Understaffing at a Norfolk prison could see standards of behaviour amongst prisoners deteriorate even further, inspectors have warned.
An unannounced inspection of HMP Wayland witnessed inmates breaking rules without challenge or adequate supervision from officers, many of whom had only recently begun working in the jail.
The mixture of experienced prisoners and inexperienced staff meant there is “a real risk that things could get much worse”, the inspector’s report added.
HM Chief Inspector of Prisons Charlie Taylor said standards of behaviour had slipped at the under-staffed category C prison near Thetford, which held 890 prisoners when it was inspected in April this year.
However new governor Ali Barker, who took over at the end of 2021, had begun to address some of the worst behaviour, sending some of the most troubled prisoners back to category B prisons and aiming to improve the support for newer officers.
Mr Taylor said: “Much will need to be done to establish higher standards of behaviour from both prisoners and staff, some of whom we also saw vaping around the prison.
“To date, the focus has been on sanctions, but leaders will also need to find more positive ways to motivate prisoners to behave well.”
Inspectors also found the general condition of the prison site was poor. Kitchens were in “an awful state” and there was a gaping hole in the roof of the visiting hall.
“Cells in the older part of the jail were tired looking, many with windows that needed repair. In the newer wings, poor ventilation meant that in-cell showers had mould growing on the walls,” said its report.
Earlier this month HMP Wayland Independent Monitoring Board (IMB) also raised the issues of low staffing despite the prison currently being expanded to create more places.
Chairman Mike Gander said: “Staff at the moment in Wayland are under pressure. There are staff that have been brought in from other prisons to help but that is never a substitute.”
Wayland was recently designated as a ‘black’ site for staff recruitment and retention meaning that it is able to pay staff more to work in the prison.
Mr Taylor said: “We must hope that this begins to resolve the critical staffing situation, because without sufficient, high-quality officers, there is a real risk that standards of behaviour may deteriorate further and the prison will continue to fail to live up to its category C designation.”
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