Setting

Reinspection date 20 February 2008 HMP Acklington Reinspection

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Adult Learning Inspectorate Inspection Report 14 December 2006 Inspection number 320645 Reinspection report: HMP Acklington Reinspection, 20 February 2008

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Contents

Background information ............................................................................................................... 3

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Contents

Description of the provider ........................................................................................................... 5

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Contents

Overall effectiveness .................................................................................................................... 5

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Contents

Grades ......................................................................................................................................... 6

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Contents

About the reinspection ................................................................................................................. 8

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Achievement and standards and the quality of provision ............................................................ 11

Leadership and management ...................................................................................................... 17

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Achievement and standards and the quality of provision ............................................................ 11

Equality of opportunity .................................................................................................................... 18 Reinspection report: HMP Acklington Reinspection, 20 February 2008 3 of 21

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Overall effectiveness

The grades given for achievement and standards and the quality of provision and leadership and management will be used to arrive at a judgement about the overall effectiveness of the provider.

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Overall effectiveness

Outstanding provision should typically have leadership and management and at least two of the three strands within achievement and standards and the quality of provision judged to be a grade 1. All strands within achievement and standards and the quality of provision will be graded 1 or 2.

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Overall effectiveness

Good provision should have leadership and management and at least two of the three strands within achievement and standards and the quality of provision judged to be a grade 2 or better. All strands within achievement and standards and the quality of provision will be grade 3 or better.

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Overall effectiveness

Satisfactory provision should have adequate or better grades in leadership and management and at least two of the strands within achievement and standards and the quality of provision grades. An adequate provider might have a range of grades for the strands within achievement and standards and the quality of provision, with no more than one graded 4.

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Overall effectiveness

Provision will normally be deemed to be inadequate where two or more of strands within achievement and standards and the quality of provision and/or leadership and management are judged to be inadequate.

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Overall effectiveness

Inspectors use a four-point scale to summarise their judgements about the quality of provision in occupational/curriculum areas and Jobcentre Plus programmes, as well as to summarise their judgements about the quality of learning sessions. The same scale is used to describe the quality of leadership and management, which includes equality of opportunity and quality assurance. The descriptors for the four grades are: Reinspection report: HMP Acklington Reinspection, 20 February 2008 4 of 21

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Overall effectiveness

 Grade 4 – inadequate Reinspection report: HMP Acklington Reinspection, 20 February 2008 5 of 21

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Description of the provider

1. HMP Acklington is a category C training prison for sentenced adult men. It is the most northerly prison in England and opened in 1972.

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Description of the provider

2. The appointed capacity of the prison is 882 offenders segregated over two distinct sections. At the time of the inspection the roll was 860, comprising 391 vulnerable offenders and 469 main location offenders. Thirty-seven are foreign nationals, 6.7% offenders are from minority ethnic groups. Currently 70% of offenders participate in education and training and 184 are unemployed.

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Description of the provider

3. The education contract has been held by Newcastle College (the college) since 2005. The college has a contract to deliver 22,656 hours of learning and skills comprising 19,656 teaching hours and 3,000 hours of initial advice and guidance (IAG). Since the previous inspection the volume and range of learning and vocational training has been increased through the colleges’ use of further education (FE) funding from its own budget. The prison is shortly to open a new 64-bed vulnerable offender unit that will accommodate a further eight teaching rooms and attract a further 61% increase in LSC funding.

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Description of the provider

4. At the time of the inspection, the head of resettlement managed education and training. He is supported by an education manager employed by the college and a head of industries employed by the prison.

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Reinspection Grade 3

5. The overall effectiveness of the provision is satisfactory. At the previous inspection achievement and standards and the quality of provision, including literacy, numeracy and language support, and personal and social development, were satisfactory. Employability and vocational training were inadequate. The prison’s approach to equality of opportunity was satisfactory, but leadership and management were inadequate. At the end of the reinspection, all aspects of the provision were satisfactory or better.

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Reinspection Grade 3

6. The inspection team was broadly confident in the reliability of the self-assessment process. The self-assessment process includes staff well and draws effectively on a wide range of evidence Reinspection report: HMP Acklington Reinspection, 20 February 2008 6 of 21

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Reinspection Grade 3

including course reviews and data. The report is detailed and informative about each aspect of provision. The report contains a good balance of evaluative judgements, many of which were similar to the findings of the inspection team. However, some of the self-assessment judgements presented as strengths were judged normal practice. The self-assessment grades were the same as those awarded by the inspection team in almost all aspects of provision.

