HMP Parc: Half of prisoners find it easy to get drugs

Bosses are still struggling to stop the flow of drugs, according to a recent inspection of HMP Parc in Bridgend.

The facility was described as being "a safe and decent prison" overall and inspectors were impressed with specialist units.

Leadership was said to be "experienced and impressive" according to the report.

But almost half of prisoners surveyed said it was easy to get hold of illegal drugs.

Unemployment levels of 7% were described as low at the category C prison, which had a population of 1,623 at the time of the inspection in July.

Education provision had been rated good or excellent by Estyn.

Despite this, the report said: "Parc continued to struggle to stem the flow of drugs into the jail, and almost half of prisoners in our survey said that it was easy to get illicit drugs in the prison.

"However, leaders understood the problem and were proactive in tackling the threat."

Mental health provision was also found to be "not good enough", with 64% of survey respondents reported to have a mental health problem but only 13% were getting support for it.

The primary service for mental health was severely under-resourced according to inspectors and only crisis services were being delivered, the report added.

Chief Inspector of Prisons Charlie Taylor said: "The prison's self-assessment showed the right priorities, but leaders need to do more to set targets and track progress.

"There were lots of good initiatives in the jail, but not always systems or metrics to measure and understand success and failure.

"The data - churned out to fulfil the terms of the contract - could also help leaders to assess progress more effectively."

HMP Parc director Janet Wallsgrove said she was proud of the prison staff's "grit and teamwork", particularly following the coronavirus pandemic.

"We agree with all the areas that have been identified for further focus by HMIP and we have already implemented an action plan to reduce violence and self-harm," she said.

"HMIP also recognised the excellent education outcomes we help prisoners to achieve and the quality of teaching we provide; as well as the work we do on our specialist units for prisoners with specific needs who are not often catered for elsewhere. This is a fantastic set of achievements."