Serious concerns about staff shortages, the use of force, and the lack of opportunities for rehabilitation must be tackled at High Down, according to a newly-published report by the Chief Inspector of Prisons.

The Banstead jail was inspected by Nick Hardwick, a former Epsom College student who grew up in Banstead, between January 12 to 23 this year.

This newspaper has reported extensively on conditions inside the category B prison for men since friends and relatives of inmates contacted the newspaper to raise their concerns at the beginning of last year.

From February: Exclusive - "We need to have a frank debate about the cost of rising prison population", says chief prison inspector Nick Hardwick

From March: Savage staffing cuts have made "genuinely fair and decent" regime at High Down prison difficult to deliver, report finds

Although Mr Hardwick found "credible plans for improvement were being implemented" at the jail, he said many problems still needed addressing.

Summarising his findings in the report, he said: "There remained a number of areas of serious concern at High Down.

"The prison management was aware of most of these, and despite serious staff shortages, credible plans for improvement were being implemented.

"We saw impressive work by some individual staff.

"However, there was still a big job to do.

"It is essential now that vacancies are filled, more activity places are provided and managers ensure greater consistency in the quality of work done across all areas of the prison."

While inmates employed at the prison had about nine hours out of their cells on weekdays, Mr Hardwick found the unemployed were locked in their cells for 22 hours a day.

Only 65 per cent of available places for employment were being used - meaning 200 were going wasted.

Although Mr Hardwick said the prison’s Clink restaurant, call centre and recycling unit provided opportunities for some prisoners to receive vocational training, he noted in general: "The quality of teaching was inconsistent, the planning of activities was poor, prisoners’ achievements in essential English and mathematics were too low and the shortage of places was a fundamental weakness."

Staff shortages "severely restricted" access to physical education.

And the lack of a "carer scheme" for disabled or older prisoners meant inmates had to rely on each other in some cases.

The report said: "We found one prisoner who was relying on another to wash him and prisoners had carried a disabled prisoner down stairs when a lift was out of order so he could attend education."

Surrey Comet:

Chief Inspector of Prisons Nick Hardwick inspected High Down prison in January

Mr Hardwick found few prisoners were released without somewhere to live or without effective help with finance and debt issues, but support to help inmates into work, training or education needed to be improved.

Health services were deemed good, but staff shortages resulted in too many appointments being cancelled.

Significantly, Mr Hardwick found "management and oversight" of the use of force by prison officers was inadequate and not always proportionate and necessary.

The report said: "Record keeping was poor and some incidents were not recorded.

"Neither we nor the prison could be assured that we understood the overall levels of use of force or that it was always proportionate and necessary."

Last August: Pensioner spills the beans about life behind bars in High Down prison

Michael Spurr, chief executive officer of the National Offender Management Service (NOMS), said he recognised there was "more to do" at High Down.

He said: "As the Chief Inspector has seen, staff at High Down are working hard to keep prisoners safe and support their rehabilitation, including through some innovative and effective training schemes.

"While good progress has been made over the last two years, we recognise there is more to do.

"15 new prison officers have joined High Down since the inspection and we will ensure the prison has the right resources and support to drive further improvement over the next 12 months."

This week, the Ministry of Justice admitted that figures for prison overcrowding had been underestimated for the past six years in England and Wales.

Annual reports from NOMS did not record that two prisoners, not one, were living in cells designed for one person.

Prisons minister Andrew Selous said in a written ministerial statement that the figures had been recording incorrectly since 2008-9.

He said: "The public should rightly expect this information to be accurate.

"Publication of clear, reliable figures on how many prisoners we hold in crowded conditions is an important part of making sure we can be held to account."

In an exclusive interview with this newspaper in February, Mr Hardwick said society needed to have a frank debate about whether it wants to continue putting more and more people behind bars, and the impact of doing this - without providing extra money, staff and facilities - on rehabilitation.

To read the full report click here.