Chief Inspector: overwhelming ingress of illegal drugs is destablising prisons and preventing rehabilitation

In his Annual Report, published today, Charlie Taylor said the prison service, police and security services must work closely together to tackle the threat from organised criminals, which is destabilising jails and preventing many from delivering essential rehabilitative work that will help people to stop offending.

The supply and use of illicit drugs are the overriding themes of his report, undermining every aspect of prison life. Far too little was being done to keep drugs out of jails, too many prisoners said it was easy to get hold of them, and the rate of positive random tests frequently reached more than 30%. In the six months before the Inspectorate returned to one category C prison, a staggering 59% of randomly selected prisoners had tested positive for illicit drug use. Most concerningly, drones were making regular deliveries to Manchester and Long Lartin which held some of the most dangerous men in the country, including terrorists and organised crime bosses. Physical security such as netting, windows and CCTV was inadequate and at Manchester, inexperienced staff were being manipulated or simply ignored by prisoners. The failure to tackle these security issues seriously compromised safety and represented a threat to national security.

Mr Taylor’s comments come at a time of intense scrutiny of prisons. The government’s early release schemes have only temporarily alleviated the capacity crisis and longer-term change following the Sentencing Review will take time. High-profile attacks on staff have prompted calls for more protection, and problems with the conduct and capability of officers have raised questions about staff recruitment and experience. Against this backdrop, the ingress of illegal drugs has created huge pressure for those living and working in prisons. Mr Taylor said it was unsurprising, though deeply worrying, that violence had risen in step with this ingress. Nationally, assaults on staff were 13% higher than the previous year, while those between prisoners had risen by 10%.

Overcrowding, coupled with a lack of activity, caused boredom and frustration among prisoners, which heightened the demand for drugs. Many spent most of the day in cramped, shared cells, where broken furniture and windows, and infestations of vermin, were common. Of the 38 men’s and women’s prisons inspected, 28 were delivering poor or not sufficiently good outcomes in purposeful activity. Concerningly six of those rated poor were category C training prisons, which should have been providing prisoners with the skills they needed to resettle successfully in the community. Education and work were not good enough in about three-quarters of men’s and women’s prisons, and many prisoners could not get onto the courses prescribed in their sentence plans.

In many jails there was too little interaction with staff, which added to prisoners’ frustration and contributed to poor behaviour. Prisoners often struggled to get busy or inexperienced officers to help them with simple requests, and women were particularly affected, with a lack of day-to-day support causing such distress that some resorted to self-harm. Despite 56% of surveyed prisoners reporting that they had mental health problems, staffing difficulties at some jails meant prisoners often had to wait a long time to access the help they needed, and there were continued delays in transferring severely unwell patients to secure hospitals under the Mental Health Act.

Despite this, some prisons were managing to deliver impressive outcomes. Good leadership, where highly visible governors knew their prisons well, set and maintained standards and held staff to account, was critical to this success. Cardiff was one of only three reception prisons to receive a score of reasonably good for purposeful activity since before the pandemic, Humber had managed to bear down on the supply of illegal drugs, and Oakwood continued to be the best prison of its type in the country. Hatfield and Kirklevington Grange were successful open prisons, and Rye Hill had an excellent range of activities and a highly effective staff team. There had also been some progress at Five Wells following an earlier concerning inspection, and at Bristol, Woodhill and Bedford which had been subject previously to Urgent Notifications.

Notes to editors

1. A copy of the full report, published on 8 July 2025, 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 83 reports published between 1 April 2024 and 31 March 2025. 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 36 men’s prisons and two women’s prisons, as well as independent reviews of progress at 11 men’s prisons.
5. The findings of five immigration reports are covered, including two immigration removal centres, three 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 a young offender institution (YOI), four visits to Oakhill Secure Training Centre, and five independent reviews of progress at YOIs). 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 Wandsworth, HMP Manchester, HMP Winchester, and HMP Rochester. 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.