Chief Inspector: act now to improve woeful levels of activity in prisons and reduce demand for drugs

In his final Annual Report, Charlie Taylor describes how long lock up times and poor regimes – which have barely improved since he first took up the role during the pandemic – are causing frustration, boredom and despair. This is fuelling a demand for drugs and contributing to high rates of rates of violence and self-harm. Too many prisons are failing in their responsibility to make prisoners less likely to reoffend.

The widespread ingress of illicit drugs remains a grave threat to stability in prisons. In inspection reports published between April 2025 and March 2026, 41% of men and 38% of women reported that it was easy to get hold of drugs in their jail. Despite repeatedly raising concerns about security failings, inspections continued to find inadequately trained staff, broken CCTV, damaged netting and windows that were easily breached. Organised crime gangs were able to operate with impunity, with sophisticated drones delivering large packages of drugs, anabolic steroids and mobile phones to order.

Despite the prevalence of drugs, Mr Taylor said far too little was being done to reduce demand or to provide any meaningful incentives for prisoners to change their behaviour. Most prisoners spent long hours – sometimes more than 22 a day – locked in their cells with nothing to do. Incentives for good behaviour were rarely meaningful or applied consistently and, apart from a few exceptions, drug recovery wings were ineffective or overrun by drugs. The number of education, work and training places was often far too low, and even when they were available, attendance, punctuality and the quality of teaching were frequently poor. Mr Taylor warned that substantial cuts to education provision and a loss of specialist teaching staff during the year were only likely to exacerbate these problems.

Violence had increased in two-thirds of the men’s prisons inspected and serious assaults had risen in 40%. Against a backdrop of high-profile attacks in the long-term high secure estate, the Chief Inspector found significant failings at Woodhill and Swaleside and issued Urgent Notifications for improvement. At the time of inspection these prisons were two of the most violent in the country, with a deeply concerning rise in serious assaults against prisoners and staff, many involving weapons.

The Chief Inspector’s annual report comes during the implementation of the Sentencing Act. Given the challenges in preparing prisoners for release, Mr Taylor said it was disappointing that the emphasis had been almost entirely on managing the prison population rather than on effective rehabilitation. Almost 20% of prisoners were now being held on remand, but prisons had not done enough to support this vulnerable group. Too many prisoners were released to no settled address, and many women in particular, were trapped in a repeating cycle of homelessness, substance addiction and poor mental health.

The report highlights the continuing problems of deteriorating living conditions in jails, often as a result of ageing infrastructure, long delays to repairs, cramped cells and rodent infestations. Despite this, women were broadly complimentary about their care and 70% of men said they were mostly treated with respect, although inspectors frequently saw officers in men’s prisons avoiding interaction or failing to challenge low-level poor behaviour on the wings. At Pentonville, the Chief Inspector was so concerned about treatment and conditions that he issued an Urgent Notification for improvement. Prisoners arriving at the jail were held in chaotic, squalid conditions, staff did not know where some of the prisoners were, and men were held unlawfully beyond their release date.

Given the levels of boredom and frustration across the prison estate, it was unsurprising that self-harm rates had risen in a third of the men’s jails inspected, some dramatically: at Guys Marsh they had increased by 144% and at Northumberland they had doubled. Concerningly, most prisoners faced long waits for mental health support and there were appalling delays in transferring seriously mentally unwell patients to secure hospitals. One patient at Swaleside waited 711 days. Women with acute mental health needs were still being sent to prison rather than hospital, where they often ended up in segregation due to their behaviour. Self-harm rates in women’s jails remained eight times higher than in men’s, creating distressing environments for prisoners and staff.

Despite the problems, there were some encouraging signs of progress. Some prisons had a strong rehabilitative focus and were supporting men and women to overcome their drug and alcohol addictions, providing meaningful incentives for good behaviour, and using peer support and interventions to reduce violence. Others had made impressive efforts to create a culture of reading, helping prisoners to gain vital literacy skills and strengthen family ties. In women’s prisons, inspectors found redesigned training for officers and a shift away from using punitive measures on women in crisis. Inspections of the immigration estate found generally decent treatment of detainees, and there had been impressive work to address areas of concern at Harmondsworth and Brook House immigration removal centres. Men and women in court custody generally received high-quality care.

Ministry of Justice figures for the latest quarter show a reduction in the number of assaults, and Mr Taylor pointed out that recent inspections have identified some modest but welcome improvements. As alterations to sentencing policy have begun to alleviate some of the population pressures, he urged the prison service to use the opportunity to address many of the challenges highlighted in his report, before the population begins to grow again.

Notes to editors

1. A copy of the full report, published on 7 July 2026, can be found on the HM Inspectorate of Prisons website at www.hmiprisons.justiceinspectorates.gov.uk 
2. HM Inspectorate of Prisons is an independent inspectorate led by HM Chief Inspector of Prisons. We help to make sure that detention is humane, safe, respectful and helps to prepare people for release ahead of their return to the community. We do that by carrying out independent inspections of prisons, young offender institutions, secure training centres and courts in England and Wales and places of immigration detention across the UK. Our role is to shine a light on what needs to change, but we cannot enforce it. It is up to prison leaders to consider the best way to respond to our concerns and use their resources and expertise to find solutions. HM Prison and Probation Service or the Home Office should work with the establishment to support this progress.
3. The annual report covers the findings of 84 reports published between 1 April 2025 and 31 March 2026. A full list of the inspections, independent reviews of progress, thematic reviews and other sources of evidence on which the report draws is included in the report.
4. The report includes information from inspections of 35 men’s prisons and five women’s prisons, as well as independent reviews of progress at 16 prisons.
5. The findings of 10 immigration reports are covered, including five immigration removal centres, two national inspections of short-term holding facilities and three overseas charter flight removals.
6. The report also includes an overview of the main findings from inspections of three young offender institutions (YOI) and three visits to Oakhill Secure Training Centre. More detailed annual inspection findings from children’s custody will be published later in the year.
7. During this annual reporting year, the Chief Inspector of Prisons issued four Urgent Notifications for improvement for HMP Woodhill, HMP Pentonville, HMP Swaleside and Oakhill Secure Training Centre. Find out more about Urgent Notifications: Urgent Notifications and IRPs – HM Inspectorate of Prisons
8. Please email media@hmiprisons.gov.uk if you would like more information.