Pact responds to Prisons Inspectorate report on HMP Styal

The report on HMP Styal published today (Tuesday 18 March) by HMI Prisons reveals that:

• The rate of self-harm had nearly doubled since the last inspection, rising to over 5,200 reported incidents in the last year – the equivalent of 14 every day. Since the last report, four women had taken their lives.
• 39 women had been sent to the prison in the past year due to their acute vulnerabilities and the absence of specialised support in the community.  
• 30 women had been referred for transfer to a hospital in the past year because of their mental illness, but half of them waited longer than the recommended 28 days, and one patient waited 104 days.
• Staff work hard to meet the considerable level of need but staffing levels meant that one prison officer was required to supervise two or three houses at a time.

In response to the publication of HMI Prisons report on HMP Styal, Pact CEO Andy Keen-Downs CBE said: “This report yet again demonstrates the desperate need for more investment to support women in prison who are seriously mentally unwell. That means better care to keep women in prison safe, as well as more investment in community mental health services that would stop them from ending up in prison in the first place.

“The Chief Inspector paints a damning picture of an understaffed workforce working hard to try to meet the spiralling levels of need. Despite the efforts of dedicated prison officers, incidents of self-harm are alarmingly high and too many seriously mentally unwell women are waiting too long to be transferred to hospital.

“It’s welcome that ministers have signalled their intention to do things differently in the female estate – for example, their pledge to send fewer women to prison and investment in Resettlement Workers. However, the problems revealed in today’s report are mirrored in women’s prisons across the country. Not enough is being done to ensure that women get the support they need to serve their prison time in safety and to prepare to lead good lives after release.

“We’re happy that the report highlights the innovative work that Pact is doing to support women in staying in touch with their families. With more investment in this area, there is much more we could do, both at Styal and across the country, to make women’s prisons safer and reduce reoffending.”

Recent articles

• Support for women in prison 'worryingly inadequate'
• Pact applauds new Mental Health Bill promising to end the use of prisons as ‘places of safety’

Worried about a loved one?

We appreciate that families may be concerned reading this report. If you have worries about a loved one in prison, you can find information and advice at www.prisonersfamilies.org/urgent-help, contact the Prisoners’ Families Helpline on 0808 808 2003, or speak to the Pact family services team in your loved one’s prison.

Pact's support for women in prison

Pact works in nine out of twelve women’s prisons, providing:

• family engagement services;
• prison-based social workers;
• family and relationship courses (as commissioned by prisons);
• support for women and their children;
• resettlement workers supporting women leaving prison;
• intensive support for women leaving prison in London and the South East.