Prison needs new kitchen to better cater for foreign inmates

THE kitchen at HMP Huntercombe in Nuffield is set to be replaced — at least three years after inspectors labelled it not fit for purpose.

The prison has housed only foreign nationals since 2012 and since then has seen a “significant” increase in dietary preferences, including Asian food and halal meat.

Now the Ministry of Justice has submitted an application to South Oxfordshire District Council, the planning authority, to replace the kitchen in a new building.

A design and access statement prepared by the Building Design Partnership, of Bristol, says the current facilities are “unsuitable” for food production.

It says: “Since the switch to a foreign national population there has been a significant increase in diversity, requiring consideration of differing dietary preferences.

“Segregation of cooking, preparation and storage of halal, non-halal, vegan and vegetarian is currently proving very difficult in the existing kitchen as well as the separation of 14 known allergens to comply with legislation.”

The company says the new purpose-built kitchen would allow the prison to offer “diverse and nutritional” meals for the multi-religious prison population.

It would also mean there was enough space for kitchen equipment in a layout which complied with health and safety regulations.

Prisoners would have the opportunity to work in the kitchen and receive training to NVQ level while being closely monitored by instructors and CCTV. To continue providing meals as normal, the existing kitchen would be maintained until the new one was in use.

The company has earmarked a patch of disused garden space, between the education centre and gym, for the new building, which would mean delivery lorries could use the prison’s central access.

The new building would be two storeys with the kitchen on one level and the mechanical and electrical machinery required to service it on the other.

The statement says it would be built with bricks and metal cladding, which would weather well and require minimal maintenance.

The environment protection team at the council has not objected to the application but is concerned that the company’s noise report did not assess the impact of the new extractions system for noise and odour.

Martin Morgan, an environmental health officer, said no development should take place before details of noise and odour control techniques had been approved by the council.

In October 2018, the prison’s independent monitoring board said that the kitchen was “cramped” and could not be equipped “to efficiently operate” while being expected to cater for 480 prisoners, about twice the number from when it was installed.

The report said the flooring was in a “parlous state” with seams and joists having split open in many places, creating a trip hazard.

There had also been issues with blocked drains throughout the year and there was no sluice in the kitchen to dispose of waste water.

A year later, the board again said the kitchen should be replaced and called on the prison governor to resolve plumbing and ventilation issues.

Last year, both the kitchen and gymnasiums were said to be in need of repair.

In April, the healthcare team at the prison was shortlisted for an award for its work supporting black, Asian and minority ethnic prisoners to be fitter.

They ran a weight management programme to help inmates improve their health and combat long-term conditions, such as type 2 diabetes, heart disease and high blood pressure.

The team was nominated in the health and wellbeing advocate section of the National BAME Healthcare Awards.

The district council is due to make a final decision by August 4.

The Ministry of Justice said the delay in replacing the kitchen was caused by a lack of funding.

Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Prisons last visited Huntercombe in December and found it to be well-led and to have made “very significant” progress in addressing weakness in risk management and release planning.

But it said prisoners had experienced bullying or victimisation by staff, which was reported by significantly more younger prisoners and those from a black minority ethnic background.