He said 2022 “was a year of significant change for Guernsey Prison” and that Les Nicolles “ran through most of the year with a significant vacancy factor”. 

“This year saw an increased effort on recruitment and the ongoing development of existing Officers and staff,” he said. 

“The Prison was able to access specialist offender management courses delivered in the UK for the first time since the onset of the pandemic.” 

There was a slight increase in the number of people incarcerated at Les Nicolles between 2022 and 2021, but the five-year trend continues to indicate a downward trend in the prison population. 

Use of force 

Any time a Prison Officer places their hands on a prisoner this is recorded as a ‘use of force’. The number of these incidents increased markedly between 2021 and 2022. 

“During 2022, there were a total of thirty-six reported incidents requiring the ‘use of force’," the report states. 

“Of these, seven were planned removals with most of these being required to maintain the good order and discipline of the establishment. The remaining incidents were spontaneous interventions, with a marked increase in prisoners needing to be restrained as a direct result of fights or assaults over the previous year.  

“Although a few prisoners appear several times’ it is difficult to identify any single individual as a notable influence on the data.” 

Despite the increase, no injuries were recorded after any of the interventions. 

Caring Dads 

A notable success in 2022 was the introduction of the Caring Dads programme in partnership with the Kindred Children’s Centre. 

The programme has been launched to develop better relationships between imprisoned fathers and their children.  

According to ‘Caring Dads’ the “program principles emphasize the need to enhance men’s motivation, promote child-centered fathering, address men’s ability to engage in respectful, non-abusive co-parenting with children’s mothers, recognize that children’s experience of trauma will impact the rate of possible change, and work collaboratively with other service providers to ensure that children benefit as a result of father’s participation in intervention”. 

Housing 

Unsurprisingly, Guernsey’s ongoing housing crisis has impacted some of the work done by the prison, specifically in regards to its release programme. 

“The lack of appropriate accommodation on release has escalated and remains a concern,” states the report. 

“The issue is symptomatic of the local housing crisis, which is affecting all sectors of the community and makes effective resettlement support packages difficult to implement.  

“The OMU Manager continues to represent the Prison and Probation Service at multi-agency forums aimed at raising awareness of, and efforts to address this important issue and is now a member of the Housing Support Forum established by the Guernsey Community Foundation towards the end of the year.”