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Inspectors found a strong rehabilitative culture at the Military Corrective Training Centre (MCTC) in Colchester, a facility holding service personnel who have been detained under Armed Forces law. At the time of the visit by HM Inspectorate of Prisons in January, the centre held 33 men.

As a former teacher, I often ask prisoners how they got on in school; the answer, perhaps unsurprisingly, is often ‘not well’. Many describe having struggled through but survived primary school, only to be expelled in their first two or three years of secondary school. Others never spent much time in education at all, having somehow through slipped through the net, often because of frequent changes of address or time spent overseas. A large proportion of prisoners also have a learning difficulty that added to their problems at school.

Leaders at HMP Coldingley had balanced managing the risk of COVID-19 with the benefits of providing a good amount of time out of cell, HM Inspectorate of Prisons found. Although the prison was operating within national COVID-19 restrictions, prisoners at the category C training prison in Surrey spent up to seven hours a day unlocked. This was in stark contrast with other jails recently inspected, where they rarely spent more than two hours out of their cells. During checks, inspectors found just 4% of prisoners locked up.

Inspectors who visited HMP/YOI Deerbolt in County Durham were disappointed to find a continued lack of time out of cell and activities on offer for the young men held in the category C training prison and young offender institution.

An independent review of progress (IRP)at HMP Hull, a category B prison holding around 900 prisoners, showed an encouraging commitment to improvement, although a lack of action in purposeful activity and health care demonstrated that more needed to be done.

The UK’s Armed Forces Service Custody Facilities (SCFs) continue to provide “extremely good” treatment of the detainees they hold, according to an inspection carried out by HM Inspectorate of Prisons in December 2021. The Inspectorate has been invited, since 2013, to inspect these short-term custodial facilities where service personnel are detained for up to 96 hours pending charge or conviction for service offences, or for up to 14 days if convicted of a service offence. As with its inspections of other areas of detention, the Inspectorate focused on the outcomes for detainees, as measured against independent Expectations criteria.

HMP/YOI Swinfen Hall, a category C prison for young adult and adult men in Staffordshire, was judged by inspectors revisiting the jail to be benefitting from a clear vision and leadership culture.

Failing to teach prisoners to read leaves up to half unable to access vital rehabilitative education while in prison, according to new research by Ofsted and HMI Prisons. Without the ability to read, released prisoners will find it harder to make a successful return to society.

Outcomes for children held in HMYOI Wetherby – the largest young offender institution (YOI) in the country – were found by inspectors to have declined in the provision of purposeful activity and resettlement. Although the number of children had been much reduced, the prison had lost ground, inspectors said, partly due to the pandemic.

Leaders at HMP Durham, a men’s category B prison covering the north of England, had brought down levels of violence by almost two-thirds since the previous inspection, said HM Inspectorate of Prisons. Joint working between security, drug strategy and safety managers had led to the reduction, and the rate of violence and disorder was below the average for a local prison in England. This was reflected in the Inspectorate’s survey of prisoners, where fewer men than at the previous inspection said they had experienced verbal abuse, physical assault, threats or intimidation, or theft.