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UK YOI prison operated by HM Prison & Probation Service. Listed in the GOV.UK Find a prison directory.
Background
HM Prison Woodhill is a category B men's high security prison located in Milton Keynes, England. The prison is operated by His Majesty's Prison Service. A section of the prison is designated as a Young Offenders Institution. A Secure Training Centre is located next to the prison.
One of its main roles is that of a local prison serving the Crown Court and magistrates' courts.
a small number of category A prisoners, as well as operating as a site This review visit followed up on the concerns we raised at our last made the following judgements about outcomes for prisoners. Figure 1: HMP Woodhill healthy prison outcomes in 2021 and 2023 had the highest rate of serious assaults against staff in the country. Reported incidents of violence at the prison had risen sharply, the use illicit drug use was widespread. The rate of reported self-harm was, was non-existent.
— UK IMB Annual Report (2024) —
Safety: 4.1 Reception and induction A visit from the national clean and decent lead at the beginning of the reporting year highlighted the induction unit as an example of ‘best practice’. Good progress was also identified by the Governor regarding induction, and a new induction booklet was issued. This was reinforced by the development of a stronger managerial link between reception and the induction [...]
Respect: 5.1 Accommodation, clothing, food Throughout the reporting year, the Board has observed and recorded that, due to underspending and lack of investment, maintenance has not kept pace with requirements. The need to upgrade and replace floors, the poor condition of showers, main servery counters, laundries, staff offices and welfare facilities are all noted frequently in monitoring reports. Flooring [...]
Purposeful activity: Education is provided by Milton Keynes College. At the time of the Independent Review in July 2024, the Ofsted report recorded insufficient progress against the provision of a curriculum suitably ambitious or challenging for the needs of the prison population. Education, work and skills experiences are vital to the prison, and all prisoners should have access to develop their career in custody [...]
Preparation for release: At the end of the reporting year, six prisoners had not been provided with an OASys/sentence plan in the agreed timeframe, i.e. within 10 weeks of sentence (or 16 weeks for those serving life sentence). Prison offender managers (POMs) are expected to have three meetings within 12 weeks of a prisoner being allocated to them (this includes the initial OMU induction appointment). There should be a [...]
Visiting
of our visit to around 350. This review visit followed up on the concerns we raised at our last What we found during this review visit visit was the category B training function, and we will return to inspect the
Mailing
invoke the Urgent Notification process for HMP Woodhill. In that letter, and in Urgent Notification letter and debriefing paper on our website at
Practical info
Note: rehabilitation and release planning became ‘preparation for release’ in October 2023. often went unanswered for long periods and key work (see Glossary) Prisoners spent more time unlocked and engaged in purposeful
Known issues
had the highest rate of serious assaults against staff in the country. Reported incidents of violence at the prison had risen sharply, the use illicit drug use was widespread. The rate of reported self-harm was, reasonable progress in most areas with respect to safety. Violence had reduced overall and, although self-harm remained the highest in the much better.
HMP/YOI Woodhill Tattenhoe Street Milton Keynes Buckinghamshire MK4 4DA See map Help us to improve this page. Give us your feedback in this 2-minutes survey., Buckinghamshire MK4 4DA
Higher risk than 0% of peer facilities in United Kingdom.
Capacity (beds)this: 800 · peers avg: 570 (+40%)
Reports
HMIP29 Jul 2024
1.1
Opened in the early 1990s and situated in Milton Keynes, HMP
Woodhill has several functions: it is a category B trainer, but also holds
a small number of category A prisoners, as well as operating as a site
for several specialist units and facilities. Although it can hold up 644
adult men when fully operational, the temporary closure of
accommodation had reduced the number of prisoners held at the time
of our visit to around 350.
1.2
This review visit followed up on the concerns we raised at our last
inspection of HMP Woodhill in 2023.
What we found at our last inspection
1.3
At our previous inspections of HMP Woodhill in 2021 and 2023, we
made the following judgements about outcomes for prisoners.
Figure 1: HMP Woodhill healthy prison outcomes in 2021 and 2023
Note: rehabilitation and release planning became ‘preparation for release’ in October 2023.
1.4
Following the last inspection in August 2023, I wrote to the Secretary of
State to invoke the Urgent Notification process (see Glossary) for HMP
Woodhill. Many prisoners told us that they felt unsafe, and the prison
had the highest rate of serious assaults against staff in the country.
Reported incidents of violence at the prison had risen sharply, the use
of force against prisoners was the highest in the adult male estate and
illicit drug use was widespread. The rate of reported self-harm was,
again, the highest in the adult male estate, and arrangements to
support new arrivals at the prison were not good enough.
