HMP Isle of Wight had lost its way on reducing reoffending, inspectors found in 2023

HMP Isle of Wight had lost sight of its core mission of reducing reoffending. HM Inspectorate of Prisons made that finding in a report published in January 2023.

Inspectors found a significant deterioration in important outcomes since their previous visit in 2019. The prison remained not safe enough, and respect had worsened. They judged both purposeful activity and rehabilitation and release planning to be poor.

HM Chief Inspector of Prisons Charlie Taylor called the poor grades “a considerable indictment for a training prison”. He wrote: “The institution had lost its way in its core mission of reducing reoffending.”

Inspectors visited the prison between 20 September and 7 October 2022.

A prison for men convicted of sexual offences

The prison formed in 2009 from the merger of Parkhurst and the neighbouring Albany. A third site, Camp Hill, later closed. The prison was a designated category B training prison within the long-term high security estate.

At the time of the inspection it held 971 men against an operational capacity of 1,009. Apart from a small number of local remand or sentenced prisoners from the island, the men had convictions for serious sexual offences. Most presented a high risk of harm to the public. However, most were now category C, a lower security level than the category B majority inspectors found in 2019.

The inspectorate assesses prisons against four healthy prison tests: safety, respect, purposeful activity, and rehabilitation and release planning. Purposeful activity covers education, work and time out of cell. Rehabilitation and release planning covers family ties, offender management and preparation for release.

Inspectors rated safety and respect not sufficiently good. Purposeful activity and rehabilitation and release planning were poor, the lowest grade. Safety stayed at the same level as in 2019, while the other three areas declined.

It was still not safe enough; outcomes in respect had worsened, and in our healthy prison tests of purposeful activity and rehabilitation and release planning, we now judged outcomes to be poor, a considerable indictment for a training prison.

Charlie Taylor, HM Chief Inspector of Prisons

Deaths and self-harm

The prison was generally calm and settled. But there had been seven self-inflicted deaths since the last inspection. The rate of self-harm had risen considerably and was very high, despite some useful interventions. Inspectors found the case management documents for prisoners at risk of suicide and self-harm inadequate.

A quarter of prisoners told the inspectorate’s survey they felt unsafe. Muslim prisoners, those from black and minority ethnic groups and men with mental health problems felt significantly less safe.

Recorded violence had fallen by about 20% since 2019 and sat below many category B and C prisons. Yet the rate remained the highest of all prisons holding men convicted of sexual offences. Assaults on staff had increased. Too few staff used body-worn cameras during use of force incidents, which the report said was not acceptable.

There was some progress. New arrivals received welcoming support, and peer workers helped them through their early days. Use of segregation had declined significantly.

Staff shortages and a bleak environment

Acute staff shortages undermined much of the prison’s work. Over a third of officers were unavailable for work on the units. As a result, men spent too long locked in their cells, and routines were unpredictable. Access to work, education and activity was intermittent, with poor attendance and punctuality.

Relationships between staff and prisoners were mixed. Some staff were attentive, but others showed a concerning indifference. Just under half of the prisoners who responded to the survey said staff had victimised them.

The report said a lack of care and investment in the environment underpinned many of its criticisms. Many residential units were shabby, bleak and in need of significant repair. Leaders had not prioritised reading or literacy.

Leaders were proactive and creative in recruiting staff. Their assessment of the prison’s strengths and priorities was mostly accurate on operational matters. But inspectors said they lacked an effective vision for the prison’s rehabilitative role. They compared the jail with other category B training prisons rather than with similar lower category or specialist prisons. Protecting the prison’s category B status appeared to have become an informal priority.

Release planning and later inspections

The report found significant gaps in release planning, even though many men posed a high risk of serious harm. Prison offender managers had too little contact with prisoners. Men had limited access to interventions to address their offending. Support to maintain family ties was thin, and resettlement help for those leaving was unreliable.

Of 15 recommendations on key concerns made in 2019, the prison had achieved five and not achieved nine. One was no longer relevant. The Chief Inspector of Prisons said the prison urgently needed specialist resources and careful thought about its purpose.

Inspectors have reported on the prison again since, with an independent review of progress published in July 2023 and a full inspection published in June 2026. This article covers the report published in January 2023.