A number of other major issues were highlighted in the latest inspection report
Overcrowding, lost property, a lack of job opportunities, and homelessness upon release remain major problems at HMP Humber. The Category C prison in Everthorpe has made improvements over the past 12 months, but struggles with “churn pressure” from a high number of inmates near the end of their sentences, a report found.
The prison was visited by inspectors from the Independent Monitoring Board, which released the annual report in August. It highlighted many prisoners continue to make lost property claims.
“Compensation paid out for missing or lost property in 2024 was approximately £2,616,” it said. This was described as a “significant increase” of around £400 compared to the previous year.
The board said lost property was “continually raised in our annual reports, year on year”. The problem has worsened since 2022 when HMP Humber was designated a resettlement prison.
“Levels of property loss between prisons still continue to be unacceptable,” the report said. “It causes stress to the individuals affected and also significant additional work for the prison staff, together with unnecessary costs to the taxpayer in compensation payments.”
The report said the issue was “greatly exacerbated by the ‘churn’ of prisoners” being relocated to different sections of the sprawling site. Inspectors indicated many losses occurred during transport.
While self-harm and violence between men had increased, the report found HMP Humber has “generally continued to be a safe place for prisoners”. As a result of a “serious assault on a member of staff”, all razor blades were replaced with electric razors from January this year.
Inspectors were “seriously concerned that 256 prisoners were sharing cells”, some of which were designated for single occupancy. Due to increased population pressures, two new secure house blocks are under construction with an anticipated completion date of later this year.
The “churn” caused by a high level of “short time to release” prisoners continued to put pressure on all functions within the prison, the report stated. This greatly impacted HMP Humber’s “ability to offer prisoners the structure, regime and support required for their care and subsequent transition back into the community”.
It said managing additional short-term residents, who often “demonstrate very challenging behaviour”, has had a “knock-on effect” for other prisoners and staff. For example, there has been a change of regime at short notice, “although the frequency of these disruptions reduced markedly during the reporting year.”
Another problem reported was “too many prisoners can be released with either no fixed abode or with unsustainable accommodation”. Overall statutory responsibility for housing and homelessness lies with Local Authorities.
Prisoners at risk of becoming homeless can be offered up to 12 weeks of basic accommodation on release by HM Prison and Probation Service, with support to move to settled accommodation. Homelessness Prevention Teams play a significant role in developing and leading the regional probation response to reducing homelessness.
A Ministry of Justice spokesperson said: “This Government inherited an overcrowded prison system days away from collapse. We are fixing this crisis – delivering the fastest prison building plan in over a century, investing up to £7bn and adding 14,000 new prison places. On top of this, we are reforming sentencing to make sure we never run out of prison places again.”
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