Report of an independent review of progress at HMP Woodhill
1.5
Prisoner frustration, caused by a lack of access to basic amenities and
delays in getting anything done, was evident. Emergency cell call bells
often went unanswered for long periods and key work (see Glossary)
was non-existent. There were many relatively inexperienced staff who
lacked confidence and were not sufficiently supported to challenge
poor behaviour, and bullying and intimidation by prisoners was rife.
Many prison officers told us they feared for their safety and that morale
was low.
1.6
The prison was not fulfilling its function as a category B trainer and
prisoners spent far too long locked up. They were underemployed and
very frustrated by the lack of opportunities for progression. A chronic
shortage of prison officers remained at the heart of the prison’s
difficulties, with almost twice as many officers leaving than joining.
Local leaders (see Glossary) urgently needed more support from HM
Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS), and the prison needed a
complete reset to make it a safe, decent and purposeful place.
What we found during this review visit
1.7
It is pleasing to report that at this review of progress, we found good or
reasonable progress across all but one of the 10 concerns we raised.
The prison population had been temporarily reduced by almost half,
which had given the governor the space that she needed to try to reset
the prison as we had suggested. The jail had successfully recruited,
and, so far, retained, its full quota of officers, although some were still
in training and the level of inexperience was very high. We found
reasonable progress in most areas with respect to safety. Violence had
reduced overall and, although self-harm remained the highest in the
adult male estate, care for individuals at risk had improved.
Arrangements for those in their early days at the prison were also now
much better. While use of force had increased, scrutiny of incidents
was considerably more thorough, although, disappointingly, we found
no meaningful progress with the poor conditions and long stays for
those held in segregation.
1.8
Prisoners spent more time unlocked and engaged in purposeful
activity. Ofsted found reasonable progress in two themes they
reviewed, but two remained insufficient. The curriculum still did not
meet the needs of the population, and the careers information, advice
5.1 Accommodation, clothing, food Throughout the reporting year, the Board has observed and recorded that, due to underspending and lack of investment, maintenance has not kept pace with requirements. The need to upgrade and replace floors, the poor condition of showers, main servery counters, laundries, staff offices and welfare facilities are all noted frequently in monitoring reports. Flooring and showers have been replaced in some areas, but progress remains slow in getting all areas to a decent living standard. The standard of cleanliness and tidiness differs from wing to wing. Depending on the wing staff and prisoners employed as wing cleaners, it ranges from good to very poor. It has not been uncommon to see rubbish piled up in bags, unemptied bins, dirty floors and packaging left around the wings and in the shower areas, with clothing hung over landing rails. Fire exits on the access to wing staircases are often partially blocked with broken furniture, paint tins, rubbish and crates of prisoner canteen. This is dangerous and poor practice. The Board frequently observed that officers on the wing could not locate the cleaning schedules or demonstrate that they were operational. Staff welfare facilities and office space are often in a poor condition, with many broken items of furniture and chair still in use. The Board continues to be dismayed by the poor working conditions for staff on some wings and its impact on morale. It is disappointing that the planned major [...]
Education is provided by Milton Keynes College. At the time of the Independent Review in July 2024, the Ofsted report recorded insufficient progress against the provision of a curriculum suitably ambitious or challenging for the needs of the prison population. Education, work and skills experiences are vital to the prison, and all prisoners should have access to develop their career in custody and prepare for release. A total of 97% of the prison’s population is aged under 60, while 32% are aged under 29. Therefore, preparation for meaningful employment on release should be a strong focus of the education, work and skills team. All prisoners now have an induction appointment with careers guidance but not necessarily an assessment if they have had one at a previous prison. The Board was aware that repeat education assessments were frustrating prisoners when they arrived at Woodhill. At the end of the reporting year, there were 465 education, skills and work opportunities for prisoners. A total of 138 prisoners were unemployed (25% of the prison population), which included self-isolators, men deemed unfit to work and those waiting to be allocated to work or education. A partnership with the Prison Education Service (PES), to procure a new digital, web- based screening tool to help identify additional learning needs for prisoners and improve accessibility, was scheduled to be implemented as part of the new PES education contracts in spring 2025. The appointment of a new head of [...]
