Young offenders' institute is most violent - watchdog

A young offenders' institution in west London has the highest levels of violence of any prison in England and Wales, an inspection has found.

HMP Feltham A, which holds children aged between 15 and 18 who are on remand or have been convicted, has seen incidents of disorder triple since the last inspection of the prison two years ago.

The review, by HM Inspectorate of Prisons in March, found that conditions had significantly deteriorated and self-harm and levels of violence were on the rise. it concluded "there had been a deterioration in standards with levels of violence now the highest of any prison in the country".

The Ministry of Justice said although changes were being made, "we know there is much more to do".

There are about 80 children in the centre, with more than 260 different instructions to prevent children from mixing.

Inspectors were concerned that these instructions were affecting children’s access to education - rather than inmates being placed in similar ability and interest classes, the boys were allocated to classes based on whom they can mix with without fighting.

HM Chief Inspector of Prisons Charlie Taylor told BBC Radio London many of these orders were to prevent violent gang disputes within the institution.

"The danger is, it feeds the sort of grandiosity that some of these kids might have about themselves that 'I'm the big man and I can't mix with anybody'," he said.

In the summer of 2023, the education block was forced to close from 22 August until early September due to a dramatic increase in the number of assaults and serious incidents reported.

Another major concern in the inspection was the prolonged segregation of some children from their peers - seven inmates had been separated for more than 50 days, while two of them for more than 100.

The inspection also found the use of force, usually in response to violence, had risen by 68%.

The situation was so volatile that some children said they did not want their families to visit in case violence broke out in front of them.

Mr Taylor said he was "very concerned" to see the deterioration, but said it was "to the credit of the governor and her leadership team that there were signs that they had managed to arrest this decline".

"Frontline staff, meanwhile, were a real asset to the jail and had managed to maintain impressively positive and supportive relationships with even the most challenging children in their care despite the violence around them," he added.

The chief inspector said it funding the prison was not necessarily an issue as it was one of the best funded in the country, at about £200,000 per place a year.

In 2019, an inspection of the same facility found that safety levels had dropped to an "appalling" level.

The Youth Custody Service said at the time that "immediate" changes had been made.

The new report said it was "disappointing" to find these deteriorated standards given that in 2022 it "awarded some of the best healthy establishment test scores achieved in recent years".

A Ministry of Justice spokesperson said: “The criminal justice system is in crisis and, as this report clearly shows, this is placing great strain on the youth estate.

“As the chief inspector recognises in his report, the governor and frontline staff are now making every effort to drive improvements and reduce violence.

"But we know there is much more to do and we are committed to increasing the support these children need to turn their lives around.”