HM Chief Inspector of Prisons Charlie Taylor issued a second Urgent Notification for HMP Woodhill in March 2026. He warned that the prison had got worse since its previous inspection in 2023, despite substantial support.
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 respond publicly within 28 days, setting out how the concerns will be addressed.
The letter, dated 17 March 2026, went to the Deputy Prime Minister at the Ministry of Justice. The inspectorate published it on 19 March 2026. It followed an unannounced inspection earlier that month.
The letter said Woodhill “has not only failed to improve but worsened since our 2023 inspection”. It was the second Urgent Notification for the prison.
A worrying pattern
This was the sixth full inspection of Woodhill since 2014. Inspectors judge prisons against four healthy prison tests: safety, respect, purposeful activity, and preparation for release. Purposeful activity covers education, work and time out of cell.
A table in the letter set out the scores since 2014. It showed a worrying pattern of outcomes judged either poor or not sufficiently good. Safety and purposeful activity had stayed poor, the lowest grade, at every inspection since 2018.
At this inspection, the table showed respect as not sufficiently good. The letter highlighted a deterioration in preparation for release, which the table recorded as poor.
The letter called these problems serious and, so far, intractable. They had persisted even with the extra support that the earlier Urgent Notification had prompted.
Planning for the release of dangerous men was inadequate and risked endangering the public.
Charlie Taylor, HM Chief Inspector of Prisons
Violence, drugs and self-harm
The letter said the prison was not safe. Rates of violence were very high and had risen since the last inspection. Among similar prisons, only Swaleside had a higher rate of violence. Swaleside was also subject to an Urgent Notification.
Woodhill had the highest rate of serious assaults on staff in the long-term high secure estate. That estate holds some of the most dangerous men in the country. Around a third of all violent incidents involved weapons.
Prisoners’ views of their safety had not improved since 2023. In the inspectorate’s survey, 61% said they had felt unsafe at some point. Some 39% said they felt unsafe at the time.
Drugs were far too easy to get. Three deaths in the previous two years were drug related. The positive rate in random drug tests over the past year was among the highest of all adult male prisons.
Rates of self-harm remained among the highest in the adult male estate.
Failing as a training prison
The letter said Woodhill was fundamentally failing in its core function as a training prison. Ofsted, which inspects prison education, judged education inadequate. There was hardly any provision at all in January.
The prison routinely cancelled classes because too few officers were available to supervise prisoners. Too many men spent the working day locked in their cells with nothing to do.
Most prisoners presented a high risk of harm to others. Even so, offender management, interventions and work to reduce risk were inadequate.
Woodhill is not a designated resettlement prison, but the number of men leaving it had increased significantly. These men received only limited support. The letter warned: “Planning for the release of dangerous men was inadequate and risked endangering the public.”
Health care raised further concerns. Delays in taking patients to A&E created significant risk. Acutely mentally unwell men waited 191 days on average for a transfer to a secure hospital, one of the longest delays inspectors had seen.
Many staff were trying their best in difficult circumstances. However, inspectors saw numerous officers who lacked the competence and confidence to set standards, enforce rules or engage constructively with prisoners. The prison was dirty and needed refurbishment, including long-delayed work on the showers.
A new governor and the support needed
A new, experienced governor had arrived six months before the letter. The letter said he clearly understood what needed to happen. His immediate priority had rightly been to stabilise the prison and make daily routines more predictable.
Charlie Taylor said the governor and his staff would need sustained, significant support from the prison service to succeed. He noted that this was his third Urgent Notification for a long-term high secure prison within 18 months.
Since this report
Inspectors have reported on HMP Woodhill again since, with a full inspection report published in June 2026.
About this story
This story is based on the Urgent Notification on HMP Woodhill that HM Inspectorate of Prisons published on 19 March 2026. 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.