4.1 Reception and induction A visit from the national clean and decent lead at the beginning of the reporting year highlighted the induction unit as an example of ‘best practice’. Good progress was also identified by the Governor regarding induction, and a new induction booklet was issued. This was reinforced by the development of a stronger managerial link between reception and the induction unit to develop and maintain best practice. All prisoners arriving at Woodhill undergo body scanning and searches. However, items such as drugs and phones are still frequently discovered, raising ongoing concerns regarding the thoroughness of searches conducted at prior establishments. Observations by the Board confirmed that all relevant checks, processes and assessments were appropriately implemented and documented during reception. Staff demonstrated a high level of professionalism and care, particularly in identifying and supporting individuals who appeared suicidal or struggled with adjustment. New arrivals are promptly seen by both the healthcare and the chaplaincy teams. Where feasible, the induction house unit retains a core team of officers to ensure continuity and familiarity. Support is further reinforced by Insiders. These are experienced prisoners trained to assist and mentor new or vulnerable prisoners by providing guidance on establishment procedures and daily routines, as well as addressing queries or concerns. This peer-support initiative generally produces beneficial [...]
At the end of the reporting year, six prisoners had not been provided with an OASys/sentence plan in the agreed timeframe, i.e. within 10 weeks of sentence (or 16 weeks for those serving life sentence). Prison offender managers (POMs) are expected to have three meetings within 12 weeks of a prisoner being allocated to them (this includes the initial OMU induction appointment). There should be a further three meetings in the last three months of their handover date to the community offender manager (COM). However, the actual level of contact is variable, according to the POM’s judgement; prisoners approaching parole or 23 release have more planning needs and, therefore, more contact than prisoners serving very long sentences. Men frequently report a lack of contact with their POMs and key workers. Access to offending behaviour programmes for sentence progression remains very limited at Woodhill: key programmes include Kaizen, Thinking Skills and Sycamore Tree. Men identified as needing access to other rehabilitation programmes must wait to be transferred to establishments offering those programmes. Family contact through social visits and social video calls has been effective, especially at weekends. The revised core day led to weekday sessions being offered Monday to Thursday, with additional social video calls on those days, although the use of 45-minute video calls has seldom reached full booking capacity. The Board frequently hears from men who have been transferred from, [...]
Opened in the early 1990s and situated in Milton Keynes, Woodhill has several
functions: it is a category B trainer, but also holds a small number of category A
prisoners as well as operating as a site for several specialist units and facilities.
Although it can hold up 644 adult men when fully operational, the temporary
closure of a houseblock due to staff shortage had reduced its capacity to 570,
with the actual roll standing at about 514 during the inspection. The focus of our
visit was the category B training function, and we will return to inspect the
specialist units at a later date.
Following this inspection I wrote to the Secretary of State on 30 August to
invoke the Urgent Notification process for HMP Woodhill. In that letter, and in
the inspection debriefing paper that accompanied it, I set out the concerns and
judgements that had led me to that course of action. Under the Urgent
Notification protocol, the Secretary of State commits to respond publicly within
28 days, explaining how outcomes for those detained will be improved. The
Secretary of State’s response, for which I am grateful, is published with the
Urgent Notification letter and debriefing paper on our website at
https://www.justiceinspectorates.gov.uk/hmiprisons/.
This is the fifth time we have inspected Woodhill since 2014 and, as the table
below shows, there has been a worrying decline in outcomes across all four of
our healthy prison tests. Of perhaps greatest concern is that the jail has
attracted our lowest healthy prison test scores for both safety and purposeful
activity in our three most recent inspections. It was especially troubling to find
that none of the recommendations from our 2021 inspection had been
achieved; indeed many of the poor outcomes we had previously identified had,
in fact, worsened.
Figure 1: Healthy prison assessments since 2014
1.1
HMP Woodhill is a relatively modern prison in Milton Keynes. In
addition to its role as a category B training prison, it also holds several
remanded category A prisoners and operates several specialist units,
making it a complex and high-risk institution. At the time of the
inspection, the prison held approximately 500 prisoners, which is below
its operational capacity (see Glossary), as a result of the closure of one
house unit to mitigate staff shortages.
1.2
At our previous inspections of HMP Woodhill in 2018 and 2021, we
made the following judgements about outcomes for prisoners.
Figure 1: HMP Woodhill healthy prison outcomes in 2018 and 2021
Good
Reasonabl
y good
Not
sufficiently
good
Poor
Since we last inspected Woodhill in 2018 the establishment had transitioned
from a core local prison to a category B training prison. It had retained several
remanded category A prisoners, as well as the operation of several specialist
units, and remained a complex and high-risk institution. Relatively modern –
built about 30 years ago – the prison comprises a series of house blocks within
a secure campus in Milton Keynes. At the time of our inspection the prison held
approximately 500 men, about 70 below its operational capacity; this was a
consequence of both COVID-19 mitigation and staff shortages.
Our findings at this inspection were disappointing. As in 2018, outcomes in
Tommy Robinson1982 · political activist