HMP Chelmsford’s PE Dept has a reputation for delivering the best courses and training possible in the Prison Service. They have led the way in getting inmates qualified and into jobs in the fitness industry. However nothing stands still so Custodial Review visited to find out what changes had recently been made to their training programmes.

Custodial Review talks to PEO Steve Hallahan

CR           When I was last here 5 years ago we discussed the extensive courses you were running to enable inmates to gain employment in the health and fitness industry. What courses were you running then and why?

SH           We were running NVQ based courses up to level 2, and a few to level 3 for individuals who we thought more capable. We delivered additional courses that brought other qualifications however we preferred NVQ as it was then a nationally recognised system. We delivered them for eight years and they were very successful and because of this people were getting jobs on the outside. We were gaining 10 NVQ’s every 3 months and the partnership agreement we had with Fitness First meant that we could allow people out on temporary licence to work at their facilities in, Chelmsford and Southend. It was a very successful win-win situation.

CR           What courses are you delivering now?

SH           We now run many more short courses. Typically two to three weeks in duration. Examples are Football Association level one, FA coaching level 2 (Nine Weeks), RFU level one, which is touch rugby. We now have an agreement with an organisation called Active IQ to run Healthy Living courses across a wide range of activities. For instance we can run a Health Living level one accredited course in circuit training, badminton, football, volleyball, weight training etc. A real benefit of this newer system is that most sports activities can be quickly accredited under the Healthy Living banner.

CR           You had a successful NVQ system delivering courses that put people where they needed to be and fully utilised the equipment and staff you have here. So an obvious question is; why did you change?

SH           We haven’t changed entirely! We still can run NVQ courses and City and Guilds, however they are now usually only for staff or gym orderlies. The reason for the change was based on the shift in industry demands and needs. Companies like Fitness First are now employing people with level one and two Health Living accreditation that can be awarded after a course that we can deliver in two or three weeks.  NVQ’s take 3 months for what is the same level of accreditation. These shorter courses fit in perfectly with the average length of stay an inmate has here, which, because we are a Cat C local, is a maximum of 51 days. The short courses also count towards full NVQ’s should they be available to the inmate in the future.

Short duration courses are the future because they bring quicker qualification on a larger amount of subjects and to a larger group of people. It’s what the industry on the outside want and we must reflect that. On the outside an NVQ may take a year, we deliver it in 3 months. On the outside a level 2 Active Learning takes two months, in here we can deliver it in three weeks. It’s a case of value for money and return for the effort.

CR           Who controls the accreditation for these shorter modules, how long have you been running them, how are they run, what changes have been made and  what level of success have you had with them?

SH           Active IQ, they are the governing body who oversee the qualification. We have been delivering their courses for about 4 years and we have achieved the same levels of accreditation as before but with a lot more people achieving them. Because we are a Cat B local and the maximum stay is 51 days we have to design our courses to fit in with the regulations. I can, with specific permission, keep students here for longer, but it’s not as regular occurrence as it was when you last visited. At that time the Cat B rules had more flexibility built into them. However a positive development is that I can now make recommendations for the next establishment an inmate goes to.

 This makes a lot of difference, we may no longer be able to fully finish someone’s qualification, but we can almost ensure that someone with real ability gets to a place where they can see the course though. This is done via there sentence plan, we enter their achievements and intentions into the system and we notify their offender supervisor who can decide the best place for them to go by to taking our recommendations into account. So we may not be able to actually decide where they go, but we have significant influence. This is one area of policy that has really changed and improved.

CR           Can you keep anyone here, for instance the Gym Orderlies, who are on a 3 month NVQ course?

SH           The system isn’t entirely rigid, under special provisions we can keep people ‘on hold’ here for 3 months, sometimes more.

CR           What are the cost implications between putting someone through an NVQ and an Active IQ Course?

SH           The individual costs are about £30 for the Active course and £90 for the NVQ. However those are far less important than the actual training costs in terms of facilities and staff. NVQ’s require external verifiers (V1), or staff trained as a verifier’s (A1). We are fortunate here as we have two staff who are qualified as Internal verifiers. An establishment without such benefits would find NVQ’s far more expensive to run. On a purely ‘cost to join’ basis we are getting three students through the Active IQ course for every one we used to put through the NVQ. So we are putting 3 times more people through the shorter courses.

CR           Who inspects the students who have completed the new shorter courses? Who are the people who do the ‘Accreditation’ and where do they go to learn how to do it?

