Isle of Man Prison has improved but some measures still need addressing

Follows HMIP inspection last year

A review of the Isle of Man Prison has recognised improvements made there in the past year but also highlights issues that still need addressing.

The prison was recently re-visited by His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Prisons to check in on progress made since an earlier inspection in 2023.

During this year's review 'reasonable' or 'good' progress had been made on 10 of the 14 recommendations.

Care for those at risk of suicide and self-harm were found to have improved and there are now said to be 'promising' initiatives in place to strengthen family ties.

However 'insufficient' or 'no meaningful' progress had been made against four of the recommendations.

HMIP says security procedures are still 'disproportionate' with the excessive strip-searching of prisoners and 'unnecessarily intrusive and restrictive' holding conditions for male prisoners.

Regardless of risk inmates are still subject to 30-minute observation in cells, and constant video monitoring for the first 24 hours, as well as being kept locked up excessively in their early days at the prison.

The prison was also found to have made no real progress on addressing issues around the promotion of equality and diversity with hardly any effort made in the past 12 months to affirm and support minority groups. 

The prison’s regime and, in particular, the education, work and training on offer still did not sufficiently prepare prisoners for employment after release, with not enough practical courses, and none of the prison jobs offer training, realistic work conditions or accreditation of skills.

But Head of the Isle of Man Prison and Probation Service Leroy Bonnick says he's happy with the progress being made: