Woodhill: Almost three years in special measures, and still in crisis

The Howard League for Penal Reform has responded to HM Inspectorate of Prisons’ report on Woodhill prison, published today (Tuesday 9 June).

Inspectors visited the prison, in Buckinghamshire, in March and found high levels of violence, self-harm and drug use.

Conditions were so bad that inspectors invoked an urgent notification, giving the Secretary of State for Justice 28 days to respond with an action plan for improvement. This is Woodhill’s second urgent notification in three years, the first having been issued in September 2023.

At this visit, inspectors found some of the highest rates of violence in the category B estate. The rate of serious assaults on staff was the highest among similar, high-security prisons, and around a third of all incidents involved the use of weapons.

Drugs were found to be readily available, and drug testing rates were among the highest in the adult male estate, with 41% of prisoners testing positive. There had also been three drug-related deaths in the last two years.

Conditions at the prisons were found to be dilapidated and grubby, and time out of cell and purposeful activity were very limited while self-harm was among the highest in the estate.

Inspectors also found staff shortages across the prison, with unmanageable caseloads for some staff leading to limited support and people deemed high-risk leaving the prison with no resettlement plans in place.

Andrea Coomber KC (Hon.), Chief Executive of the Howard League for Penal Reform, said: “The highest rates of violence. The highest rates of serious assaults on staff. The highest positive drug-testing rates. The highest rates of self-harm. Awful staff shortages. The words are a damning indictment, but one only has to look at the disgusting photographs in this report to see that Woodhill is a prison in crisis.

“Not only is Woodhill part of the long-term secure estate, free from the overcrowding seen across the rest of the prison system; it has also been given the special measures and resources that came with its first urgent notification. But, almost three years later, people are still not receiving the support they need to turn their lives around and move on from crime.

“Woodhill’s failure to improve reflects the chronic problems we see across a prison system that has been asked to do too much, with too little, for too long. Why are politicians spending billions on new prisons when they cannot fix the problems in the dire jails we already have?”

Notes to editors

1. The Howard League for Penal Reform is the oldest penal reform charity in the world. It is a national charity working for less crime, safer communities and fewer people in prison.
2. The inspection report for Woodhill prison will be available on the HM Inspectorate of Prisons website at: https://hmiprisons.justiceinspectorates.gov.uk/our-reports/

Contact

Noor Khan
Press and Public Affairs Officer
Tel: +44 (0)20 7241 7873
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