raised by inspectors.

HMP Five Wells has capacity to house up to 1,687 prisoners with up to two years left on their sentences.

It was built on the site of the former HMP Wellingborough, which closed in 2012.

The HMIP report noted drugs remained a "huge problem" in the prison and random testing suggested about a third of all prisoners were active users.

Just over half of inmates said it was "easy" to get hold of illegal drugs, against an average of 32% in other similar prisons.

The rate of self-harm incidents in the prison was also high and inspectors said not enough was being done to reduce them.

There had been 1,256 recorded incidents in the 12 months before the inspection took place, which the report concluded was "very high" compared with other establishments.

It also found staff lacked confidence in supervising prisoners and were not given sufficient support.

However, the report also highlighted some positives, stating the general environment and living conditions were excellent, while access to amenities was reasonable.

Writing in the report, chief inspector of prisons, Charlie Taylor, said: "Opening a new prison is one of the toughest challenges in prison management and a first inspection is an important milestone in the life of an institution. It would be unrealistic to expect that all would be perfect.

"Our inspection notes the very real difficulties leaders have faced. Stronger governance, oversight and supervision, the building of staff confidence and capability, and a more active and purposeful regime should now be the focus."

An HMP Five Wells spokesperson said: "We have put in place an action plan that addresses all HMIP's key priorities with a focus on recruitment, retention, addressing the ingress of drugs, governance and oversight.

"Inspectors said rates of violence and self-harm are falling and this downward trajectory has continued since the inspection.

"We are committed to developing a stronger and broader purposeful activity, skills and education programme to enhance employment opportunities for prisoners."

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