Prison under fire
for failing to treat
sex offenders

Although a third of prisoners at HMP Moorland, in South Yorkshire, are sex offenders, no treatment programme is available and “too many” of the criminals are released without completing one, HM Inspectorate of Prisons (HMIP) claimed.

Despite the fact almost half of the 325 sex offenders were found to be in denial of their behaviour, there was no formal strategy to manage them and most went unchallenged, the unannounced inspection found.

Chief Inspector of Prisons Nick Hardwick said the prison – the scene of a series of riots in November 2010 – had seen some improvements but its learning and skills provision had slipped backwards.

He said: “”We found that Moorland had made some progress and was dealing with considerable uncertainties.

“That said, the pace of progress was disappointing and there remained much to do, some of it fundamental.”

The report said very limited provision for sex offenders was of particular concern. Evidence was found of some sex offenders being moved to a prison to access a treatment programme but the overall number transferred was low.

HMIP said “attitudes, thinking and behaviour” programmes to address sexual offending and sex offenders in denial should be provided.

HMP Moorland holds up to 1,000 adult and young adult prisoners. The prison has endured a period of upheaval as 300 places damaged in the 2010 riots were restored, new accommodation was opened and more than 300 sex offenders and 250 foreign national prisoners were added to the population.

Moorland is expected to be taken over by private firms Sodexo, Serco or MTC/Amey in the next few months.

HMIP judged the overall safety of the jail to be reasonably good, although it did find too many prisoners had safety concerns and there was evidence of a bullying problem.

The prison also scored poorly for purposeful activity, with more than a third of prisoners locked up during the working day doing nothing.

The Prison Service stressed its strategy is to focus treatment on medium and high-risk sexual offenders, and it is currently working to “reallocate resources accordingly”, while specific interventions are tailored to an individual’s “risk and need”.

The report comes after a separate inspection last week highlighted a growing resentment among Muslim prisoners detained at HMP Full Sutton, near York, who believe they are being persecuted by staff and other inmates because of their beliefs.