Girls to be removed from prison after damning Holloway report

All girls are to be removed from prisons this year, the Youth
Justice Board announced after the chief inspector of prisons called
for urgent action to be taken at Holloway prison,
writes Clare Jerrom.

The board said the move had been delayed as a result of pressure
on the juvenile secure estate that led to vulnerable boys taking
the places intended for girls at the alternative secure training
centre provision.

Placing 16-year-old sentenced girls in Holloway will therefore
cease this year, and alternative provision will be found for those
17-year-olds on remand at the north London prison. They will be
accommodated at the designated girls prison service units in
England.

In the Holloway inspection report, Anne Owers said: “We had
specific and serious concerns about the small number of under
18-year-olds held in Holloway.”

No assessments of vulnerability and risk were being carried out,
the regime was wholly inadequate, staff lacked essential
documentation and no training plan meetings were taking place.

Owers also raised concerns about the 18-21 year olds as young
unsentenced women were being held with older women, and the prison
had no effective risk assessments in place to check whether it was
safe to do so.

There were also several women who were being held under
immigration legislation, who Owers believed would be better placed
in removal centres.

Holloway inspection report available
here