Sussex prison locking prisoners in dirty cells says report

Some prisoners at HMP Lewes have found that a lack of clothing means that they were left without clothes when these were sent to be washed.

The report, issued by HM Inspectorate of Prisons, suggests that many prisoners are locked in their cells for 22 hours a day with “limited access to work, education or activity.”

Charlie Taylor, Chief Inspector of Prisons, said: “This was a disappointing inspection of a prison that had made some good progress at our 2019 independent review of progress (IRP).

"There is no doubt that pandemic restrictions have hampered the ambitious governor in her work to improve the jail, but nevertheless the recovery was too slow.

“Lewes is a difficult prison to staff and run with old buildings that are expensive to maintain, but there needs to be a greater focus on getting some of the basics right.

"There is the opportunity to build momentum with what could be an effective leadership team to get this prison back on track and make it a better place for prisoners to stay and staff to work.”

A single cell at HMP Lewes

Other findings in the report include that prisoners had struggled to contact their families through official channels, with one man claiming that he had not been able to let anyone know he was in prison.

The category B prison had previously been found to be locking up prisoners for all but an hour of the day in 2019, with the new report suggesting that there were “no plans to increase time out of cell for the many unemployed prisoners.”

Prisoners are also said to have not been receiving adequate care, particularly those at risk of suicide or self-harm, where paperwork was often incomplete.

The report also noted a high level of violence within the prison, as well as no strategy for understanding and preventing the cause of these incidents.

Staffing shortages and poor staff retention have been cited as reasons for the lack of improvement in the prison.

A previous report conducted by the independent Monitoring Board said it "does not consider that the regime during this year has been humane".

The Ministry of Justice has been approached for comment.