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YOI Ashfield

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Details of SGC Emergency Motion on changes to YOI Ashfield, Wedneday, 20th March

Notes of Meeting held on Tuesday, 5th march 2013

Emergency Motion on changes to YOI Ashfield, Wedneday, 20th March

The motion put to the full Council by Cllrs Reade and Stokes was that SGC:

  • Believes that Her Majesty’s Prison and Young Offender Institute Ashfield in Pucklechurch is an important local employer;
  • Expresses its serious concern about the way in which the recently-announced plans to convert the Ashfield facility into an adult male Category C sex offenders prison has been handled by the National Offender Management Service
  • Expresses its dismay that such a potentially controversial change was announced without any public consultation and has left local residents feeling anxious;
  • Expresses concern that this change has been announced without any regard to the safeguarding implications for this council;
  • Expresses its dismay that there is not to be public consultation on the plans and that contractual negotiations between the National Offender Management Service and Serco Plc, as the owner and operator of the facility, are ongoing;
  • Resolves to urge the Coalition Government to urgently revisit their plans for Ashfield and approach any future suggested changes in a more open and transparent manner.
  • Call on NOMS to set up a community liaison committee now, while discussions are still ongoing about the future of Ashfield, similar to that set up at HMP Bure, to forge links between the prison and the community.

    • The motion was unanimously accepted

    Further information is also available from the following sources

    BBC: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-bristol-21871972 

    Bristol Post: http://www.thisisbristol.co.uk/Urgent-rethink-needed-plans-convert-Ashfield/story-18478371-detail/story.html#ixzz2OAfeX4V9

    Proposed Changes to HMP YOI Ashfield – Parish Council Summary

    The process by which the Parish Council was made aware of the Ministry of Justice plans to re-role the YOI as a Category C Male Prison and the actions the Council has taken to acquire accurate information have already been shared in previous editions of Pucklechurch News. The Council has however continued to take a proactive role on behalf of the community with important outcomes.

    At the Council meeting scheduled for 20th February, Brian Pollett, (Deputy Director of Contracted Custodial Services), Brian Anderson (then Director HMP YOI Ashfield) and Simon Harding (NOMS Deputy Controller HMP YOI Ashfield) were due to present information on the planned changes as well as make themselves available to answer Councillors questions under the Public Participation section of our agenda. As the result of widespread media and other coverage promoting this as a general public meeting, the Council arranged to relocate the meeting to the Community Centre Social Club in order to be able to accommodate a larger number of attendees. The Council also agreed to suspend its formal meeting for a period of one hour to allow a free and open debate between residents and the representatives of Ashfield YOI who were happy to oblige.  Steve Webb MP and District Councillor Ben Stokes were also present.

    On Tuesday 5th March a further public meeting of the parish was arranged by the Parish Council in direct response to a parishioner’s request. This meeting provided an opportunity for the local community to discuss what actions, if any, could be taken to address the planned changes. Ray Duckworth (Serco Contract Director, HMP YOI Ashfield), Nick Lewis (NOMS Controller, HMP YOI Parc and Ashfield) as well as Simon Harding (NOMS Deputy Controller, HMP YOI Ashfield) agreed to attend to answer further questions.  This meeting was also attended by several Parish Councillors, two District Councillors, a representative of the Police & Crime Commissioner’s Office and two senior CID officers.

    The information presented below is not an exhaustive report on all the discussion which took place but an attempt to summarise the main concerns, facts and outcomes that materialised.

    A broad range of concerns were expressed over:

    • why the prison was being used to house sex offenders  as opposed to any other Category C prisoners and why it was particularly appropriate to Ashfield
    • populating Ashfield entirely with sex offenders  causing a real hindrance to the effectiveness of rehabilitation programmes and what those programmes would be
    • types of visitors coming to Pucklechurch and that these may also be sex offenders which  could put the safety of residents at risk and how visits would be managed
    • sex offenders being detained/released in close proximity to a school and local play areas and  the possibility of offenders wishing to remain/settle in the local area after release
    • guarantees that could/couldn’t be given over management of offender release/public safety
    • the problem of parking since operating the prison at full capacity will attract more visitors
    • the consequent loss of opportunity for other types of offender rehabilitation
    • the potential impact the change might have on local policing and ability to respond
    • the potential impact on the well-being of the community as well as on property values
      • the lack of consultation and poor sharing of information with the public in advance
    • Details regarding the changes and responses to issues raised can be summarised as follows:
      • A drop in the number of 15-17yr old offenders means Ashfield has been operating at half-capacity for the last 18 months consequently it will be made available for Category C adult male prisoners from this summer whilst young offenders people will be sent establishments
      • As a new purpose built establishment the Ministry of Justice believes it has a duty to use Ashfield appropriately and to help solve the greatest need. It will therefore be used to detain 400 Category C adult male prisoners, all of whom will be sex offenders
      • Category C prisoners are deemed to be at reasonably low risk of attempting to escape but not suitable for establishments such as open prisons. Prisoners held at Ashfield will be unsuitable for release on licence to work in the community and it was unlikely that this would ever happen
      • The number of days available for visiting will be reduced from 6 to 4 and the number of staff employed there will be also be reduced so this may alleviate some problems over parking
      • Training programmes will put in place for those staff that remain and Serco will be contracted to provide appropriate treatment and rehabilitation programmes – the specific details of the contract are still being determined
      • It is planned that when offenders are released arrangements will be made for them to be collected by family/friends or taken by Serco to train/bus stations. Experience shows that the vast majority return to their home areas, London or the main cities.  
      • Serco and the Ministry of Justice believe there will minimal or no impact of the re-role for Pucklechurch as a community.

    Outcomes:

    Serco and the Ministry of Justice have entered into a dialogue with the community and listened to their concerns. The main issue for residents who attended was not that there shouldn’t be a prison at all but that the type of offender and the subsequent management protocols required to deal with them were. It is to be hoped that the authorities will now address these concerns appropriately.

    Steve Webb MP reported that he had been in touch with Ministry of Justice and that contracts had not yet been signed. He has also tabled questions to be answered. Ben Stokes and Steve Reade have been collecting information via a public survey to demonstrate the depth of local feeling and were happy to continue to receive more comments. The Police & Crime Commissioner’s Office representative has confirmed they will be writing to the Ministry of Justice with their own concerns especially with regard to the management of offender release.

    As a direct result of the second meeting a group of parishioners have now formed a committee to look at what community action can be undertaken to influence the decision and the future management of its consequences. This will likely take the form of a letter to gather public support distributed to residents through Pucklechurch News and will be presented along with their plan to the Parish Council on Weds. 13th March.

    Councillor Gail Boyle