Category: Blog
How high standards and visible leadership have created a truly rehabilitative culture at HMP Rye Hill
In contrast to many of our inspections this year, Rye Hill, a category B training prison holding men convicted of sexual offences, was providing good outcomes for prisoners in three of our four healthy prison tests. In this blog, Angus Jones, who led the inspection, discusses how the prison was achieving such impressive results.
Support, care and targeted interventions can make all the difference for women in prison
Inspector Jonathan Tickner reveals how our recent inspection of Drake Hall in Staffordshire was a reminder of the good work that can still be achieved with women in prison, despite the current challenges in the system.
Children’s custody: a decade of missed opportunities and decline
In this blog, Angus Jones, HMI Prisons Team Leader for Children and Young People, talks about the sustained failure to improve outcomes for the small number of children in custody.
What makes Oakwood so good?
Following a visit to the impressive Oakwood, Charlie Taylor discusses how strong leadership, high expectations of prisoners, and a culture of prisoner-led initiatives are at the heart of its achievements.
Prisons within prisons: what can we learn from how we manage our most dangerous offenders?
Following a very positive inspection of Close Supervision Centres (CSCs), which hold some of the most dangerous men in the prison system, Charlie Taylor reflects on the important work being done in CSCs and the stark contrast with conditions on the rest of the estate.
Drugs and disorder: worrying times for prisons
Following a worrying inspection at Hindley, Charlie Taylor reflects on the causes and consequences of a resurgence in drugs in prisons.
Bringing closed worlds into the open
Sophie Riley, Head of Research, Data and Thematics at HMI Prisons, explains why we have worked with Royal Holloway to make 20 years of prisoner survey data available to other researchers.
Preparing prisoners for release
As more prisoners are being released from prison earlier in their sentences in order to free space in the crowded prison estate, Charlie Taylor reflects on ongoing challenges to preparing prisoners for release.
World Literacy Day – the central importance of reading in prisons
On World Literacy Day, Charlie Taylor reflects on the central importance of reading in prisons and why it cannot be neglected even in times of acute pressures on the service.
Why the prison population crisis is everyone’s concern
As prison population numbers continue to rise, Charlie Taylor considers the implications and warns there will be consequences for all of us.