SERIOUS concerns remain about Dartmoor Prison which has been given another poor inspection report by the Chief Inspector of Prisons, writes Alison Stephenson.

Warnings after the last inspection in 2008 had not been heeded, said Dame Anne Owers who concluded that the new management team would need greater support at area and national level if Dartmoor was to become an effective and decent training prison.

Dame Owers said inappropriate language and behaviour had not been effectively challenged and the weakness identified had not been tackled.

But inspectors were pleased to see that the segregation unit at the Category C prison was well run and well regulated and prisoners in the resettlement unit had access to some excellent reintegration and employment support. The culture and focus of that unit was a credit to staff and a contrast to the rest of the prison, they said.

Dartmoor was the subject of an extremely critical inspection report in 2002 which highlighted a pervasive, negative culture in a prison that was adrift from the principles and practices of a modern prison.

Attempts were made to move the prison forward, but a 2008 inspection cast doubt on whether initial progress had been embedded, noting that the prison had slipped back considerably and needed more vigorous management. This latest inspection confirmed that view.

The report said that although a new senior management team was attempting to reverse this drift, there had been insufficient challenge either to unacceptable attitudes or to limited engagement by residential staff.

Inspectors were concerned to find that more than third of prisoners said they felt unsafe and even more on vulnerable prisoner wings. Very limited staff supervision on the wings gave little confidence that violent incidents were reported, monitored or prevented.

There were reports of inappropriate staff attitudes with repeated and consistent accounts from prisoners about homophobic language, little consideration of the needs of foreign nationals, even though it was a foreign national prison, and activity provision was underused. There was also no clarity about Dartmoor's role in relation to the large number of sex offenders held there.

Governor of Dartmoor Prison Tony Corcoran said this was clearly a disappointing report, but Dartmoor Prison was a safe place to live and work and as governor he was determined to ensure that it received the positive recognition it deserved.

'In the last 24 months the use of force on prisoners has reduced from 112 to 89, our mandatory drug testing rate for positive drug taking was well below target, and the number of acts of self harm demonstrate a reduction during the last reporting period, a quarter of which were prisoners who self- harmed more than once,' he said.

'The resettlement unit has won the praise from the inspectors for the work it does. Our PE provision for prisoners has increased, for instance, we are one of the few establishments that cater for service veterans and we have a dedicated team working for older prisoners which we didn't have 18 months ago.

'In addition to this, the small minority of staff who have failed to abide by the strict codes of professionalism I demand, have been dealt with through the disciplinary process.

Mr Cororan continued: 'Be that as it may, what I cannot ignore is that the perception of a sizeable number of those prisoners in my care that have stated that they feel unsafe. I am determined to address that perception.

'Progress has already begun on many of the recommendations and indeed Dartmoor Prison is meeting an increased number of its key performance targets. I have increased the training provision for staff which includes diversity and foreign national prisoner awareness and recruited more managers for the key areas that require development.'

He said he was grateful to the inspection team in that it recognised that progress was being made, notwithstanding the fact that, 'we have commenced from an even lower base than that recorded in 2008'.