10.01 A busy routine is an important element of a model regime for a women's prison, whether a local prison or a training prison, providing that the activities meet the needs of the women prisoners. The needs of the very few women serving very long sentences are best met by allowing them to choose their own pace of life, providing it fits in with the necessary routines of the prison.

10.02 The majority of sentenced women should be required to work as full a day as possible, and there must by suitable work activities available. These should comprise a mix of daytime education classes, particularly but not exclusively, for women who require help with basic skills; vocational training; and production activities which offer the opportunity of working for enhanced wages.

Education

10.03 Many women prisoners have very low self-esteem and their past experiences of school and the education system are generally negative. Ironically, custody can provide an opportunity for them to gain confidence and recognise that they are not failures. We have found during this review, almost without exception, that teaching staff in women's prisons recognise this as the primary value of prison education and try very hard to provide an individual service to women prisoners.

10.04 All the establishments in the female estate have space for education, although the adequacy of the buildings varies greatly. As in education generally, however, it is the quality of teaching rather than bricks and mortar which are more important and we have seen outstanding examples of prison education.

10.05 Education for unconvicted women should concentrate on encouraging them towards programmes they can achieve whilst in prison, by assessment of their individual needs and some early course provision designed around short modules, particularly those focused on improving basic skills and open learning with tutorial support. There is also scope for classes in practical subjects to tackle the concerns that so many have when they first come into prison; for example how their benefit claims are likely to be affected. Early time in custody is also an opportunity for women to learn about health matters, including children's health.

10.06 Given the poor levels of literacy and numeracy among many women prisoners, basic skills provision is, and needs to be, a feature of the education programmes of training prisons. But these establishments should also concentrate on vocational training to provide prisoners with skills to improve their job prospects. We welcome the growth of business administration and office skills courses, although there should be greater co-ordination between training prisons as far as the content of courses is concerned. Sensibly, almost every establishment has some form of hairdressing course or class which, as well as providing a formal syllabus, enables women to improve their appearance and the way they feel about themselves. Not all training prisons have catering classes or courses, although we have seen examples of outstanding work in those which do have them. There is scope for more Construction Industry or Vocational Training courses offering training in manual skills such as painting and decorating and industrial cleaning.

10.07 The main criticism of education in women's establishments is the absence of an overall assessment of the educational and vocational needs of the prisoner population and a policy to identify the role education services are expected to play in women's prisons. The budgets for education in women's prisons should be based on assessment of needs and priorities. There is little co-ordination and co-operation on educational matters among prisons for women and this is another task which should be undertaken by a Director of women's prisons.

10.08 One of the priorities which senior Prison Service managers should recognise is the need to encourage attendance at local educational colleges by women in open prisons, and those prisoners who are not a risk to the public nor would be likely to abscond. Certainly, the Governors and staff of these establishments recognise the value of college courses to some women.

10.09 A major disappointment amongst those conducting the review has been to learn of the reduction in evening education, largely, we are told, as a response to demands on Governors to reduce budgets. We did not find a single educational activity taking place at weekends. Evenings and weekends are opportunities to engage women in activities which can help them to develop as individuals and thereby reduce reoffending. We regret that too little use is made of the talents of other prisoners in this respect although several prisons produce magazines which are produced by prisoners with staff support. There is also greater scope for encouraging volunteers who have particular skills to teach these to women prisoners. With a few exceptions there is insufficient art, drama and yoga, all of which can be instrumental in relieving tension and helping women gain confidence.

10.10 Invariably, informal relationships between education and discipline staff in establishments are friendly but, in most prisons, there are only comparatively rare examples of wing staff demonstrating interest and support for the education courses being taken by individual women. But this is what sentence planning should be about: all staff should work together to encourage women to set and achieve educational targets. It should not be left to the specialists.

10.11 For many women prisoners going to education is perceived much more as a social activity than for male prisoners. For severely disordered women it can be the first chance to gain a sense of achievement. For immature women and poor achievers prison education can be a chance to start again. For the able it can be a chance to gain examination results and awards. We have seen outstanding examples of all these of which the Prison Service can be proud but more could and should be done with better analysis and planning.

Location - outside Rochester. The prison is easily accessible by public and private transport and visiting facilities are adequate. There is no Visitors' Centre.

Prison Service Area - Kent.

Approximate number of women held - 160.

Total number of staff - 79.

Number of staff with direct contact with prisoners - 66.

Number of female staff with direct contact - 47.

Functions

Cookham Wood is a training prison for adult sentenced women; the population includes many foreign nationals.

Issues arising from Inspectorate visits

The buildings were designed as a remand centre for young male prisoners. Accommodation is basic but adequate. There are good facilities for employment, education and physical recreation but at the time of the review women prisoners, some of whom were serving long sentences, had evening association only on alternate evenings. The senior management team is endeavouring to, match the regime to the needs of the women through sentence planning and groupwork. The idea of combining some functions with Rochester prison which we understood was being considered by the Prison Service, may have cost saving attractions but would not assist in meeting the needs of women prisoners