PORTLAND prison has been hit by a widespread 'plague' of legal highs which has led to a criminal network and inmates' families targeted on the outside, a damning report has revealed.

The presence of these legal highs has led to 'trading, debt bullying of more vulnerable prisoners and their families [...] gang activity, violence and unpredictable behaviour.'

Vulnerable prisoners are also being used by dealers as 'guinea pigs' to check how dangerous a batch of legal high, known as Spice, is before it is sold.

The report says: 'It is totally unacceptable that this should happen and while we understand how difficult it is for staff to manage this plague, we urge the prison service to give it very serious resources.'

Portland has a 'very high' number of high risk prisoners and Spice, a synthetic cannabis substitute, has caused safety concerns because it can 'incline prisoners to be aggressive, uncontrolled, peculiarly strong and difficult to subdue.'

It has also let to more emergency service call-outs and hospital admissions.

It has 'increased the level of indebtedness incurred by some prisoners to a level which impacts on their future lives and the safety of their families. Because under law these substances are described as legal highs the police service is unwilling or unable to assist in prosecuting for the trafficking of them.'

Governor James Lucas said staff are doing 'absolutely everything we can to tackle this new and challenging issue.'

The prison has gone from being a young offender institution to now also taking adult offenders. And with the adult prisoners has come the drugs network, Mr Lucas said.

"We have seen a reduction in violence which is great. The adults have calmed the atmosphere down.

"However, drug culture has come in with the adult offenders. We are doing everything we can to challenge it and take a robust approach."

Legal highs are one of a number of issues flagged up in the Independent Monitoring Board (IMB) assessment.

Other problems include: *Lack of education and activities

*Poor conditions for staff

*High level of inmates with mental health problems

* 'Unsafe and unhygienic' conditions of the healthcare building

* The 'dangerous restriction' imposed by a lack of surveillance

Up to half of the prisoners are 'regularly confined to the wings due to lack of consistent provision of education and activities and a reduced number of staff.'

The IMB says that the government's Rehabilitation programme can't occur at Portland without improvements and that education provision suffers from a number of long-term weaknesses.'

The good library is underused because there are not enough staff to escort prisoners there and there is no education on a Friday which is 'regrettable' because the rest of the provision is 'so patchy.'

The problem of cancelled classes is 'endemic and needs to be addressed.' And wing staff are under 'great pressure' due to the lack of activities.

The number of self-harmers is 'worryingly high' and the board is 'very concerned' with the time taken for prisoners with mental health problems to be transferred to NHS mental health facilities.

One on occasion last year there were two sectioned individuals effectively awaiting places elsewhere.

'This is inappropriate and dangerous for the individuals who cannot get the treatment they need. It is also wrong that staff who are not trained in extreme mental health issues should be responsible for these individuals.'

Working conditions for staff in healthcare is 'poor'; the officers are run down and the lighting is bad.

Inspectors also found that staff who have not received specific training have been working in the Segregation, Care and Separation Unit.

There is also a 'long-term concern over the state of CCTV coverage across the prison. Cameras are obsolete, failing and wrongly located for the job they now have to do, leaving certain areas of the perimeter and free flow areas without surveillance.'

One prisoner suffered a broken jaw in an assault in a holding cell but there was no CCTV to record it, despite the issue being flagged up in a report last year.

Cabling which has been gnawed away by rats is also having to be replaced at 'great cost.'

However, Mr Lucas revealed that the prison has been awarded a significant capital investment for enhancement and upgrade, meaning increased surveillance.

He said a number of actions have already been taken since inspectors finished their report to address the issues raised.

"We hope that next year we can talk about the positive impact these changes have made," he added.

"Our last report wasn't very good, this one is considerably better and we hope next year will be even better.

"Improvements are down to my exceptionally hard working staff and I am really proud of them."

PRISONER Officers Association area representative Mark Fairhurst said the entire prison estate is saturated with legal highs. 
"The major problem is that the prison service has been cut to the bone by the government," he said.
"We need to lock down the entire jail and search inmates for these substances to make sure there are none.
"Unfortunately, we do not have the capacity to do this. 
"We are very concerned about the effect these legal highs are having on the safety of our members and the inmates.
"If a prisoner has to be taken to hospital, that takes two members of staff and when you have got no staff to spare, that disrupts the routine of the prison."
He said that the prison service is in talks with the government about making legal highs illegal in prisons. He also said dogs are being trained to be able to detect the substances.
"Legal highs are a major issue, not just at Portland but in the whole prison service. We are very concerned about the safety of and the pressure put on our members," he added.
The use of so-called legal highs was a factor in at least 19 prisoner deaths between 2012 and 2014, the Prisons and Probations Ombudsman said. 
Spice is a man-made substance which mimics the effects of cannabis. In prisons nationwide, some inmates have been given ‘spiked’ cigarettes by others wanting to test out the potency of their newest batch. 
New psychoactive substances (NPS) are sold in a variety of forms including powder, pills, liquids, capsules and smoking mixtures. They can be smoked, snorted or swallowed. Because they cannot be labelled as being for human consumption, they are often marketed as plant food, bath salts or incense. They are not currently covered by the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 because drugs are classified as illegal by their chemical compounds. The composition of legal highs is often slightly altered so that the ban is avoided. The UK has the highest number of young users in Europe.

THE report identifies some positive areas of working and improvements and says Portland is the safest YOI in the country. 
It adds: 'We consider that, despite some important concerns enumerated in this report, the prison management has achieved a positive period of consolidation and as a local and resettlement prison, whose population and staffing levels have changed dramatically over the reporting period.'
* Reception staff, staff on the Collingwood Wing and the Safer Custody unit have all been commended
*There is an improvement of access to fresh air and exercise
* Complaints about property loss have gone from rising at a high rate to a steep decline
* Complaints about discrimination or prejudice have been well handled
HMP and YOI Portland is for Category C adult prisoners and a national resource for young offenders (aged between 18 and 21). It has a designated role as a resettlement prison. 
The operational capacity is a maximum of 530. However, during the reporting period there were 580 inmates.