Extra specialist staff, a bolstered senior leadership team and improved training for frontline officers will be deployed urgently at HMP Pentonville.
Prison's leadership strengthened to increase oversight and accountability
Immediate action to tackle safety concerns and improve living conditions
Review to prevent sentence calculation errors completed
The jail received an Urgent Notification in July, with inspectors finding poor living conditions, prisoners not being released at the end of their sentence due to administrative errors, and inadequate support for prisoners at risk of self-harm.
The Prison Service has today (15 August) published a new action plan in direct response to the notification - with the aim of drastically driving up safety and standards at the prison.
The prison's senior management will be bolstered with a dedicated lead responsible for overseeing work to address the inspector's concerns. A review to minimise sentence calculation errors and ensure prisoners are released on time has already been completed.
The prison has intensified its cleaning regime and is auditing every cell to ensure it meets at least a minimum required standard. Additional specialist staff have been deployed to better support vulnerable prisoners and the regime.
Lord Timpson, Minister for Prisons, Probation and Reducing Reoffending, said:
The Chief Inspector's findings at HMP Pentonville were deeply concerning and reflect the scale of the crisis we inherited across our prison system.
During my recent visit I saw that the prison and its staff are already working hard to deliver urgent improvements and this action plan will make sure they get the support they need.
The prison will also refurbish showers, drainage systems and other common areas.
