Regime

This page contains details of the regime at Wellingborough.

Residential Organisation
There are 9 wings at HMP Wellingborough which provide living accommodation for up to 646 prisoners.

A, B, C and D Wings are for prisoners serving a variety of sentences with the exception of life.

E Wing is the Induction Wing where prisoners are located when they first arrive.

F and G Wings make up the Voluntary Drug Testing Unit where a number of programmes and interventions help prisoners address their drug problems.

H and I Wings provide accommodation for life sentenced and determinate prisoners serving 5 years or more.

Offender Management
HMP Wellingborough is a dynamic prison that has a clear focus on reducing re-offending.

The key role of any prison is to keep prisoners in custody until they have completed their sentences. HMP Wellingborough recognises however that public protection extends further than secure custody; we offer a wide range of activities that help prisoners to lead law-abiding lives on release, resulting in safer communities.

The National Offender Management Service (NOMS) has identified key factors that reduce re-offending and these have been taken forward into identified pathways in the National Reducing Re-offending Action Plan. HMP Wellingborough delivers interventions based on these pathways.

In order to deliver successful interventions and to help prisoners to re-establish themselves and contribute back to society, HMP Wellingborough recognises the importance of working with partners from the voluntary and community sector.

We acknowledge that partnerships bring specialist expertise, knowledge and commitment and ensure that prisons reflect the values of the local communities they serve. The custodial part of a prison sentence is often only one piece of the jigsaw that leads to reduced re-offending and safer communities; we firmly believe that partnerships build brighter futures and that only by working together can we fit the whole picture together.

Interventions Function
The Interventions Function at HMP Wellingborough consist of 25 multi-disciplinary staff including civilians, officers, probation staff, psychologists and administrative support, headed by a senior psychologist. These staff work together to deliver individual and groupwork programmes aimed at reducing the risk of re-offending, by encouraging prisoners to change their thinking and behaviour and make realistic settlement plans.

The Psychology Department provide facilitators and managers for the Enhanced Thinking Skills (ETS) programme. This is a 21 session groupwork programme that aims to develop and improve prisoners' skills such as problem solving, management of emotions, perspective and communication skills, which in turn can help to reduce re-offending.

The Cognitive Skills Booster Programme is offered at Wellingborough by Northants Probation Service. This consists of 11 sessions aimed at refreshing thinking skills and providing an opportunity to practice using those skills in more realistic situations.

The Psychology Department also provide ability assessments and assessments for other programmes such as CALM (Controlling Anger and Learning to Manage it) as well as suitability assessments for Therapeutic Communities.

The Psychology Department is involved in a wide range of other areas, working with staff and prisoners to make Wellingborough a safe place to live and work. We work closely with the lifer team and life sentenced prisoners to address their offending behaviour and provide individual interventions. We are also involved in planning and conducting research, staff training and contributing to the development, monitoring and evaluation of strategies aimed at reducing the risk of self harm and suicide, bullying and violence.

The Head of Regimes and Services has management oversight of drug treatment services, through the Substance Misuse Interventions Manager, including CARAT services (Counselling, Assessment, Referral, Advice and Throughcare Services) and the PASRO groupwork programme (Prison Addressing Substance Related Offending). Please see the relevant entries on these for further information.

Education
The regime at Wellingborough strongly reflects our philosophy of being a training institution. It is an institution aim that all activity and employment areas have a clearly identified training pathway with externally credited qualifications.

All prisoners have an individual training plan which details realistic aspirations and targets for achievement. All sentences are structured and a prisoner typically progresses through: Reception, Induction, Welfare to Work and then if needed a full assessment and guidance class for computers, literacy and numeracy.

There are vocational workshop places for 120 prisoners. The work and training is varied and included accredited courses in painting and decorating, carpentry and joinery, industrial cleaning, plastering, light engineering, blacksmiths and motorbikes.

The Education Department provides full and part courses for 300 prisoners. Courses available consist of Skills for Life, Computers, Social and Life Skills, business skills, languages, a range of GCSE courses, arts, yoga and distance learning/Open University study. Prisoners have the opportunity to gain nationally recognised qualifications on all courses.

The Learning and Skills accommodation moved to a purpose built block in June 2007.

The education provision operates for 50 weeks per year from Monday to Friday and is managed by The Manchester College. The education staff consists of a Learning and Skills Manager, Deputy Learning and Skills Manager, 3 Administrators, 4 Curriculum Leaders, 3 full time Lecturers and approximately 20 sessional staff.

Prisoner Learning Support
Skills for Life and IAG support is offered to all prisoners across all activity areas. This may be within formal, timetabled sessions or may be workplace based.

Those who are unable to read are supported by the Shannon Trust's Toe by Toe reading scheme, run through the education department but on a one to one basis with fellow prisoners. Many prisoners also work voluntarily as peer tutors/support in Literacy, Numeracy and ESOL classes.

Youth and Community Drugs and Crime Project
In July 2000, HMP Wellingborough established its national crime prevention initiative, the Youth and Community Drugs and Crime project. The project is run with serving ex-prisoners and so far the project has made over 300 presentations within the prison. The project is also delivered in outreach format to extend it's availability to other groups unable or unsuitable to attend the prison, with risk assessed prisoner attending schools and colleges to deliver presentations with the project co-ordinator. So far over 1100 presentations have been made reaching over 25,000 students. The project offers advice and presentations through schools, drug reference groups, probation, magistrates, drug agencies around the country and Youth Offending teams. There are currently 9 youth offending teams that visit the project on a regular basis so as to help their young clients to understand the consequences of drugs, crime and eventually prison.

The project is promoted in all of the police station across Northants inviting parents to contact the project co-ordinator if they feel the project could benefit their child. The following Police forces use the project as best practice – Northamptonshire, Nottinghamshire, Bedfordshire, Thames Valley, West Midlands, Metropolitan (8 areas), Kent, Yorkshire, West Mercia and Grampian.

Other initiatives that are happening with the project are:

• Anti-burglary initiative
• Joy Riding
• Violent crime
• Car crime
• National gun crime
• National knife crime

These initiatives are happening because prisoners on the project now want to try and help out the authorities and police so as to try and make our communities safer and our youngsters aware of the consequences that their actions will have, not only on themselves, but also on their families, loved ones and not forgetting the victims.

Further information of the project can be obtained by contacting David Palethorpe, Project Co-ordinator, on 01933 232821.

Drugs Strategy and Interventions
All prisoners are assessed by Healthcare on reception and by Drug Support Services staff on induction. If a drug related problem is identified there are provisions for:

• A full assessment by a trained Drug Worker
• One to one brief intervention work with CARATs and advice
• Referral to a trained counsellor
• Group Work e.g. peer support group, drug and alcohol awareness group
• PASRO (accredited drugs programme)
• Voluntary Drug Testing (and access to a VTU)

HMP Wellingborough employs full time drug workers for CARATs and PASRO; co-ordinated by a full time Substance Misuse Interventions Manager, who support prisoners throughout their sentence and liaises with external agencies to ensure that support is available for prisoners upon release.

Maintenance
The maintenance department ensure that all buildings are maintained fit for purpose as detailed in a SDA agreement agreed with the Area Manager and Governor. This is managed by the use of Planet FM, a computer aided maintenance package which records all maintenance work and repairs.

There is a plan to refurbish the existing accommodation A.B,C,D and E wings.