Buckley Hall Prison praised for its “culture of respect and rehabilitation”

The Rochdale prison, Buckley Hall, has recently been praised following an unannounced inspection, naming it as a ‘good’ and ‘very safe’ prison.

HM Chief Inspector of Prisons, Peter Clarke, found that 88 per cent of prisoners felt respected by staff and Buckley Hall showed evidence of a ‘confident, caring and supported staff group’.

Located on Buckley Hall Road in Rochdale, the prison holds just over 450 adult male prisoners with varying ages and sentence lengths.

Earlier this year, the prison was named as one of England and Wales' overcrowded prisons.

• www.rochdaleonline.co.uk/news-features/2/news-headlines/129532/buckley-hall-prison-named-as-one-of-england-and-wales-overcrowded-prisons

During the July inspection, reports found that levels of violence had halved in the last year and are much lower than in similar prisons, despite almost 70 per cent of prisoners being assessed as a high risk of harm to others.

The Chief Inspector found that ‘recorded violence and use of force had reduced since our previous inspection and work to reduce it further was robust and multi-disciplinary’.

Prisoner living conditions were found to be generally good with well-maintained grounds which contributed to a sense of well-being. Buckley Hall also offers inmates access to a library and gym facilities which were also of a quality standard.

A previous inspection found that access to the library was 'very poor' and most inmates could not get there at all. Data collected indicated that only 10 to 15 prisoners used it each day.

• www.rochdaleonline.co.uk/news-features/2/news-headlines/130011/people-in-prison-are-still-struggling-to-receive-books-and-use-libraries

Peter Clarke praised the prison in his latest report, stating: “Buckley Hall is a very good prison. It had got the basics right and there was meaningful attention to detail that supported good outcomes for those detained.

“A culture of respect and rehabilitation, led from the top, permeated all aspects of the prison’s work and culture, and was a quality that seemed to be embraced by all departments.”

He continued: “Good leadership and a confident and respectful staff had achieved much through hard work, underpinned by an ethos and culture they had created. They should be congratulated.”

One outcome of the inspection, however, was a concern for the quality of education, work and skills provision which had deteriorated. Ofsted had rated the overall effectiveness for provision as ‘requires improvement'.

The Chief Inspector wrote: “Engagement by prisoners in activity and learning was excellent, but recent improvements to provision had yet to have sufficient impact and the quality of teaching and learning as well as achievements and progress made by learners, needed to be better.”

Following a number of violent incidents in the morning, inmates were issued earbuds, which is understood to have reduced the frequency of such incidents.

Tragically, there had been one self-inflicted death at Buckley Hall – and levels of self-harm had increased since the last inspection in 2016, but were still low in comparison to other prisons.

The report found that the work being done to reduce self-harm and support those in crisis was ‘very good’.

Mr Clarke summarised: “This was an excellent inspection and we are pleased to report that we judged outcomes for prisoners to be ‘good’ – our highest assessment – in three of our four tests of a healthy prison.

“Our assessments also recognised and recorded significant improvement since our last inspection in 2016.”

HMP Buckley Hall stands on the site of a historic house, which was demolished after World War Two.

It opened in 1995 and was the UK’s fourth private prison, under the operation of Group 4 Prison Services.