Inspection labels HMP Aylesbury 'high risk' amid staff shortages and safety concerns

A prison in Buckinghamshire has been labelled as "high risk" following an inspection.

HMP Aylesbury previously housed men aged 18-21 convicted of violent crimes and serving long sentences.

Inspectors who visited the institution said "almost all" of the issues found stem from a sudden rise in the number of prisoners and the prison's transition to a training establishment.

The report said the facility was "thrown into chaos" by the changes it had to make due to the pressure of the national prison population.

Inspectors found a shortage of staff in healthcare, education and rehabilitation.

The situation was said to be "so dire" that prisoners over the age of 40 were not able to be sent to the prison, as they "couldn't be safely cared for".

Nearly 40% of prisoners who were unemployed often had less than an hour out of their cells a day, with many told they weren't able to shower every day.

Prisoners in employment were unable to benefit from workshops needed to prepare them for their release because of staff shortages, or broken equipment.

The report also found that 70% of the prison population in HMP Aylesbury were assessed as "high risk of serious harm to the public".

Charlie Taylor, Chief Inspector of Prisons said: "Aylesbury has been a prison in difficulty for some time – successive inspections have found it struggling with its existing role as a young offender institution. But those challenges have been compounded by this sudden and chaotic redesignation to a Category C training jail coupled with extreme staffing problems.

"The prison needs significant and immediate support from the prison service to mitigate the level of risk it presents not only for prisoners held there but also for the community into which high risk offenders are being released with little to no work to reduce their risk of reoffending.

"Until Aylesbury receives the support it desperately needs to improve, it will remain a high-risk institution."

In a statement, a Prison Service spokesperson said: "We have already taken decisive action to address the concerns raised in this report, including bolstering front-line staff and increasing access to education and work for prisoners.

"As the public would rightly expect, we’re also working with others across the Criminal Justice System and making sure the prison estate is being used effectively while we push ahead with delivering the biggest expansion of prison places in a century."