• Skip to main content
  • Skip to secondary menu
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

The Good Book of Prisons

What's good in prisons across England & Wales

The Butler Trust
  • The Introduction
  • The Overall Findings
  • The Individual Prisons
  • The Media
  • The Book

Chelmsford

Location: Essex
Date of visit: 1 June 2018
Visit number: 16
Prison type: [glossary-ignore]Category B Local[/glossary-ignore]
Capacity: 700
Opened: 1830
Operator: HMPS

MANAGERS

SOs & CMs said the resilience of the staff team ‘shone through’, and praised the staff group for being cohesive and mutually supportive. They also praised staffs’ skills at de-escalating challenging situations. Staff-prisoner relationships were described as ‘good’. They also described a good working relationship with the local CRC, who were praised for ensuring sentence plans were on time. The Dep also commended staff-prisoner relationships, and noted the good facilities including the gym, football pitch, and workshops. There were positive words, too, for the fact that staff ‘wanted to learn’, and for Chelmsford’s ‘welcoming’ reception, and the ‘good first impression’ it gave.

OFFICERS

The Officers and OSGs also noted the cohesiveness of staff. They praised SOs & CMs as ‘approachable’ and ‘supportive’, and for their role in ‘bringing the team together’. They felt that the commitment and flexibility of managers and staff had helped maintain a regime in challenging times. They said staff-prisoner relations were ‘good’ and said staff were ‘very approachable’. They praised the Keywork scheme which was being introduced and felt it had helped improve relationships and safety.

PRISONERS

The prisoners described a strong sense of safety in the jail, and said that violence levels were ‘quite low’ when compared to other jails. They highlighted staff-prisoner relationships as ‘good’, and said staff were ‘helpful’. They valued the range of mentors and peer support workers, including Listeners, and the wing rep scheme which they felt was well supported by staff and management. They had high praise for the ‘great’ gym and sporting facilities, including the football field. They were also positive about in-cell phones, as well as the personal development courses, and the courses tailored to short-term prisoners’ needs – and they too felt Keywork was having a significant positive impact.

Share this:

  • Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)

Category: Local

Primary Sidebar

The Prisons

The Prisons

  • Altcourse
  • Ashfield
  • Aylesbury
  • Bedford
  • Belmarsh
  • Berwyn
  • Birmingham
  • Brinsford
  • Bristol
  • Brixton
  • Bronzefield
  • Buckley Hall
  • Bullingdon
  • Bure
  • Cardiff
  • Channings Wood
  • Chelmsford
  • Coldingley
  • Dartmoor
  • Deerbolt
  • Doncaster
  • Dovegate
  • Downview
  • Drake Hall
  • Durham
  • Eastwood Park
  • Elmley
  • Erlestoke
  • Exeter
  • Featherstone
  • Feltham B
  • Forest Bank
  • Foston Hall
  • Frankland
  • Full Sutton
  • Garth
  • Gartree
  • Grendon
  • Guys Marsh
  • Haverigg
  • Hewell
  • High Down
  • Highpoint
  • Hindley
  • Holme House
  • Hull
  • Humber
  • Huntercombe
  • Isis
  • Isle of Wight
  • Lancaster Farms
  • Leeds
  • Leicester
  • Lewes
  • Lincoln
  • Lindholme
  • Littlehey
  • Liverpool
  • Long Lartin
  • Low Newton
  • Lowdham Grange
  • Maidstone
  • Manchester
  • Moorland
  • New Hall
  • Northumberland
  • Norwich
  • Nottingham
  • Oakwood
  • Onley
  • Parc
  • Pentonville
  • Peterborough
  • Portland
  • Preston
  • Ranby
  • Risley
  • Rochester
  • Rye Hill
  • Send
  • Stafford
  • Stocken
  • Stoke Heath
  • Styal
  • Swaleside
  • Swansea
  • Swinfen Hall
  • Thameside
  • The Mount
  • The Verne
  • Usk
  • Wakefield
  • Wandsworth
  • Warren Hill
  • Wayland
  • Wealstun
  • Whatton
  • Whitemoor
  • Winchester
  • Woodhill
  • Wormwood Scrubs
  • Wymott

Footer

Author

Simon Shepherd has been Director of the Butler Trust since 2008 and has worked in and around prisons for the last three decades.

Butler Trust

The Butler TrustThe Butler Trust is an independent charity set up in 1985 to recognise and promote good practice in UK correctional settings.

Contact

Butler Trust

www.butlertrust.org.uk

info@butlertrust.org.uk

020 8688 6062

Copyright © 2022 The Butler Trust (registered charity no. 1145182)

 

Loading Comments...