HMP Drake Hall keeps high grades, but inspectors warn two houses are beyond repair

HMP & YOI Drake Hall kept its high grades at its first full inspection since 2020. Inspectors rated the Staffordshire women’s prison good, their top grade, for safety, respect and preparation for release.

HM Inspectorate of Prisons published the report in October 2024, after fieldwork that ended in August 2024.

“The jail was safe, respectful and defined by its rehabilitative ethos,” wrote the Chief Inspector of Prisons, Charlie Taylor.

Yet inspectors also found that two of the prison’s houses, Plymouth and Richmond, were beyond structural repair. The Ministry of Justice had cancelled plans to demolish and replace them without making other arrangements.

Drake Hall, near Eccleshall, is a resettlement prison for adult and young adult women. It held 313 women against an operational capacity of 340.

How the prison was graded

Inspectors judge every prison against four healthy prison tests: safety, respect, purposeful activity and preparation for release. Purposeful activity covers education, work and time out of cell.

Drake Hall scored good for safety, respect and preparation for release. It scored reasonably good for purposeful activity, which inspectors said was still better than many similar prisons.

All four grades matched those from the 2020 inspection.

Inspectors identified six key concerns, three of them priorities. They also recorded seven examples of notable positive practice for other prisons to learn from.

The jail was safe, respectful and defined by its rehabilitative ethos.

Charlie Taylor, HM Chief Inspector of Prisons

A safe and supportive campus

The prison sits within a secure perimeter, but its layout resembles an open campus. Women live mainly in single-storey houses, and most have their own room.

Women were never locked in their rooms. Most had plenty of education and work. Every house had excellent laundry and self-catering facilities, which helped women look after themselves and build life skills.

Most women said they felt safe, and data backed this up. In the inspectorate’s survey, 78% said they felt safe on their first night.

Leaders had built an impressive range of support to help women cope. It included therapy dogs, a sensory room, an aviary and a specialist unit called the Hamlet for women with acute needs.

Provision for neurodivergent women was excellent. A neurodiversity passport helped staff understand each woman’s needs. A dedicated domestic abuse support officer also worked one to one with women and trained peer supporters.

The number of officers on duty stayed low, which limited one-to-one contact. The prison had 69 band three officers in total.

Concerns about buildings and restrictions

The poor state of Plymouth and Richmond houses formed the first priority concern. Both had been in poor condition for many years.

Inspectors also criticised needless limits on time outdoors. Women could leave their house only at set times, and then only to a small area outside it. Leaders could not fully explain why they had imposed these rules.

Too few women received release on temporary licence from the closed site or moved to an open prison. Temporary release lets prisoners spend time outside to work or prepare for life after prison. Its use had fallen sharply since 2020, and the open unit outside the fence was not full.

Use of segregation and strip searching was high. Staff turned to segregation before considering every other option. In many records, the reasons for strip searches lacked full evidence.

Medicines also posed risks. The gap between two daily rounds was too short, and supervision when staff issued medication was poor.

Women held far from home

Pressure on prison places had made the population more transient than before. The prison averaged 43 new arrivals and 40 releases each month.

Many women came from far away. At the time of the inspection, 85% were from outside the West Midlands. In the previous six months, 40% of women had received no social visits.

The prison worked hard to support family ties. Women also had a voice through a prison council, which an elected prisoner organised and chaired. Neurodivergent children visiting their loved ones could use a quiet room with sensory activities and ear defenders.

Mr Taylor praised stable leadership. The governor had been in post for almost 10 years and was about to leave. “Drake Hall was a competent and settled prison,” Mr Taylor wrote, adding that a successor would need to build on its achievements.

Staff survey results were positive. Some 73% of staff felt their well-being was supported, and 90% agreed with the prison’s priorities.

Drake Hall housed women munitions workers during the Second World War. It has held women prisoners since 1974 and became a closed prison in 2009.