Thematic reviews and research

Fit for purpose or falling apart? A review of living conditions in prison

‘Overcrowding, poor sanitation, deteriorating infrastructure and long delays to essential maintenance are causing persistent problems across the prison estate, rendering much of it inadequate.

The report analysed inspections of 40 prisons and more than 6,400 prisoner surveys. Around half of the prisoners surveyed lived in accommodation built before the 1980s that had never been significantly refurbished since its construction. ‘

Women’s experience of immigration detention

‘Women in immigration detention do not always feel safe or get the support they need. The thematic review, by HM Inspectorate of Prisons, identifies several concerning gaps in care which increase some women’s risk of harm, exacerbate existing mental health difficulties and leave them feeling insecure and isolated.

Although individual inspections of immigration detention generally find reasonably positive outcomes for women, concerns around safety and safeguarding persist.’

Children on short-term remand

Between 1 August 2024 and 31 July 2025, 190 children were remanded to custody before subsequently being bailed, with over half held in young offender institutions, where levels of violence remain higher than in any adult prison. Almost half of the remanded children spent just two weeks or less in custody, and these short stays meant they received little or no access to meaningful education or support.

The report highlights the cases of 25 children, all of whom were taken into custody for seven days or less. 

Making prisons purposeful

• Hardly working out: barriers to physical education in prisons
• Reading for rehabilitation
• ‘Just passing time’: A review of work and training provision in adult prisons
• Purposeful prisons: time out of cell

Detention should not cause further harm

• ‘Everything is after sentencing’: The experiences of remand prisoners
• Time to care: what helps women cope in prison?
• The long wait: A thematic review of delays in the transfer of mentally unwell prisoners
• Improving behaviour in prisons: A thematic review

Meeting children in custody’s needs

• Children in custody 2025–26
• Building trust: the importance of positive relationships in young offender institutions
• A decade of declining quality of education in young offender institutions: the systemic shortcomings that fail children
• Separation of children in young offender institutions – review of progress

Preparing for release

• Safety, well-being and hope: The untapped potential of family contact in prisons
• The quality of work undertaken with women
• Minority ethnic prisoners’ experiences of rehabilitation and release planning
• Youth resettlement – final report into work in the community