Ashwell

Ashwell is situated 1.5 miles from Oakham in Rutland.

The prison first opened in 1955 as an Open Prison for short to medium term adult male prisoners. The site previously an Army camp extends to about 10 hectares. In October 1987 it was converted to an Adult Male Low Category C establishment.

Ashwell runs an open and free running regime with much commitment to sentence planning, throughcare and purposeful activity. In 2003 Ashwell achieved Resettlement Stage 1 accreditation.

Address:
Oakham
Rutland
LE15 7LF

Tel: 01572 884100
Fax: 01572 884101

Governor: Dave Harding

Operational Capacity: 619 as of 1st September 2008

Accommodation: 7 units of which 1 is the induction wing

Reception Criteria

Prisoners have:

• Unsupervised free movement
• Unsupervised access to the prison grounds
• Keys to their own room

Sentence:

• Score 3s by prior arrangement
• ACR prisoner, must have a minimum of 6 months left to serve
• DCR prisoner, (4 years and over), must have a minimum of 6 months to PED and a maximum of 7 years to NPD
• Medium and long term lifers by arrangement with the lifer manager
• Labour Grade I, II and III accepted.

Time to Serve:

• Minimum of 6 months to EDR or 12 months to PED.

Restrictions: Prior arrangement with the Head of Operations (or their deputy) is necessary in the case of:

• Prisoners convicted of sexual offences, current or previous
• Prisoners convicted of the supply of drugs whose home address is within the local region
• Prisoners with an open F2052 SH or ACCT
• Prisoners with an adjudication record of violence or substance misuse within past 6 months
• Prisoners transferring to come off Rule 45.

General:

• Security information must be faxed through prior to transfer
• All prisoners will be subject to volumetric control on reception
• All Prisoners fitting the criteria for Home Detention Curfew must have the appropriate paperwork raised and, where possible, completed
• Initial OASys assessment and Sentence Plans should be completed in all cases.

Regime: Ashwell has been described as ‘running an open prison regime within a secure perimeter'. For this reason Ashwell is best suited to those Category C prisoners who are able to display the maturity and self-control to live reasonably in a regime where there is a high expectancy of good behaviour. All prisoners are employed or within education programmes.