09 June 2009

Prison Ombudsman Management Team To Be Replaced

The senior management team at a Northern Ireland prison is to be replaced, after a report published by the Prison Ombudsman.

The decision follows the review into the death of Colin Bell - a prisoner sentenced to life imprisonment for murder - who hanged himself last year in jail.

Bell was meant to be monitored every 15 minutes due to his history of self-harming. But, apparently, some staff who were supposed to be monitoring him weren't on duty at the moment of his death, as was revealed in an earlier report.

The Prisoner Ombudsman Pauline McCabe published a damning report on the regime at the prison earlier this year, where she advised that the governor and deputy governor should face a disciplinary investigation, among other 44 recommendations for change.

But disciplinary action against these charges has been rejected in the report drawn up by a government-appointed review team.

This new report says that a new senior management team should be appointed as soon as possible. It also establishes that it should be led by a governor from outside Northern Ireland, remarking on the necessity of bringing new talent from outside NIPS, as well as developing the current managers.

According to the report, Colin Bell was "the victim of an insidious subculture that allowed delinquent behaviour by some junior staff, much of it undetectable because of their isolation from unannounced supervisory visits".

Paul Goggins, the Prison's Minister, said that the Northern Ireland Prison Service (NIPS) had found "systemic problems" during its modernisation process.

Therefore, the report warns that the NIPS will need a "significant cultural change", which would mean an "extraordinary leadership at all levels".

The report also remarks other important changes required: "Rehabilitation and resettlement are integral to the work of the Service, clarity in the respective roles of establishments and headquarters is important, and achieving the right relationship between management and the trade unions is essential."

NIPS Director, Robin Masefield, called the report "constructive" and considered that these recommendations have to be seen as "an opportunity rather than a threat". It has been welcomed by the ombudsman.

(AC/JM)