HMP Guys Marsh making slow but steady progress despite drugs, inspectors found in 2022

HMP Guys Marsh moved quickly to get prisoners back into work and education after the pandemic, inspectors found. Nearly 60% of the men were in work or education and spent at least nine hours a day out of their cells. HM Chief Inspector of Prisons Charlie Taylor said this was “much better than we normally see”.

The inspectorate’s report, published in October 2022, followed an inspection between 21 June and 8 July 2022. Guys Marsh is a category C training prison for adult men in rural Dorset. Built mainly in the 1960s, the campus-style jail held just under 460 men at the time.

Inspectors still found high levels of violence and a very significant drug problem. Charlie Taylor judged the prison to be making slow but steady progress.

The grades

The inspectorate judges prisons against four healthy prison tests. At Guys Marsh these covered safety, respect, purposeful activity, and rehabilitation and release planning. Purposeful activity covers education, work and time out of cell.

Inspectors rated safety and purposeful activity not sufficiently good, the same as at the previous inspection in 2019. Respect stayed reasonably good. Rehabilitation and release planning declined to not sufficiently good.

In 2019 inspectors made 36 recommendations, five of them on areas of key concern. This time they found that the prison had achieved two of those five and partially achieved two. It had not achieved the fifth.

Inspectors identified 14 key concerns at this inspection. They named three as priorities: violence, the supply of drugs and support for prisoners with a learning difficulty or disability.

At the time of the inspection nearly 60% of prisoners were in work or education and spent at least nine hours out of their cells, which is much better than we normally see.

Charlie Taylor, HM Chief Inspector of Prisons

Violence and drugs

Violence against staff and prisoners had fallen since 2019, but incidents remained more common than in most similar prisons. Staff did not investigate violent incidents thoroughly, and analysis of data was weak. Plans to manage perpetrators were not working well. Use of force had increased, though most incidents were low level.

Use of segregation had fallen since the last inspection, although the average length of stay had not. The segregation unit was clean, and relationships there between staff and prisoners were good.

Drugs were a critical issue. In the inspectorate’s survey, 45% of respondents said illicit drugs were easy to get, more than in similar prisons. Use of psychoactive substances had risen sharply in 2022. Much of the supply came over the prison’s long, rural perimeter in throwovers.

Managers were making concerted efforts to tackle the problem. A successful NHS funding bid supported work to reduce demand and to develop a recovery wing. The prison also cooperated well with the police. But stronger security against drugs had yet to deliver the results leaders wanted.

One prisoner had taken his own life since the last inspection. Self-harm had fallen slightly but stayed just above the average for similar prisons. Staff did not investigate all serious self-harm incidents. The quality of ACCT case management documents, used for prisoners at risk of suicide or self-harm, was often poor.

Work, relationships and release

The governor had a strong focus on getting men back into activity after the pandemic. Leaders drew up a plan in advance and launched it quickly when restrictions lifted. Some three-quarters of prisoners had a work allocation, with credible plans to raise that further.

Gaps remained. Ofsted judged education as requiring improvement. Attendance and punctuality at work and education were not good enough, and there were too few places in English and mathematics classes.

Relationships between staff and prisoners were a strength. In the survey, 84% of respondents said most staff treated them with respect, higher than in similar prisons. A recent refurbishment linked to fire safety work had left the ageing residential units in acceptable condition. The external environment, however, was neglected, and there were vermin on some wings.

Health care had weaknesses. Prisoners who needed a transfer under the Mental Health Act waited beyond the 28-day target, which delayed their treatment. There were no pharmacist clinics, and night medicines went out too early.

Offender management was well led, but a shortage of case administration staff undermined it. Prisoners had too little contact with their offender managers, and eligible men found it hard to move to category D prisons. After probation unification in mid-2021 the resettlement team had become virtually non-existent. Prison managers had worked hard to fill the gaps in release planning.

Since the inspection

Charlie Taylor said good leadership and supportive staff were “causes for optimism”. Inspectors have reported on Guys Marsh again since, with a full inspection report in April 2025 and an independent review of progress in December 2025.