Bristol prison remains one of the most unsafe in the country
A report on Bristol prison published today sets out in greater detail the concerns that led to HM Chief Inspector of Prisons writing to the Secretary of State for Justice in July to invoke an Urgent Notification for improvement.
When we last inspected Bristol in 2019, we were so concerned about conditions in the prison that we issued an Urgent Notification to the then Secretary of State, so it was an enormous disappointment to return to the jail and find that things had not improved. It was overcrowded, with many men locked in cramped, squalid cells for 22 hours a day with nothing meaningful to do. Unsurprisingly, this led to very high levels of violence, self-harm and drug-use. Eight men had taken their own lives since the last inspection, another man did so immediately after the inspection, and a prisoner had been charged with murdering his cellmate. Centrally held data showed the many problems at Bristol, and it should not have taken our inspectors to go in and raise concerns for action to be taken to address this appalling state of affairs.”
Despite the well-documented problems at Bristol, leaders and staff failed to set high enough standards, poor behaviour went unchallenged, and sanctions or consequences for bad behaviour were inadequate.
The capacity of the prison had been increased on several occasions since the last inspection and, with severe staff shortages, the prison was unable to deliver a proper regime for the number of men it held, which meant they spent far too long locked in their cells. With a particular shortage of health care staff, there was insufficient provision for the number of prisoners, particularly those who were mentally unwell, and men waiting for transfer to a secure hospital were often held for lengthy periods in the segregation unit for want of more appropriate accommodation or care.
Work to prepare prisoners for release was poorly coordinated and under-resourced, and a quarter were released homeless. Many men had been in and out of Bristol prison many times, falling back into reoffending on release.
Prisons have an important duty to protect the public by keeping those sentenced to custody securely behind bars for the duration of their sentence. But they also have a duty to those held within their walls. They should, at the absolute minimum, be able to keep them safe, but they should also be supporting their rehabilitation so they leave prison not just willing, but able, to leave offending behind. Too many prisons at present are struggling to do that and Bristol was categorically failing.”
Notes to editors
- Read the HMP Bristol report, published on 17 October 2023.
- HM Inspectorate of Prisons is an independent inspectorate, inspecting places of detention to report on conditions and treatment and promote positive outcomes for those detained and the public.
- The Urgent Notification process was introduced in 2017 and is a means of raising immediate, urgent concerns following an inspection which requires a response and action plan from the Secretary of State within 28 days. Read the Urgent Notification for Bristol, and the Secretary of State’s response.
- This was the fifth inspection of Bristol since 2013. The inspection team assessed the establishment’s performance against the applicable healthy establishment tests using the following judgements: 4 – outcomes for prisoners are good; 3 – outcomes for prisoners are reasonably good; 2 – outcomes for prisoners are not sufficiently good; and 1 – outcomes for prisoners are poor.
- In three most recent inspections HMP Bristol attracted our lowest healthy prison test scores for both safety and purposeful activity (see table below).
- Please email media@hmiprisons.gov.uk if you would like more information.
HMP Bristol healthy prison assessments since 2013
| Safety | Respect | Purposeful activity | RRP | |
| 2023 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 2 |
| 2019 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 2 |
| 2017 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 2 |
| 2014 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| 2013 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 3 |