Chief Inspector: overwhelming ingress of illegal drugs is destablising prisons and preventing rehabilitation
“This has been another very difficult year for all those living and working in prisons in England and Wales. I cannot overstate my concern about the rapid and widespread ingress of illicit drugs.”
Latest news updates
Safety, well-being and hope: The untapped potential of family contact in prisons
Too many jails were failing to get the basics right, making it difficult for families to book visits, get to the establishment, and access financial support. When prisoners first arrived in jail it took too long for family members to find out where they were held and to be able to contact them – at a time when prisoners were often at their most vulnerable.
‘Everything is after sentencing’: The experiences of remand prisoners
Prisoners awaiting trial or sentencing have poorer outcomes than those serving a sentence, according to a findings paper from HMI Prisons. Despite making up around a fifth of the prison population, too few jails have developed a strategy to manage these men and women.
Find out more about the different areas of our work
Men’s prisons
We inspect every type of men’s prison in England and Wales, from high security to open prisons, private and public sector. Find out about how we inspect and read our reports on men’s prisons.
Women’s prisons
Women make up less than 4% of the prison population. Read our Expectations for the treatment of and conditions for women, and our reports on women’s prisons.
Children’s detention
We inspect each establishment in which children are detained every year either for a full inspection or an independent review of progress. Read our reports on detention for children.
Immigration detention
Read reports on our inspections of different types of immigration detention: immigration removal centres, short-term holding facilities and escorted flights removing people from the country.