Whatton (HM Prison)
Encyclopedia
HM Prison Whatton is a Category C
men's prison
, located in the village of Whatton
in Nottinghamshire
, England
. The prison is operated by Her Majesty's Prison Service
.
In November 2006, it was revealed that £5000 of Whatton Prison's yearly budget was being used for cash prizes for inmates playing bingo. The cash was used to fund a year of winnings of up to £3 for inmates. However the Prison Officers Association
said the money should have been spent on education programmes for the prison instead.
A large expansion of Whatton was completed in 2008, increasing the capacity of the prison by 500 places.
The regime at the prison includes education
, vocational training, industrial workshops and manufacturing, as well as the prisons farms and gardens. There are also a range of offending behaviour programmes including a sex offender treatment programme. The prison also runs a Listener Scheme for those prisoners who are considered to be at risk of suicide
or self harm.
Prison security categories in the United Kingdom
There are four prisoner security categories in the United Kingdom used to classify every adult prisoner for the purposes of assigning them to a prison. The categories are based upon the severity of the crime and the risk posed should the person escape....
men's prison
Prison
A prison is a place in which people are physically confined and, usually, deprived of a range of personal freedoms. Imprisonment or incarceration is a legal penalty that may be imposed by the state for the commission of a crime...
, located in the village of Whatton
Whatton
Whatton is a village in the English county of Nottinghamshire.Whatton lies in the Vale of Belvoir on the south bank of the River Smite just to the north of the major A52 road twelve miles east of Nottingham. According to the 2001 census it had a population of 781...
in Nottinghamshire
Nottinghamshire
Nottinghamshire is a county in the East Midlands of England, bordering South Yorkshire to the north-west, Lincolnshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south, and Derbyshire to the west...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. The prison is operated by Her Majesty's Prison Service
Her Majesty's Prison Service
Her Majesty's Prison Service is a part of the National Offender Management Service of the Government of the United Kingdom tasked with managing most of the prisons within England and Wales...
.
History
HMP Whatton opened its doors in 1966 and was used as a Detention Centre. The site was then used as a Young Offenders Institution in 1988, until it changed role in 1990 to a Category C Adult Male Training Prison for vulnerable prisoners (mainly sex offenders).In November 2006, it was revealed that £5000 of Whatton Prison's yearly budget was being used for cash prizes for inmates playing bingo. The cash was used to fund a year of winnings of up to £3 for inmates. However the Prison Officers Association
Prison Officers Association
The POA: The Professional Trades Union for Prison, Correctional and Secure Psychiatric Workers is a trade union in the United Kingdom "for prison, correctional and secure psychiatric workers." It currently has a membership of 33,500...
said the money should have been spent on education programmes for the prison instead.
A large expansion of Whatton was completed in 2008, increasing the capacity of the prison by 500 places.
The prison today
Whatton is a Category C prison for adult male sex offenders who participate in the Sex Offenders Treatment Programme. Accommodation at the prison is divided between 3 main wings A, B and C, with mainly single-occupancy cells.The regime at the prison includes education
Education
Education in its broadest, general sense is the means through which the aims and habits of a group of people lives on from one generation to the next. Generally, it occurs through any experience that has a formative effect on the way one thinks, feels, or acts...
, vocational training, industrial workshops and manufacturing, as well as the prisons farms and gardens. There are also a range of offending behaviour programmes including a sex offender treatment programme. The prison also runs a Listener Scheme for those prisoners who are considered to be at risk of suicide
Suicide
Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Suicide is often committed out of despair or attributed to some underlying mental disorder, such as depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, alcoholism, or drug abuse...
or self harm.