AN Aylesbury prison report states the living conditions are ‘very poor’ but a ‘safe place’ to live.

HMP Grendon Springhill, in Grendon Underwood, Edgcott, had an Independent Monitoring Board (IMB) visit the establishment to review the resettlement progress.

Resettlement is preparing prisoners for resettlement in community after release.

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The board found that though the prison was a ‘safe place’ with ‘low incidents of self-harm and levels of violence’ that the living conditions remained ‘poor’ which does not aid resettlement.

It states that the floors were damaged, doors were broken and boilers had failed.

In the report, it states: “For the majority of men, living conditions are very poor and certainly do not contribute to an enabling environment or improving an ethos of resettlement.

“The board reported on broken urinals, mould in showers, damaged flooring, and broken doors. The board commented on a lack of chairs in the huts as well as outdoor furniture, though provision had improved by June.

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“Measures to control rodents in the summer never seemed sufficient. A roof leak in the visits hall took time to fix and the children’s play area was affected.

“The cold snap in December exposed the general frailty of the infrastructure, with failed 11 boilers on the huts, and the gym was closed due to lack of heating.”

Overall, the board states that men accessing employment outside of the prison has improved but those doing outside work find it does not lead to regular employment upon release.

The report states: “The core purpose of the prison is resettlement. Numbers of men accessing release on temporary licence (ROTL) improved considerably over the past two years and more men went out to full-time work but too few men employed on the prison site were doing work that offers resettlement opportunities.”

IMB Springhill Chair, Christoff Lewis, said: “More men have been able to access full time work in the community although in too many cases this is not sustainable work, as fewer than half of them are still employed six weeks after their release.

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“The living accommodation for most men remains very poor and does not help contribute to a positive resettlement ethos.”

The board has recommended an ‘appropriate investment’ needs to be made to improve infrastructure at the prison with ‘short-term funding to patch the generally decaying infrastructure’ as well as a focus on ‘more full-time work on camp connected to post release job opportunities’.