HMP Wandsworth

What we found

Wandsworth was not safe: there had been 10 self-inflicted deaths since the last inspection, seven of which had occurred in the last 12 months. The rate of self-harm was high and rising, and yet around 40% of emergency cell bells were not answered within five minutes. Staff were oblivious to a prisoner in crisis who had self-harmed in his cell until inspectors brought it to their attention. Overall rates of violence, including serious assaults, had increased and use of force was now higher than most other reception jails. More than half of men said it was easy to get drugs and the smell of cannabis was ubiquitous. Drug testing had been suspended, but the most recent tests found 44% of prisoners were actively using drugs.

Since the alleged escape in 2023, HMPPS had invested almost £900,000 in additional resources in safety and security. Despite this, and the threat to stability posed by illicit drug use, leaders had not got the basics of security right including an inability to account for prisoners during the working day. An action plan created after the last escape in 2019 had not been completed and key elements of the jail’s security strategy had not been reviewed in ten years.