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Reinspection Grade 3

7. The prison has demonstrated that it is in a good position to make improvements. The early signs of improvements identified at the previous inspection have continued. Many effective actions have improved the quality and range of provision. Meetings of key work groups, such as those for resettlement and quality improvement, are held more frequently than in the past, to monitor and drive improvements. Many previous strengths have been maintained and each area of weakness has improved since the previous inspection. Most are now at least satisfactory. Where weaknesses remain they are significantly less weighty than previously. Inspection grades have improved by one grade or more in almost every area. No areas were inadequate.

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Grades

Grade1= outstanding, Grade 2= good, Grade 3= satisfactory, Grade 4= inadequate

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Achievement and standards and the quality of provision 3

Literacy, numeracy and language support 3

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Leadership and management 4

Contributory grades: Reinspection report: HMP Acklington Reinspection, 20 February 2008 7 of 21

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Achievement and standards and the quality of provision 2

Literacy, numeracy and language support 2

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Leadership and management 3

Equality of opportunity 3 Reinspection report: HMP Acklington Reinspection, 20 February 2008 8 of 21

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About the reinspection

Number of locations/sites/learning centres visited 1

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About the reinspection

8. Two inspectors re-inspected the full range of provision in eight days spread over three separate visits. The lead inspector conducted two single day monitoring visits in September and November 2007. The final stage of the reinspection took place in February 2008.

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About the reinspection

The following strengths and weaknesses were identified during this reinspection:

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Strengths

 Good planning and recording of learning outcomes

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Strengths

 Good developments in vocational and work skills provision for main location offenders

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Weaknesses

Reinspection report: HMP Acklington Reinspection, 20 February 2008 9 of 21

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Weaknesses

 Insufficient range of vocational and employability provision for vulnerable offenders

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Weaknesses

 Insufficiently personalised target-setting in many individual learning plans

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Strengths

 Good development of personal and social skills in wider learning opportunities

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Strengths

 Successful initiatives to provide an offender focused curriculum

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Weaknesses

 Insufficient recognition and recording of personal skills development Reinspection report: HMP Acklington Reinspection, 20 February 2008 10 of 21

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Strengths

 Many good actions to improve range and quality of learning and skills provision

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Strengths

 Good management of education and prison enterprises

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Weaknesses

 Insufficiently effective activity application procedure

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Weaknesses

 Insufficiently effective management of attendance and punctuality Reinspection report: HMP Acklington Reinspection, 20 February 2008 11 of 21

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Employability and vocational training

9. The good achievement in employability qualifications identified at the previous inspection has been maintained. A high proportion of the provision shows good or better success rates. In many courses, success rates are 90-100%.

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Employability and vocational training

10. Offenders develop useful employability and work skills through their involvement in a good range of activities, courses and programmes. The accountancy and business enterprise course is particularly beneficial to learners planning to move into self-employment on release. Learners gain high skill levels in bricklaying and engineering. The engineering workshop provides an outstanding example of real work activity producing products for the prison and the external market. The woodwork shop has lost its original funding but continues to manufacture quality products, such as benches for the local council parks. The work ethic and housekeeping across work activities are good. Reinspection report: HMP Acklington Reinspection, 20 February 2008 12 of 21

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Employability and vocational training

11. Attendance is now monitored and any absenteeism is investigated. However, in some classes attendance is low and there are a number of vacancies in industries particularly the tailoring workshop.

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Literacy, numeracy and language support

12. Achievement has improved since the previous inspection. Almost all learners who complete their programmes achieve their qualification or learning goals. Since August 2007 to the date of the reinspection, 83% of learners overall achieved their qualification or learning goals, 84% in accredited provision and 78% in non-accredited provision. Retention is good. The focus on achievement of qualifications has increased. Learners have regular weekly access to testing on demand. Most learners make good progress. They show good levels of engagement and concentration in class and make pertinent contributions during class activities.

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Literacy, numeracy and language support

13. During the inspection, some poor patterns of attendance were noted in sampled class registers. Classes were late starting on both afternoons of the inspection.

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Personal and social development

14. Overall achievement and retention on personal and social skills courses is satisfactory. Many learners have not yet completed their courses and it is too soon to judge achievement. However, since August 2007, 37% have achieved and 50% are still in learning on the creative crafts course. All learners achieved the heartstart first aid unit and personal money management course. Success rates on the level 2 open college network (OCN) cookery unit are low. Only four out of the nine learners that started achieved the unit.

