Urgent warning for Essex jail where an inmate takes his life every five months and prisoners are ‘not safe’

Prison inspectors raise alarm after eight self-inflicted deaths recorded at Chelmsford jail in three years

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Inspectors have issued an urgent warning over a jail in Essex where a self-inflicted death occurs every five months and prisoners are not deemed to be safe.

The Prison Inspectorate said he was “so troubled” by the lack of progress to address violence, safety and poor conditions at HMP & YOI Chelmsford, who holds around 700 men, that he has issued a rare urgent notification (UN), requiring immediate action from the government.

Charlie Taylor said the prison had “sadly failed in its responsibility to keep prisoners safe” and was found to be one of the country’s most violent local prisons.

There had been eight self-inflicted deaths since 2018 and self-harm had continued to rise for the fourth successive inspection.

Performance at HMP Chelmsford has been assessed as deteriorating in a series of inspections since 2014, with inspectors finding “chronic and apparently intractable failings”.

It marks the ninth time the UN protocol has been used since it was introduced in 2017. The protocol sees the chief prison inspector write publicly to the justice secretary who is required to respond within 28 days with plans to improve the prison.

Inspectors found that there was a “negative staff culture” at the prison, with many staff failing to respond to even basic requests from prisoners and “too many dismissive in their dealings with prisoners” or showing “only limited” empathy.

A survey of inmates found that almost half said that they had been victimised by staff, particularly those prisoners with disabilities and mental health problems.

A “lack of accountability and management oversight” enabled poor performance and behaviour to go “unchallenged”, while emergency cell bells were often only answered after long delays, the inspectors said.

The daily regime for inmates was also assessed as “poor, with many locked in their cell for almost 23 hours a day, even before the Covid pandemic, and plans to reintroduce a meaningful regime after coronavirus “limited and being implemented far too slowly”.

In his letter to justice secretary Robert Buckland, Mr Taylor said Chelmsford was a “violent, unsafe prison in which conditions for prisoners have declined disturbingly over recent years, despite attempts by HMPPS to support improvement”.

“Many failings stem from a negative and demoralised staff culture which results in little apparent concern for (or attention to) the welfare and basic needs of a complex and, at times, vulnerable population,” he added.

“Chelmsford will not improve without a sustained drive to make sure that all staff members take responsibility for ensuring safety, decency and engagement with training and education in a meaningful regime.”

Lord chancellor Robert Buckland said: “These findings are unacceptable – Chelmsford is already on our list of prisons receiving priority support but it is clear this work must go further and faster.

“Work has already started on improving accommodation, increasing training and bringing in additional, experienced staff.

“The prison service is urgently pursuing every option to ensure that this situation is addressed.”