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Independent Monitoring Boards annual report

Pentonville

Report year 2022 Published 24 Aug 2022 Type Prison, category B, C, YOI Population 1,043 Responsible body HMP Pentonville 14 recommendations

Original IMB report page ↗ Ministerial response, 7 Dec 2022 ↗ imb.org.uk ↗

The summary and positive findings below were written from the report by an AI model. The Board's own wording is in the report linked above.

Summary

Summary written by this site (AI-generated)
Pentonville, a Category B/C YOI, operated with an average population of 1,043 against an operational capacity of 1,000, facing severe overcrowding and infrastructure issues. The reporting year was marked by significant staff shortages, leading to a restricted regime with many prisoners locked in cells for nearly 23 hours a day, hampering rehabilitation efforts. Key concerns include dilapidated buildings, disrupted mental health services, a critical gap in resettlement support for remand prisoners, and an underperforming Offender Management Unit. Positively, the prison saw success with its new drug-free wing and continued effective Covid-19 management.

Positive findings

Summary written by this site (AI-generated)
The launch of a drug-free wing has been an impressive success, allowing prisoners in recovery to avoid drug culture. Initiatives like online co-education and the Time4Change programme are beacons of excellence, alongside outstanding chaplaincy and vital resettlement services from partners. Staff demonstrated compassion and robustly managed Covid-19, and efforts for a neurodiverse wing have been noteworthy.

Recommendations

All 14 recommendations

Key concerns

All 8 key concerns

Recommendations 14 items

Recommendations were extracted from the report by AI, and responses and their status from the ministerial response by AI. Each recommendation shows whether its wording has been checked against the report.

Recommendation 1

Addressee: Ministry of Justice · Topic: Overcrowding

Recommendation (the Board's words)
Given the major (infra)structural problems at Pentonville and overcrowding, how does the minister justify the instruction to the Governor to continue to increase the population?

Source text verified

Recommendation 2

Addressee: Ministry of Justice · Topic: Estate

Recommendation (the Board's words)
When will you invest more in the fabric of the prison to provide a safe, decent and rehabilitative environment?

Source text verified

Recommendation 3

Addressee: Ministry of Justice · Topic: Regime

Recommendation (the Board's words)
Will you commit to providing the necessary resources for the Governor to increase opportunities for education and activities in order to minimise the number of men who are locked up for almost 23 hours a day?

Source text verified

Recommendation 4

Addressee: Ministry of Justice · Topic: Staffing

Recommendation (the Board's words)
Will you commit to provide increased staffing to allow those who do not wish to engage in education or activities to be out of their cells for at least an hour morning and afternoon?

Source text verified

Recommendation 5

Addressee: Ministry of Justice · Topic: Staffing

Recommendation (the Board's words)
When will you invest in pay for prison staff in order to increase recruitment and retention rates?

Source text verified

Recommendation 6

Addressee: Ministry of Justice · Topic: Resettlement

Recommendation (the Board's words)
Remanded prisoners are given few services to assist them with their release: given the big increase in the number of prisoners on remand, when will you address this critical gap in resettlement services?

Source text verified

Recommendation 7

Addressee: HMPPS · Topic: Education

Recommendation (the Board's words)
Will the Prison Service increase the capacity of offending behaviour programmes and interventions at Pentonville, so that prisoners can benefit from these without needing to transfer to another prison?

Source text verified

Recommendation 8

Addressee: HMPPS · Topic: Staffing

Recommendation (the Board's words)
Will you introduce more initiatives (like Graduates Unlocked) to help raise the calibre of people applying to be prison officers?

Source text verified

Recommendation 9

Addressee: HMPPS · Topic: Complaints

Recommendation (the Board's words)
Property transfer between prisons, and systems regulating how much property prisoners may have, appear to be unworkable and unenforceable: will the Prison Service overhaul these at a national level?

Source text verified

Recommendation 10

Addressee: Governor / Director · Topic: Regime

Recommendation (the Board's words)
Will you commit to a detailed review of the impact of the wing-based provision of education and activities on opportunities for all prisoners to engage in activities that are central to rehabilitation?

Source text verified

Recommendation 11

Addressee: Governor / Director · Topic: Education

Recommendation (the Board's words)
Will you commission a robust interrogation of the allocations process for activities to ensure that it serves prisoners and teaching staff better?

Source text verified

Recommendation 12

Addressee: Governor / Director · Topic: Complaints

Recommendation (the Board's words)
Will you undertake a comprehensive overhaul of the property store and systems at Pentonville to improve this function for the decency of prisoners (and to avoid wasting unnecessary staff time)?

Source text verified

Recommendation 13

Addressee: Governor / Director · Topic: Resettlement

Recommendation (the Board's words)
What systems will you put in place to ensure both that the offender management unit’s performance never falls to the unacceptable levels of the past year ever again, and that prisoners will get prompt and accurate information, in particular about sentence calculation/release dates?

Source text verified

Recommendation 14

Addressee: Governor / Director · Topic: Regime

Recommendation (the Board's words)
How will you improve physical access to the library for men who are on wings without direct access?

Source text verified

Key concerns 8 items

Key concerns were extracted from the report text by an AI model.

Key concern 1

Estate/Conditions

The lack of privacy and cramped conditions, with men still forced to share cells designed for single occupancy, are not decent or humane. This situation is exacerbated by the crumbling fabric of the buildings, leading to vermin infestations and recurrent failures of heating and hot water.

