Rob Davis - Running a High Security Prison & the challenges the service faces

Experience

• Prison Governor

  National Offenders Management Service (NOMS)

  September 2013 – Present (3 years 3 months)

  I am currently the Governing Governor at HMP Woodhill which is part of the High Security Estate. I am responsible for the management of over 700 staff in a 800 bed establishment. In my previous establishent we gained Gold status Investors in People, which I set to achieve at HMP Woodhill. I joined the Prison Service in March 1984 when I started as a Prison Officer and have risen through the ranks to become the Governing Governor.

• 

  Prison Governor

  HM Prison Service

  August 2007 – September 2013 (6 years 2 months)

  Whilst Governing Governor at HMP Chelmsford I was responsible for £14 million budget, with targets around reducing the risk of reoffending, public safety, security, with a mention a few. I oversaw a reduction of over five million pounds from the budget during my time in post.
  Numerous audits / inspections including Ofsted, Her Majesty's Chief Inspectors ( HMCIP), Health and Safety, Independant Monitoring Board (IMB), Standards and Security audits.

• Maintenance Engineer

  George Fischer Castings

  September 1975 – March 1984 (8 years 7 months)

  Qualified as a maintenance engineer, looking after the machinery in the casting of fittings for the gas board and car industry

Education

• Goldington Secondary

  1970 – 1975

Interests

• Cycling Gardening Liverpool FC Travelling

HMP Woodhill 'very demanding' to manage, IMB report says

The Independent Monitoring Board annual report said inmates at HMP Woodhill in Milton Keynes were having to spend more time locked in their cells.

It also found rehabilitation opportunities were limited.

Governor Rob Davis said it was a "true reflection" but the prison had "moved on since the report".

The report, which covers 12 months from June 2013, describes Woodhill as a "complex, diverse establishment, very demanding to manage".

Staff morale was low, while concerns about safety, control and discipline, which featured in the previous year's report, had not been dealt with satisfactorily.

There were shortages of staff at all grades with a high take-up of voluntary redundancy and a recruitment freeze imposed by the National Offender Management Service.

Other concerns included shortages of toiletries, toilet paper, towels and bed linen. Repairs to equipment took too long.

Rehabilitation was "minimal" with "few opportunities for purposeful activity, be it education or work".

'Dedicated' staff

Mr Davis said: "We understand the pressures as a prison service we are under but there are some good points in [the report]."

Complaints over concerns such as bullying had "reduced considerably" and there were "many dedicated, hard-working staff", he said.

Staff had come in from other prisons and inmates could now work for qualifications.

"I'm not in charge of a poor-performing prison, I'm in charge of a very good prison, with very professional people working here," he said.

"There is always room for improvement and Woodhill has got some ground to make [up] .... I am very confident we will make those changes.

"I am confident I have got the team here that can drive the place forward."

The IMB has submitted the report to the Justice Secretary.