INSPECTORS have voiced concerns about the rise of violence in a young offenders’ institution, but said it was lower than in similar jails.

Deerbolt, near Barnard Castle, was found by inspectors to be ‘reasonably good’ in terms of safety and respectful treatment for the 400 young men held there.

Chief Inspector of Prisons Peter Clarke said this was a “creditable performance overall” when set against the broader context of prison performance across the country in recent times. Safety and respect had also been assessed as reasonably good in the previous inspection in 2014.

Mr Clarke said the jail needed to pay more attention to the “governance of use of force by staff”.

A total of 16 per cent of prisoners reported that they had acquired a drug habit in Deerbolt and this, Mr Clarke said, underlined the importance for the jail of understanding and addressing the issue of drugs.

The assessment of purposeful activity had declined from reasonably good in 2014 to not sufficiently good in April 2018.

It was disappointing, Mr Clarke said, to find that some 35 per cent of men were locked in their cells during the working day, “which was simply not good enough for a training prison.”

“In addition to this, some 33 per cent told us that they were out of their cells for less than two hours per day which, given the age of the population, was unsatisfactory.”

Work to prepare prisoners for release had also declined to ‘not sufficiently good.’

Overall, however, Mr Clarke said: “There was much that was very positive about HMYOI Deerbolt.

“The issues that have been identified where some improvement is needed, particularly in those areas where there has been a decline since the last inspection, are actually amenable to management intervention. Much can be done within the establishment, but some matters will require support from regional or national management, and I hope very much that this will be forthcoming.”

Michael Spurr, chief executive of the Prison & Probation Service, said: “As the chief inspector makes clear, there is much that is positive about the work being done with young men at Deerbolt.

“Safety and respect have been prioritised as they are fundamental building blocks for successful rehabilitation but we accept more needs to be done to improve activity levels and release planning.”

“Prisons across the estate will benefit from the £30m investment we are making to improve safety and maintenance, which will include more and better tools to tackle the spread of drugs.

"Work is already in hand to respond to the recommendations in this report and the Governor will receive support to improve the performance of the prison over the next 12 months.”