Source wording under review

Key concern 2

Regime/Time Out of Cell

The SOWA regime meant that any prisoner not in work or education was locked up for almost 23 hours a day. This is far less time out of cell than during the pre-Covid 'association’, and is neither fair nor humane.

Key concern 3

Staffing

An almost complete lack of key work over the reporting year due to staff shortages meant that prisoners were denied the important additional support that this work is designed to provide.

Key concern 4

Mental Health

Mental health services continued to be severely disrupted: there was a three-month waiting list. The award-winning wellbeing centre, a dedicated occupational therapy unit, was massively under-utilised and the IMB sees a risk of low expectations for its use becoming the norm.

Key concern 5

Resettlement/Release

In addition, following the re-contracting of resettlement work by the National Probation Service, many resettlement agencies were not contracted to work with remand prisoners (St Mungo’s being just one example). With the proportion of the population on remand having increased to almost 75%, and the fact that time served prisoners were not infrequently being released with little or no notice, this very significant sector of the population at Pentonville was unable to access resettlement services to help them transition back into life after release.

Key concern 6

Complaints/Property

The poor performance of the offender management unit (OMU) meant that prisoners were not given even the most basic information about their sentences for weeks and sometimes months.

Key concern 7

Substance Misuse

Drugs and other contraband remain ubiquitous in the prison, contributing to problems of debt-related violence which pose a constant threat to safety.

Source wording under review

Key concern 8

Equality/Diversity

Black and minority ethnic prisoners and young adults (YAs) are disproportionately overrepresented in use of force incidents, adjudications, and segregation, requiring further exploration and targeted support.

Source wording under review

Safety statistics

Incidents during the reporting year.

IndicatorThis yearPrevious
Deaths in custody32
Self-harm incidents564not recorded
ACCT cases opened659774
Prisoner assaults327not recorded
Assaults on staff201not recorded
Use of force711976
Drug finds303not recorded

Population

Population1,043
Operational capacity1,000
CNA (designed for)909 (115% occupied)
Time out of cell1.2h/day

Applications to the IMB

CategoryCurrentPrevious
Accommodation (including transfers) 45 38
Canteen 12 10
Care and separation unit 7 3
Discrimination 1 0
Drugs 2 3
Education 11 6
Employment/activity 22 14
Equality 2 0
Healthcare 75 39
Incentives and earned privileges 0 1
Legal 16 10
Letters/phone calls 20 14
OMU/release/parole 30 15
Other 30 16
Property 95 43
Staff behaviour 12 5
TOTAL 401 230
Violence/safety 10 7
Visits 11 6
Work opportunities 0 0

Report details

Establishment
Pentonville
Type
Prison, category B, C, YOI
Report year
2022
Published
24 August 2022
Responsible body
HMP Pentonville
Recommendations
14
MoJ rating (2025/26)
1, Serious concern

Service providers

ServiceProvider
Community Rehabilitation Company (CRC)Penrose (sub-contracted by MTCNovo via the London CRC); from June 2021, the pre-release team
EducationNovus
Escort contractorSerco
Gym qualificationsActive IQ
Healthcare and pharmacyPractice Plus
Housing resettlementSt Mungo’s
MaintenanceGovernment Facility Services Ltd
Mental healthBarnet, Enfield and Haringey Mental Health Trust NHS
Resettlement supportOnly Connect, Switchback, StandOut
Substance misuse programmeBuilding Futures
Visitors’ centrePrison Advice and Care Trust (Pact)

Related inspections and investigations

HMIP inspection, 16 Mar 2026

IRP

HMIP inspection, 16 Jul 2025

Urgent Notification

HMIP inspection, 30 Jun 2025

Unannounced · Safety 1 · Respect 2 · Activity 1 · Release 1

HMIP inspection, 11 Apr 2023

IRP

HMIP inspection, 11 Jul 2022

Unannounced

Stephen Nuth

PPO fatal incident · 24 Sep 2025 · Self-inflicted

Peter Campbell

PPO fatal incident · 8 Oct 2024 · Other non-natural

Rickie Poon

Prevention of future deaths report · State Custody related deaths

Peter Campbell

Prevention of future deaths report · 11 Mar 2026 · This report is being sent to: HM Prison & Probation Service | Phoenix Futures | Practice Plus Group

Mujahid Adam

Prevention of future deaths report · 3 Mar 2026 · Suicide (from 2015)

Gareth Chumber-Kelly

Prevention of future deaths report · 9 Feb 2026 · State Custody related deaths | Suicide (from 2015)

Amarjit Singh

Prevention of future deaths report · 18 Sep 2023 · State Custody related deaths

Other reports for Pentonville

2026

Published 26 Aug 2026 · Population 1,180 · Self-harm 435 · Key concerns recorded

2025

Published 2 Oct 2025 · Population 1,180 · Self-harm 565 · Key concerns recorded

2024

Published 29 Oct 2024 · Population 1,195 · Self-harm 610 · Key concerns recorded

2023

Published 26 Sep 2023 · Population 1,140 · Self-harm 487 · Key concerns recorded

2021

Published 14 Sep 2021 · Population 966 · Self-harm 556 · Key concerns recorded

2020

Published 9 Sep 2020 · Population 1,025 · Self-harm 682 · Key concerns recorded