Good Practice

Prisoners were appointed through User Voice and are part a team including a senior manager and staff from various departments. One of their key tasks was testing the effectiveness of changes that were being implemented. They also fed back to staff on the general atmosphere and culture in the prison.

The library service provided multi-faceted support for prisoners studying on open and distance learning, with good links to the Open University regional office and the use of computers to complete assignments.

Prisoners in the wood workshops developed high levels of skills and produced high-quality, bespoke furniture and other artefacts, which they could send to families and friends and sell to selected businesses, prisoners’ families and staff. They valued this opportunity to make constructive use of their time in the prison.

The prison had introduced a workshop, including teaching by outside experts, where prisoners learned to develop computer and smartphone apps, and were learning skills that were in demand in the job market.