HMP Stoke Heath 'still to recover' from Covid restrictions

A prison still needs to recover from the effects of pandemic restrictions, a report has found.

Inspectors said some inmates at HMP Stoke Heath, near Market Drayton, Shropshire, often spent as little as 90 minutes out of unlocked cells per day.

They also found that only about half of the prisoners were in education or employment while serving sentences.

But inspectors praised a twinning arrangement where the prison had linked with Stoke City Football Club.

The prison has been selected for a national scheme where professional football clubs provide extra education resources and professional sports coaching to inmates.

HMP Stoke Heath, a category C training and resettlement prison, holds up to 782 adult men, with 767 held at the time of the full inspection in January.

Inspectors said much of the report was "positive", but also identified 11 key areas of concern.

"We found that barely half of prisoners were engaged in work or education and about a fifth were locked up during the working day," said Charlie Taylor, HM Chief Inspector of Prisons.

Those inmates were spending "far too little time" out of cells, the report continued, adding the cells were small and cramped.

The inspection also found more could have been done to improve resettlement work, described as "weak", and that leaders had not implemented an education curriculum that met all prisoner needs, with some not receiving help to improve English or mathematics skills.

But inspectors called the stability of the senior leadership team a "strength" in general, adding leaders had "genuinely" been seeking to develop a strong and positive ethos.

"Notwithstanding [the] criticisms, the prison remained settled and was much safer than when we last visited," the report stated.

Responding to the findings, a spokesperson for the Ministry of Justice said: "Since this inspection, the prison has invested in new training workshops, increased maths and English classes and encourages more education on every wing.

"This has resulted in more prisoners spending longer out of their cells - getting the skills they need to turn their backs on crime."

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