HMP North Sea Camp

Reports

• NPM-uk-imb-respect1 Jan 2024

  5.1 Accommodation, clothing, food Accommodation for prisoners comprises three one-storey units: North, South 1 and South 2. There are two further multi-occupancy houses named Jubilee on the estate, plus self-catering accommodate, which is situated a short walk from the main gate of the prison: Jubilee 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6. In each of the accommodation units’, prisoners continue to have access to at least two microwaves, one of which is designated for halal-only food and the other for general use. This enables prisoners to warm up snacks and soup and, if they choose to, they can bring cooked meals from the dining hall, three times a day, to eat in their cells or around the establishment when the weather permits. Amey has overall responsibility for the maintenance and for the regular checks the equipment requires. If the microwaves become obsolete or beyond economic repair, replacement costs are borne by the prison. All prisoners are expected to engage in meaningful activities, which is either paid employment and/or education for those under retirement age. For those who are retired, both the equality hub and the library provide a range of activities that can be undertaken during the day, in the early evening and at the weekend. Newly arrived prisoners continue to have access to a number of distraction packs as part of the induction process. The stores unit provides prison-issued clothing and appropriate workwear, such as personal protective equipment (PPE), for prisoners engaged [...]

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• NPM-uk-imb-safety1 Jan 2024

  Due to the stresses of the overcrowded prison system, North Sea Camp has experienced a greater turnover of prisoners during this reporting year. The IMB has observed that, despite this extra pressure, the prison remains as in the previous year, a safe and secure environment for prisoners and staff. The safer community team includes both staff and trusted prisoners. It continues to adapt to the changing circumstances HMP North Sea Camp has experienced over the last year, due to the wider national crisis of overcrowding across the prison estate and provide an active role in giving prisoners confidence that their safety and wellbeing needs will be met by the establishment. North Sea Camp had a new Governor in June 2024 and his initiatives to emphasise wellbeing throughout continue to have a positive impact on safety in the establishment. For example, he has instituted senior staff touring various parts of the prison before the morning meeting and being both visible and available to prisoners and staff who have concerns. Instructors and orderlies (trusted prisoners who take on work to provide services that contribute to the running of the prison) in the work areas train prisoners in safety procedures and give out all the relevant information. Accidents do happen in the workplace, but these are generally minor and are dealt with effectively by the healthcare team or prisoners are sent promptly to the local hospital. The IMB at HMP North Sea Camp visits the accommodation wings on [...]

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• NPM-uk-imb-purposeful-activity1 Jan 2024

  The aim of the education service is to prepare prisoners for the world outside and enable them to be in a position to reintegrate into society, as well as to achieve successful paid ROTL employment and employment on release, all whilst still remaining at North Sea Camp. The education department has maintained a complement of 15 staff, who all report to the prison’s head of education, skills and work. The incumbent chairs a rigorous monthly quality improvement group (QIG), which monitors and evaluates performance and take up of educational opportunities against the pre-determined departmental key performance indicators, including HM Inspectorate of Prison (HMIP) and Ofsted recommendations. This has enabled the development and robust monitoring of the annual quality improvement plan (QIP) Additionally, prisoner sequencing has improved with the introduction of a more in- depth pathway monitoring tool, which enables education staff to easily identify prisoner progression in education and work skills. Employability skills workbooks are rolled out across all work areas. These not only identify transferable employment skills for prisoners but also raise staff and prisoner awareness of the skills that are being developed in each of the work areas. The workbooks contain 10 employability skills that aim to help prisoners progress to outside work. As the workbooks evidence skills, qualifications and work experience in preparation for their release, the books follow the prisoner from [...]

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• NPM-uk-imb-preparation-for-release1 Jan 2024

  The offender management unit is staffed by a head of OMU delivery and a head of OMU services, supported by four full-time prisoner offender managers, seven probation officers and one trainee probation officer. There is a part-time prison officer (PO) vacancy and no pre-release probation officer, which adds to the workload of the existing team. Pre-release teams are made up of probation service officers rather than qualified probation officers. The OMU benefits from strong leadership at senior level and an experienced team of officers. The Board has observed probation staff being approachable and prisoner- focused and they aim to offer support and signposting wherever possible. The OMU undertakes a quarterly prisoner feedback exercise in relation to staff and prisoner relationships and service delivery for internal use by OMU to enable identification of any learning or areas for improvement. Prior to transfer from closed conditions, an OASys is completed to inform a prisoner’s recategorisation decision. Within eight weeks of their arrival at HMP North Sea Camp, prisoners are required to have a completed updated offender assessment (OASys) report, which assesses their risk of reoffending and the level of risk posed to the public. In accordance with national standards, this work is expected to be completed within a maximum of 12 weeks from arrival. As at the end of February, 39 assessments were outstanding, due to the high influx of newly transferred in prisoners during the [...]

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• HMIP30 Aug 2023

  North Sea Camp is a small, open prison on the Lincolnshire coast near Boston. Holding up to 300 adult prisoners, more than half of those in residence had been convicted of a sexual offence. This was our first inspection of the prison since 2017, and we again found an institution that was very safe, with reasonably good or good outcomes against all our healthy prison tests. New prisoners were received well into the prison and violence was very rare. The mix of those convicted of sexual offences with other prisoners raised some low-level issues, but leaders were not complacent in their efforts to keep the prison calm and well-ordered. All other aspects of safety were encouraging; absconds and temporary release failures were very infrequent and compared favourably with other open prisons. The prospect of temporary release or the potential to live in accommodation outside the prison gate were effective incentives for many prisoners. Positive staff-prisoner relationships, enhanced by good use of peer support and very good consultation and communication arrangements, underpinned much of the good work in the prison. But while the rural backdrop and the pleasant grounds encouraged a sense of well-being, many of the buildings, in particular the accommodation blocks, were showing their age and required refurbishment. The governor expressed some frustration about the delays and impediments in securing new investment and agreeing firm plans to address this problem. There was clear evidence to suggest that the promotion of equality at North Sea Camp was improving, but more needed to be done to reassure black prisoners. Health care provision and outcomes were generally very good. As an open prison, prisoners were never locked up and nearly all were engaged in purposeful activity, including some 60 prisoners who participated in paid work or other resettlement activity outside the prison each day. Sadly, this good work was undermined by insufficient provision in education, which our colleagues in Ofsted judged as ‘requires improvement’, their second lowest assessment. The prison had a well-resourced and capable offender management unit which maintained good contact with prisoners, although there were some surprisingly poor prisoner perceptions about the quality of communication from the team. We also identified some specific weaknesses in public protection work, although more was being done to assist the resettlement of those about to be released. North Sea Camp continues to do much to meet the needs of the men held there. The mixing of those convicted of a range of offences was well managed and prisoners’ time was purposeful, despite some shortfalls in education. The governor understood the prison and provided confident, balanced leadership, predicated on a determination to achieve the best with the resources available. A full staff complement, good communication and consultation, proportionality in decision making, and a strong local culture all underpinned this success. Charlie Taylor HM Chief Inspector of Prisons June 2023

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• HMIP27 Apr 2021

  Scrutiny inspection of HMP North Sea Camp (2021-04-27)

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