Drug use at Ford Prison still a major concern despite progress

The open prison’s Independent Monitoring Board has praised staff for making good progress in improving the category D site, since 2011’s New Year’s Day riot.

Chairman of the board, Charles Pinney, in his annual report to justice minister Christopher Grayling, said: “At the time of the fire two years ago the inspectors’ report was critical of the situation at Ford.

“Last year we noted an improvement and this year we are pleased to record a fundamental shift in the day-to-day atmosphere.

“There is a more collegiate feel and a sense of team play which results in better relations between staff and managers as well as between staff and offenders.

“This has been rightly recognised by the recent HMIP (Her Majesty’s Inspector of Prisons) inspection and, whilst there will always be areas of concern, we are happy to note the all-round improvements and congratulate the staff and managers – and also the offenders who are playing their part in many of the improvements.”

Mr Pinney’s report noted, despite improvements, there were still areas of concern. Drug use in the prison remained prevalent, with the widespread use of synthetic marijuana – more commonly known as “spice” – hitting a worrying level.

The report estimated about 85 per cent of the prison population could be involved with distribution of the narcotic.

“In general this year we are delighted with the progress made at Ford.

“There are, however, some areas of concern. We believe the popularity and availability of the drug known as spice is a great cause for concern and, whilst we believe Ford is doing all it can, spice represents a serious threat to stability,” the report said.