SH           The roles are spread through the staff here, one will teach the course, one will test/Assess it and another will check its done to a satisfactory standard. We all have obtained the ability to carry out accreditation at Chelmsford.  I obtained mine when I obtained City and Guilds a number of years ago. We do have an advantage as all of the staff in the dept are A1 assessors, two are internal verifiers, this allowed us to get the governing body accreditation so we can certificate Active IQ courses internally. It’s a big help. We actually have gained “certificate status” as we had for NVQ’s, which allows us to accredit our own courses, with the visit of an external verifier maybe once a year. The staff here are. PESO Les Allen (A1, Centre Manager), PEO Steve Hallahan (IV All Courses), PEO Dave Williams (A1, Active IQ Lead). PEO Jim McMahon (V1, IV All Courses), PEO Mick Carter ( A1,FA Lead) PEO Colin Borien (A1, Active IQ Assist). PEO Ricky McNeil (A1, Health Trainer/ Exercise on prescription), PEO Tony Gillespie (FA Assist). PEO Mark Nolan (A1, Racquet Sport Pro)

CR           If another Cat B local wanted to deliver these courses as you do what would they need to have in place and what would it cost?

SH           They would need A1 assessors and at least one internal verifier, it’s not an easy qualification to obtain and on the outside they can earn up to 30k a year. It took me 7 months to get it and an assessor takes 3 months. Any prison could run the course; however the expense would come when the assessing has to take place. At least until they had their own in house verifier.

CR           What is the inmate perception of these courses, do they see them as a sort of City and Guilds or NVQ ‘lite’?

SH           Not at all, they like the variety of courses and the speed at which they can be done. They like the ability to mix and match the smaller courses. It’s a maximum of a couple of weeks per module and then they can do something different. We get more inmates taking up more courses, with an increase in the number of people taking part who have poor educational attainment. With NVQ’s a student had to have level one in Education. These short courses enable students of all education attainment to take part.

CR           In an ideal world, where funding wasn’t an issue and you didn’t have a 51 day limit. Would you have changed from NVQ’s to the newer module style?

SH           Ideally we would have had an even mixture of the two. Preference would have been to lead with the NVQ as it’s a more complete course, however the industry on the outside want shorter, more varied qualifications so we reflect that requirement.

CR           Other prisons I have visited have external tie ups with football, cricket and rugby teams. They run academies within the prisons that help to encourage the willing and provide an incentive to the couch potato sports fan. What external influences and assistance from outside do you have here?

CR           What do Chelsea get from it and what is the effect on the inmates?

SH           Chelsea believes in giving something back to the community and we are part of that community. They also bring their trainee coaches in so that they can build up their training hours and help to get them selves qualified. The effect on the inmates has to be seen to be believed. The banter between supporters is as keen as you would expect, football has a huge following inside the walls too. And the ability to put people on the training day roster is a huge incentive for the PE department. If inmates don’t toe the line or are seen to be lacking in their other work we can stop them going to the training days. It’s a huge incentive.

CR           What other outside organisations have you managed to get involved?

SH           The local NHS PCT have put in the facility for inmates to do a level 2 health trainer course.  The courses teach prisoners health lifestyle choices and imparts a huge amount of information. The course is a two week one and imparts many of the skills that the inmate needs just to get by on the outside. The course also encourages the inmate to move on from a less sedentary lifestyle, we then try to pick up on those that get the message and want to do something about it. We have just finished the first course, ten people took part, eight passed and the other two are re sitting the test. And we have funding for it to last another two years.

CR           You get a large proportion of first time offenders here. They have been through probation and the court system and then …. POW! They are inside and, possibly for the first time, in the PE Dept they have someone who is very interested in their future and what they can achieve. What effect does this type of course and the Chelsea tie up have on them?

SH           When they arrive here there self esteem is usually non existent. They have nothing to be proud of and no achievement that means anything anymore. We endeavour to build a really good rapport with them and because of this we start to build some self esteem.  The opportunities we offer, and the chance to gain a recognised qualification in a short period of time, begins to sort out the deficiency. We have the ability to accredit achievement no matter what it is. We have a system called RARPA, which stands for Recognising and Recording Personal Achievement. I can award someone within that system for being able to work with me and achieve something concrete. It may be small, but to many of these people it’s a vital first step. We use it extensively with the obese lads, we work with healthcare and set a programme for them to live a healthy lifestyle. We can award them a RARPA certificate for that.