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Employability and vocational training

15. The prison has effectively introduced the use of individual learning plans across all learning and skills activities. Learners in industries have clear and detailed training records that document their progress and skill development. An overall learning plan, completed at induction, highlights Reinspection report: HMP Acklington Reinspection, 20 February 2008 13 of 21

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Employability and vocational training

information about background employment and educational experience and learners’ aspirations and needs in terms of training and education. Tutors and instructors have clear information about levels of literacy, numeracy and any prior achievements. A subject-specific learning plan is developed for each learning and skills area that the learner engages in. Time bound targets and dates for the review of progress are set. Learners value the time spent planning their individual targets and receiving feedback about their progress.

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Literacy, numeracy and language support

16. The good teaching identified at the previous inspection has continued. Teaching is well planned and structured. Streaming groups in literacy, numeracy and language has promoted a more consistent approach to planning for learning. Interaction between tutors and learners is good. Most teaching is well paced and uses a good range of strategies to maintain motivation and interest. Tutors check learning frequently. All learners have individual learning plans and understand that they have targets. In the best sessions, tutors make clear links between individual learning plan targets and the planned outcomes for the session. Resources are good. All classrooms have interactive whiteboards that all the tutors observed used. Tutors vary in their use of information and learning technology (ILT). In the best session, ILT was used interactively to illustrate concepts, reinforce learning and engage learners in problem-solving. In other sessions,

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Literacy, numeracy and language support

ILT was used mainly to share the planned learning outcomes of the session.

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Literacy, numeracy and language support

17. While all learners have individual learning plans, targets are often too tutor centred. Some use core curriculum targets in their entirety, and are too broad. Timescales are not always explicit. The use of ‘on going’ is commonly used as the target date. In other individual learning plans, there was clear indication of discussion with learners about their targets, but targets were written from the tutors’ perspective. There is insufficient learner involvement in target-setting in many cases. Clearly written, achievable short and longer-term targets were seen only in a minority of the individual learning plans sampled. The education provider plans to introduce a planned tutorial process to provide more time for setting targets and reviewing progress.

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Personal and social development

18. The development of offenders’ personal and social skills is a positive outcome of all learning and skills activities. Learning sessions are well planned and many encourage social interaction. Some teachers use group profiles to identify the wider support needs of individual learners. Good personal support helps learners to deal with personal barriers. Learning sessions use a range of teaching strategies to promote discussion or group work skills. The wider key skills are well Reinspection report: HMP Acklington Reinspection, 20 February 2008 14 of 21

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Personal and social development

integrated in some subject areas. In one session learners could gain accredited recognition in working with others, problem-solving and improving own learning and performance. An external exhibition of learners work raised money for charity. Learners in art and bricklaying classes are working on a diversity project to raise their awareness of disability and access.

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Personal and social development

19. The personal and social skills developed by offenders are insufficiently recognised and recorded. Group profiles developed by staff highlight some of the personal issues that offenders have when they join activities and what they need to do to overcome these. Some individual learning plans identify personal development targets, such as improving concentration or increased contribution to discussions. Some learners make significant progress but this is rarely measured as part of a systematic review of progress.

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Employability and vocational training

20. Significant improvements have been made in the development of employability and vocational training opportunities. Employment training in 10 areas is available, all of which carry some form of accreditation. Developments to improve progression opportunities extend the range of levels available. The engineering workshop is in use and bricklaying is available for main location offenders. The new kitchen offers very good facilities to expand the number of catering national vocational qualification (NVQ) places. Up to 30 employment places are available where offenders have the option to achieve an NVQ level 1. The new kitchens’ dedicated training area supports progression to level 2.

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Employability and vocational training

21. All aspects of industries offer good potential for skill development. Further education (FE) and European Social Fund (ESF) funding is used to extend the range of vocationally relevant provision, such as bookkeeping, accounting and ITQ level 2. Some recent good work in the development of in-cell learning packs supports learning for those on the wings. learndirect provision is now in place. Workshop learning pods provide literacy, numeracy and key skills support. Additional qualifications, for instance in cutting, have been introduced into the tailoring area. The prison continues to research and consider other opportunities that focus on employability such as the construction site safety card. A successful initiative to move offenders into the catering industry has provided good outcomes.

