FOR years Winchester Prison has been a violent place, with assaults between inmates and with staff.

Numerous inspections in recent years have highlighted chronic issues of violence and self-harm.

But now the minister for prison has heard that improvements are being made.

Prison governor Jim Bourke invited Damian Hinds, Minister for Prisons, Parole and Probation, to see the progress, following His Majesty’s Inspector of Prisons Independent Reviews of Progress (IRP) of the prison last November.

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When Mr Bourke became governor in September 2018, there was a staff shortage and challenges around prisoner self-harm and violent behaviour.

He said changes had been made: "When the 2020 inspection was done, the prison was affected by Covid and staff were exhausted.

“We said we had a plan for improvement and when they came back to report in November 2022, they saw a prison enacting that plan.”

The new IRP report showed that violent incidents had decreased by 16 per cent and rates of self-harm had almost halved. The prison has around 3,000 prisoners passing through each year. Most stay for less than three months.

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Mr Bourke added: “Around two-thirds of our prisoners have mental health issues. A third are substance misusers, and a third are suicidal. Where there are so many mental health issues, there is violence. As most are here for a short time, the opportunity to do anything with them to turn their problems around is limited. Our staff demonstrate immense compassion in these challenging circumstances.”

Rewarding excellence he believes that developing confident leadership and recognising and rewarding excellence across all roles are important priorities. He is also proud of the increase in staff morale.

“Good management in the prison is about doing things right and following policy. We have a team of courageous and committed staff who do great work in protecting the public, getting men housed, drug-free and job ready."

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“We celebrate good performance and in particular those who are doing an ordinary job extraordinarily well.”

During the visit Mr Hinds, MP for East Hampshire, met staff and prisoners from the residential assurance team, the induction unit, the substance misuse team, administration staff, and the prison’s employment lead.

Mr Hinds said: “Prisons face a unique set of measures and HMP Winchester is no different. I was delighted to see the excellent work from the staff at Winchester, with Governor Jim Bourke and his team setting high standards and delivering positive outcomes for those in prison.

“I spoke at length with staff and confirmed my priorities of public protection, recruitment and retention, as well as getting ex-offenders working. I look forward to seeing the progress made at Winchester and would like to express my gratitude to all staff who made me welcome on my visit.”