HMP Winchester Governor promises improvements after critical prison inspection report

The governor of Winchester Prison has given his first interview since the publication of a damning report into safety and conditions at the jail.

James Bourke says the challenges the prison faces are significant - but they are tackling all the issues raised by inspectors. 

"Every issue that is there we are tackling, " he said.

"We are facing up to, we are not denying - we are not pretending it's not a real problem but we do face a very very challenging situation."

• HMP Winchester Governor James Bourke

The report published in May described progress at HMP Winchester - which houses around 500 prisoners - as "disappointing" since the previous inspection two years before.

It highlighted levels of assault on staff as three times higher than in similar prisons elsewhere.

It also criticised the fact that cells were in a poor state with insufficient furniture, graffiti and dirty toilets.

It also said prisoners weren't given enough to do - and illicit drugs were too easy to obtain. 

The governor is pledging that he and his team will do everything they can to turn things around in the future - but says the inspector's report is just a snapshot.

"I would say that whilst we do have high levels of violence and we're not complacent about that - it's not unusual in prisons of this type and we are working very hard to make the place as safe as we can for everyone."

The prison faces challenges including outdated Victorian buildings, overcrowding - and more.

Two thirds of prisoners arrive at HMP Winchester with a mental health problem - one third have a history of suicide or are actively self harming - and one third of those who arrive have a substance misuse problem.

"Many of the people who arrive here are in a very chaotic and difficult situation and every day staff in this prison do tremendous work preventing violence and calming people."

One of the biggest problems of all - recruiting and keeping prison workers.

"We have many vacancies - at all grades, and so sometimes delivering the basics of custody has been a real challenge.

"The main issue is really prison officers and having a sufficient number of prison officers - we have constantly new staff arriving 

"We need to train those people, develop those people, support those people and most importantly retain those people. And once we get that consistency that leads to better relationships and that relational control that we rely on in our prison system will improve as that improves.

It comes as a special book and exhibition celebrating the 175th anniversary of the jail is launched - which aims to show a different view of the prison with personal stories and portraits.

Doing Time has been written by journalist Liz Kavanagh.

"We wanted to make sure there was something a bit more balanced that was going out about the prison," said said. "There's no agenda in any of the stories - they are just as they were told to us.

"I think it's really important for people who work in the prison that they feel that they are represented in a different way."

Currently at Fareham Museum the exhibition will tour three further venues in the coming weeks. The book is for sale via P&G Wells independent bookshop in Winchester.