The report acknowledges progress made over the past year, but also identifies areas of concern, some of which have been highlighted previously. The report was written before recent publication of Her Majesty's Inspector of Prisons' (HMIP) Report, following his inspection of the prison in February this year, and the IMB considers that, while progress has been made on most fronts, much work remains to be done.
The report recognises a number of positive elements which have been achieved over the past year, notably an improvement in prison culture and relationships between most officers and prisoners; but the principal concern is that staffing levels have been reduced to a very low level, which could present real difficulties if a major incident occurred.
It is also noted that the admission of Young Adult Offenders to Winchester since September 2013 has led to a marked increase in violence.
Winchester & Chandler's Ford MP Steve Brine, who is Ministerial Aide within the Ministry of Justice team in Government, said; "I'm pleased we seem to be enjoying a period of stability at the prison with Dave Rogers in charge after too many years of musical chairs in the position of Governor which allowed serious and dangerous drift. Turning Winchester around would be hard enough without it becoming a YOI and that challenge comes on top of closures in the region which, while useful in terms of staff recruitment for us, have put significant additional pressures on the estate.
"As the local MP, I'm happier than I was this time last year. I think progress is being made on many fronts but the shortage of available work for prisoners, not unsurprising in an area of such high employment, is a major problem and one I am raising with the Minister.
"Increasing violence is an issue across the secure estate right now but it's exacerbated by the inclusion of young adults into an established adult prison like Winchester. Ultimately, we need to reduce the prison population in this England and that's one reason why I so support our probation changes which, for the first time, require supervision by a reformed probation service for those serving sentences of less than 12-months. It's about tackling the revolving door."
Pictured; Steve Brine with the (then) Prisons Minister Jeremy Wright
More information ...
The IMB Annual Report 2013/14 for HMP Winchester can be found here
More information about the work of Independent Monitoring Boards can be found here