HM Chief Inspector of Prisons Charlie Taylor invoked the urgent notification process at HMP Exeter in November 2022. He told the Justice Secretary that the prison remained unsafe, four years after inspectors first raised the alarm.
Mr Taylor set out his concerns in a letter dated 18 November 2022 to Dominic Raab, then Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice. The letter followed an unannounced inspection of the men’s reception prison, which ended on 11 November.
Exeter had already faced an urgent notification after its 2018 inspection. Mr Taylor wrote that “this is the first time we have needed to repeat the protocol in consecutive inspections of an adult male prison”.
What an urgent notification means
An urgent notification is a formal letter in which the Chief Inspector of Prisons tells the Justice Secretary about urgent and significant concerns at a prison. The Justice Secretary must then respond publicly within 28 days. That response sets out how the government will address the concerns.
The process rests on a protocol agreed between the Chief Inspector of Prisons and the Ministry of Justice in October 2019. Under that protocol, the letter goes into the public domain.
Mr Taylor said he was disappointed to report that the prison was still not safe. He listed seven reasons. He also attached a summary that set out the main findings in more detail. Our archive does not hold that summary, so this story draws on the letter alone.
The prison needs a period of leadership stability, with adequate staffing, much better performance from partners such as healthcare and education, improvements to the physical environment and a relentless focus on making sure that the many vulnerable prisoners at the jail are kept safe.
Charlie Taylor, HM Chief Inspector of Prisons
Deaths, self-harm and the first days in custody
The first reason concerned deaths in custody. Ten prisoners had taken their own lives at Exeter in the previous four years. Inspectors had already voiced grave concerns in 2018, when six suicides had preceded that inspection. In 2016 they had raised concerns after 10 suicides.
The second reason concerned new arrivals. The letter described the arrangements for inducting and monitoring prisoners in their first few weeks as inadequate. This is often when men face the greatest risk. Staff did not carry out regular checks. Supervision by healthcare staff of prisoners who misused substances was poor.
Mr Taylor also pointed to self-harm. Exeter had the highest rate of any reception prison in England and Wales. Over the previous year the rate had run 44% higher than in the year before the 2018 inspection. On that measure, the prison had gone backwards since inspectors last visited.
Mental health care fell short too. In the inspectorate’s survey, 77% of prisoners said they had a mental health problem. Some arrived at Exeter after secure hospitals had returned them to prison. Yet the prison had too few mental health staff to offer adequate support.
Vulnerable men and long hours behind doors
Vulnerable prisoners usually spent their first days housed alongside the main population. As a result, they spent long periods locked in their cells. Other prisoners often shouted abuse at them through their doors.
Most prisoners spent 21.5 hours a day behind their doors, often in cramped cells. Mr Taylor noted that the prison had enough places for every man to do at least part-time work, education or training. Purposeful activity, which covers education, work and time out of cell, therefore lagged well behind what the prison could offer.
Leadership was the final strand. Exeter had had eight deputy governors and eight heads of safety since the previous inspection. Without stable, permanent staff in these and other key posts, the prison had failed to maintain basic standards. Mr Taylor tied that failure directly to the constant turnover in these senior roles.
Criticism of national support
Mr Taylor criticised the prison service as well as the prison. He wrote that support for Exeter had not been good enough since 2018. Nor had the prison shown the sustained improvement that inspectors expect after an urgent notification.
He set out what Exeter needed. It required a period of stable leadership and adequate staffing. Partners such as healthcare and education had to perform much better. The physical environment needed improving. Above all, he called for “a relentless focus on making sure that the many vulnerable prisoners at the jail are kept safe”.
Inspectors have reported on the prison again since. The full report of the inspection behind this letter was published in February 2023. An independent review of progress followed in January 2024, and a further full inspection in March 2026.
About this story
This story is based on the Urgent Notification on HMP Exeter that HM Inspectorate of Prisons published on 18 November 2022. It covers an earlier report: the prison’s profile has the latest findings. All figures and judgements are the inspectorate’s. Read the Urgent Notification · See the prison’s profile in our directory.
