DARTMOOR Prison this week defended itself against a scathing report which condemned its 'outdated culture of disrespect and over-control'.
Acting Governor Graham Johnson said Dartmoor was looking to the future and working to change the outdated culture.
The HM Inspectorate of Prisons report described Dartmoor as 'imprisoned in its own past'. In spite of some pockets of good practice and some good staff struggling against the 'old Dartmoor' culture, this lack of respect was said to be 'pervasive'.
Nearly one in four prisoners surveyed last September as part of the report claimed to have been verbally abused by staff. They alleged that officers had referred to inmates as 'vermin'. Thirty six per cent of inmates said the thing they would most like to change was the attitude of the staff.
Mr Johnson said: 'A large number of staff are doing excellent work within the prison, it's about rolling that process out, it's not about going soft.'
He accepted that improvements had to be made on C wing, one of only three wings in Britain where slopping out was still part of the regime for some prisoners.
Mr Johnson said this wing was fully staffed 24 hours a day, with warders giving access to lavatories and running waters during the night when prisoners rang a bell in their cell.
A bid for funding to bring internal sanitation to the wing had already been made.
New exercise yards for each wing at the prison are also set to be introduced. Other planned changes at the prison included inmates being allowed television in cells and increased opportunities to develop employment skills.
Mr Johnson also focused on the good performance of the jail's voluntary drugs testing unit which had been running successfully for six years.
A new secure care and control unit was opened in November, where inmates who break prison rules are sent to reflect on their behaviour away from their regular cell. The new unit was brighter, had a calmer atmosphere and housed fewer inmates compared with the previous segregation unit
In the first report of an inspection carried out since her appointment, Anne Owers, the new Chief Inspector of Prisons, did recognise and welcome the recent efforts of the new governor, the area manager and the Director General to address several long-standing problems.
Mr Johnson said he accepted many of the criticism within the report: 'I consider it a fair and balanced report. I do not make any excuses. I will not defend inappropriate behaviour.'
He said there was a danger that people would think every member of staff had been acting improperly and showing disrespect towards prisoners.
'I believe the majority of staff that want to make a difference will take this report quite hard.'
Mr Johnson said bad practice and attitude by prison staff would be 'challenged robustly'.
'I consider the vast majority of staff here are embracing a changing process, but there will be some who do not view my arrival warmly.'
Mr Johnson said although Dartmoor was an austere looking building from the outside it did not have to be so on the inside and he was committed to challenging the culture of the prison.
Prison Service area manager Jerry Petherick stressed the need for custody, care and control as key elements of the major reforms at the jail. 'Dartmoor's future is entirely in the hands of the people who work here.
'There are a tremendous number of good staff who will be disappointed they have been let down by some of their colleagues and let down by the prison service,' said Mr Petherick.
'This report is a highly critical one and the Prison Service had already identified most of the issues,' added Mr Petherick, who said the report had highlighted a number of areas in which Dartmoor was doing well, such as addressing offending behaviour, drugs work and preparing inmates for release.
He said he was particularly concerned about criticism of the attitude of staff in the report and conceded it would not be easy to change the culture of the prison.
'We have a long way to go but we are wholly committed to the changes,' he said.
Acting Deputy Governor Roger Brown, said people's perception of Dartmoor Prison were worse than the actual reality of life in the jail, and the reputation of the prison had worked against it recently.
Mr Brown said a significant improvement at the jail would be the new exercise yards for each wing.
'The staff will rise to the challenge, we have got every confidence that when there is a repeat unannounced inspection we will come out more favourably,' said Mr Brown.
Martin Narey, Director General of the Prison Service, described it as a 'hard-hitting but perceptive report' which got under the skin of the prison, which holds around 650 prisoners.
However, Mr Narey said progress had already been made at Dartmoor.
He said if inspectors were to visit the prison again they would already find a 'prison with a new sense of direction, decency and purpose'.
Mr Johnson has had a turbulent tenure since becoming acting Governor last June; three months ago staff passed a vote of no-confidence in him because of the level of staffing cuts as the prison was reclassified from a category B to category C institution.
Mr Johnson's appointment was made following the departure from the post last June of governor John Lawrence. Mr Johnson is expected to be confirmed as governor later this year.
l Reaction to report on page 3.