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Employability and vocational training

22. There is an insufficient choice of learning and skills provision for the vulnerable offenders that account for approximately 50% of the prison population. A significant number of places are Reinspection report: HMP Acklington Reinspection, 20 February 2008 15 of 21

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Employability and vocational training

available in the tailor’s workshop, but some find this work mundane and repetitive and the work provides limited opportunity for employment on release. Most of the activity for vulnerable offenders is in education. They often wait for significant lengths of time to access suitable courses. There is currently no support tutor for vulnerable offenders studying on Open University courses due to long-term sickness. They report that there is still insufficient promotion of learning and skills that was a weakness at the previous inspection.

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Literacy, numeracy and language support

23. The prison has a satisfactory range of provision in literacy and numeracy at level entry 1-3, and levels 1 and 2. Key skills are offered from level 1 to level 3, but numbers are relatively low in these areas. Much good work has begun to promote essential and key skills through established vocational provision in the workshops but the impact is not fully established yet. There is some indication that the time allocation for established learning is insufficient to cover the full range of activities. A small, but satisfactory, range of provision for speakers of English as a second language (ESOL) meets the needs of the small numbers of foreign national offenders with language support needs. The library is active in promoting reading. The recent introduction of in- cell packs for literacy and numeracy extends learning opportunities to those who are less motivated to attend education. However, the level of the packs is unclear other than for those

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Personal and social development

24. The curriculum is well designed to meet the offenders’ needs. A good balance of accredited and non-accredited courses is delivered to meet the needs of particular groups of offenders. The pre- release course is modularised and now offers a range of options. All offenders are systematically contacted a few weeks before they are due for release to enable them to choose the sessions most pertinent to their needs. The gym programmes offers a balanced programme to meet the needs of the prisons’ diverse and ageing population. Special provision is in place to help offenders who are over 50 years old to maintain their fitness. The programme for offenders with mental health problems has been particularly successful.

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Guidance and support

25. The prison has met its key challenge to continue to develop the information, advice and guidance (IAG) service well. Matrix accreditation was achieved in February 2007 and the Matrix excellence in prisons award won more recently. The number of qualified IAG workers has grown to four full Reinspection report: HMP Acklington Reinspection, 20 February 2008 16 of 21

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Guidance and support

time workers. The new 64-bed vulnerable offender wing will enable the appointment of an additional IAG worker. IAG staff are active on the prison wings and throughout the offender’s sentence from induction onwards. Their caseloads include a focus on employment at resettlement stage. Offenders who entered the prison after August 2007 benefit from clear and helpful IAG at induction that accurately reflects the options they have. Learning champions now provide informal, confidential guidance in some wings after the education provider used ESF funding to train offender learning champions in IAG awareness at level 1. However, it is too soon to judge the effectiveness of this initiative. An employment mentor is in post until the end of March 08. Financial incentives encourage success and completion of targets.

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Guidance and support

26. Since the previous inspection, the focus on pre-release guidance and advice has improved. Staff collectively design and deliver courses based on the needs of offenders, due for release, who need help in the re-integration process. For example, ‘back to society’ and ‘homeward bound’ sessions helps offenders cope with many of the changes that have taken place in society since they entered custody.

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Literacy, numeracy and language support

27. Since the previous inspection, the good focus on literacy and numeracy support has been maintained. All offenders identified with literacy and numeracy support needs are promptly allocated support. In class tutor support is good. Tutors are encouraging and motivating. Learners are treated with respect and they look forward to attending education. Good use of peer mentor support in classes helps less confident or slower learners maintain progress. Participant’s with literacy needs benefit from daily reading support from their mentors using a nationally recognised system to develop reading skills Mentors attend meetings on the use of this system, supported by the Shannon Trust, and have very detailed written support guidance, but receive no formal training. Reinspection report: HMP Acklington Reinspection, 20 February 2008 17 of 21

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Strengths

 Many good actions to improve range and quality of learning and skills provision

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Strengths

 Good management of education and prison enterprises

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Weaknesses

 Insufficiently effective activity application procedure

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Weaknesses

 Insufficiently effective management of attendance and punctuality

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Weaknesses

28. The many improvements to the quality of learning and skills provision identified at the previous inspection have continued and become more established. The prison improvement plan and reinspection action plan are actively supported through high levels of commitment from the prison Governor and head of resettlement. Key groups meet more frequently now to drive improvement. The recently produced learning and skills strategy links clearly to the prison service priority to reduce re-offending. It provides an explicit focus on ensuring that the promotion and support for learning and skills becomes the responsibility of all members of staff. New staffing appointments are based on competence rather than grade. Investment in resources is good. There are many more learning opportunities and qualifications than previously. A wide range of 25 in-cell learning packs extend informal learning opportunities and contribute

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Weaknesses

effectively to purposeful activity hours. Planning for re-settlement is much improved and promotes active choice by learners. Approximately 70% of the prison population are now engaged in purposeful activities. The prison recognises that there is still a shortfall and is exploring more flexible delivery approaches to maximise opportunities. Communications between staff have improved, but aspects of communication between the prison and offenders are less effective.