CR           What feedback do you get from the people who have been through the courses here and then moved on to other establishments?

SH           We get about three letters a month from people who have moved on, many of the letters are on the notice board outside. They show that the barrier between them and the officers was broken down enough for them to form role model status yet without loosing the professional relationship essential to maintain discipline. It gratifying to know we are making a difference to someone, possibly for the first time in their lives. It’s impossible to measure; however I believe it has a huge beneficial effect.

CR           None of theses achievements are made without equipment or staff, and that involves money. So what staffing levels do you have now and what changes in equipment have there been?

SH           We have eight PE officers and one Senior Officer, Les Allen, who has recently taken up the post here. We have 2 staff undergoing training and ready to take up a PE role when there is a vacancy.  When they decided to build a new house block- known a G wing- we put in a bid to extend the gym in order to accommodate the extra headcount.

CR           What did you get, who did the building and what did it cost?

SH           The gym space was doubled, we had the Astroturf pitch completely refurbished and the additional equipment inside the gym and around the exterior fitness track. Waites Construction were the main contractor and it all cost £1.5 million. We managed to acquire £15,000 from a grant and we spent that on the spinning cycle facility that occupies one end of the gym. This is an excellent fitness system and good for training too as spinning classes are very common in the industry, our inmates can quickly get a qualification on it. We bought them from X trail after the Dept Gov told us we had the funds. We also managed to afford some more running machines from Life Fitness, fixed weights form Physique and plenty of what would pass as consumables, footballs, badminton rackets and shuttlecocks etc. We buy them all locally as it’s cheaper than getting them off the contract. We get through a lot of footballs because of the razor wire. Sometimes 5 a day! It’s better for us to buy them for £2 in the local JBB than spend £7 via the contract. The quality isn’t as good, but they don’t last any longer when they are kicked into the wire!

CR           The Astroturf pitch, why did it have to be refurbished and what else was done outside at the same time?

SH           It was a 12 year old facility and it was worn out by extensive use. The technology had moved on as well and this on has more extensive underlay and tiny pieces of rubber within the weave. It prevents injury and the carpet burns that used to be commonplace with the older ones. The facility takes a huge amount of wear because it’s the only open area we have for sports. It cost £170.000 to lay it and that wasn’t including the footings and the supervision. But after 3 weeks it was done and it’s a superb facility that lets us run all the Chelsea and RFU coaching sessions in complete safety on a good surface.

CR           You have a fitness track around the Astroturf pitch with outdoor equipment spread around it. How did that come about?

SH           When we obtained the RFU tie up we obtained some extra funding that enabled us to buy the equipment. There were two bodies that were prepared to share the funding for it and so we did the research and the Airsport equipment was purchased and installed. The cost was about £15k and it enables inmates to work on their fitness in the fresh air. It’s a well used and popular facility.

CR           What developments are due in the next year or so?

Les Allen, the PE SO now joined the conversation.

LA           We have secured funding for changing the upstairs area that used to be the weights room. We lack a classroom and treatment room where we can teach and also treat sports injuries. After a short conversation we decided that dividing the space into a large classroom and a smaller treatment was the best option. We secured £15k of funding from (M & G) charities agency. And that will purchase the materials to do the job. The rest will be provided by our Works dept. The kit we will be purchasing will include laptops and a smart white board. The intention is to give the trainees the same equipment they will use on the outside. So helping them move into jobs or further training.

CH          How do you go about buying one off items using grant money?

LA           The money is held by the Finance dept in a ring fenced account. When we decide what is needed the equipment is bought from that fund. It should provide a superb facility.

CR           What changes to the training courses are you planning?

SH           We wish to introduce changes that enable us to keep up with technology. That’s where the industry is going. It’s all now based on or around computers. Prisoners need to know how to use them or they will be seriously disadvantaged in the jobs market. We also wish to set up an academy working with Chelsea that will have a mentoring scheme that they will run with us. It’s still in the discussions stage however if it does come to fruition it will make a huge difference. We already are besieged by applicants for the Chelsea training course. An apprenticeship scheme would be a huge measure more!  It will be run in conjunction with Chelmsford College, our Education provider, and funding will come from Chelsea to the tune of £50k. This could lead to inmates being paid to do their football apprenticeship whilst in prison, then complete it whilst released on licence. That would be a huge coup for the inmate and for us.

Thank you both for talking to the Review.