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Weaknesses

29. Operational management of education and prison enterprises is good. Good work has been carried out to improve the sharing of good practice between teams.. Observation of teaching and Reinspection report: HMP Acklington Reinspection, 20 February 2008 18 of 21

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Weaknesses

learning processes and the use of standardised individual learning plans are in place. There are marked improvements in the accuracy and use of data for target-setting and monitoring progress. Good emphasis on staff development and training supports the development of new areas. The prison has a good resource of vocational assessors. Effective arrangements are in place to ensure internal verification activity is carried out. The gym now has all the quality systems in place to support it as an approved NVQ assessment centre when the refurbishment programme is complete. A high number of staff have undertaken development to achieve assessor awards to deliver national vocational awards recognised by employers. There is good joint working between the college and the prison to deliver these awards.

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Weaknesses

30. The good partnership working identified at the previous inspection has continued. The allocation process is effective, more open and fair, and based on good internal links. A multi-agency approach includes good offender supervisor and IAG staff contributions in planning the learning journey. This was a weakness at the previous inspection. Allocations are based on all available information and learner needs identified in their sentence plan. Good external links have informed many of the initiatives adopted by the prison. For example the improved induction process and resettlement programme were adopted from work at Durham prison. There are effective links with some prisons that help ensure learners can complete qualifications if they are transferred. The prison actively works to promote good internal links and joint working through development of a whole prison approach in supporting learning and skills. This is at a relatively

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Weaknesses

early stage of development. A range of initiatives aim to engage employers at all levels to consider employing ex-offenders. This was a strength at the previous inspection. No offenders were released on temporary licence.

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Weaknesses

31. While the allocation process is good, the system for processing activity applications does not ensure that they arrive in a timely manner for the next allocations board. Often there is a delay in receiving them from the wings. There are unnecessary vacancies in activities.

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Weaknesses

32. The management of attendance and punctuality is insufficiently effective There were late starts on both afternoons in the inspection week. Almost half an hour was lost from the start of the same subject on each day. Tutors had half an hour to deliver a learning session that they had planned an hour for. Learners report that they sometimes arrive with only a few minutes of learning session left. Some poor patterns of attendance were noted in registers. Reasons for absences are not always clearly recorded. Tutors are not informed early enough about reasons for non-attendances. The prison is aware of this and monitors attendance daily, but it is not clear that punctuality is monitored.

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Contributory grade 3

Reinspection report: HMP Acklington Reinspection, 20 February 2008 19 of 21

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Contributory grade 3

33. The prisons arrangements for equality and diversity are satisfactory. There has been much work to improve equality and diversity policies in the last 12 months as an integral part of the prison improvement plan. Equality and diversity impact assessments are now completed. Data is regularly reviewed to monitor the prison profile and representation of different groups in various activities. Offenders from minority ethnic groups are well represented in education and at the gym. The race equality officer is full time. A recent prison survey identifies a 10% improvement in offender perceptions about race relations. Reinspection report: HMP Acklington Reinspection, 20 February 2008 20 of 21

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Contributory grade 3

This document may be reproduced in whole or in part for non-commercial educational purposes, provided that the information quoted is reproduced without adaptation and the source and date of publication are stated. 34. Every wing has access to equality and diversity information packs. However, some information is complex. It is not clear what adapted materials are available for the high proportion of offenders with poor literacy skills. The diversity management team meets regularly and has prison staff and offender representation. The recent establishment of a disability subgroup reflects the needs of an aging population. A small group of volunteer offenders work as carers for those with disabilities. The allocation process is fair using all available information from different agencies. Pay rates are equitable.

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Contributory grade 3

35. Good links with the Imam support the development of updated equality and diversity training for prison staff, but this is not ready for delivery. While all education staff have received diversity training, the prison is well below its target with only 39% of prison staff trained.

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