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Hollesley Bay

AI-generated report summary HMP/YOI Hollesley Bay generally provides humane treatment and purposeful activity, with strong safety measures and integrated healthcare. Key concerns include significant cuts to education budgets, persistent ROTL delays, and a notable rise in property-related complaints. The Board also highlights the need for investment in facilities, improved Governor visibility, and the impact of increasing key compromises.

Year: 2025 Published: 30 Jun 2026 Type: Prison · Cat open prison and young offender institution Recommendations: 14 Key concerns Positive findings
Original IMB report page ↗ Ministerial response · 15 Sep 2026 ↗

Safety statistics

Incidents during reporting year
IndicatorThis yearPrevious
Deaths in custody0—
ACCT cases opened2523
Prisoner assaults1111
Use of force913
Drug finds235228

Positive findings

AI-generated summary
The Board continues to believe the prison remains a safe place for prisoners and staff, noting fair and humane treatment and a culture of dignity and respect. The prison invests in dedicated staff for employer links, emphasizing prisoner employability. Health and wellbeing needs are generally met, with successful business cases for increased staffing and the establishment of an older patient clinic and a planned 'wellman' clinic. The chaplaincy service is highly appreciated, and the education department shows enhancements, strong partnerships, and notable successes in college course access. Prisoner-developed initiatives like the AMP facility and sensory garden are commended, and training at prison cafés remains popular and profitable.

Key concerns

13 items
Education/Purposeful Activity The Board was seriously concerned by the Government’s cut in prison education budgets. At Hollesley Bay, this was a significant 35%. In light of this, how can education and training credibly be regarded as a priority for rehabilitation?
Resettlement/Release Repeated Prisoners continue to raise issues around ROTL [release on temporary licence] delays. These often are attributable to prison staff awaiting responses from community offender managers.
Resettlement/Release Repeated The Board repeats its concerns regarding ‘short-term’ prisoners who arrive with little time left to serve.
Resettlement/Release Repeated The Board continues to hopes that significant release on temporary licence [ROTL] work opportunities will become available for prisoners at Hollesley Bay, and that Sizewell C’s engagement with the local employment advisory board will lead to more positive developments.
Complaints/Property Repeated Locally, prisoner property complaints have continued to rise and these often cite inter-prison transfers.
Estate/Conditions The Board considers that the chaplaincy offices and the chapel require capital investment and modernisation to make them more comfortable and welcoming. The world faith centre, where services such as the Muslim Friday prayers take place, would benefit from soundproofing to ensure that noise from adjacent offices does not disturb the worship.
Other Why was the IMB Secretariat not consulted prior to the rollout of SharePoint to discuss the potential impact on local Boards, given the difficulties this has caused for the Hollesley Bay and Warren Hill Boards?
Staffing The introduction of a single management team for Hollesley Bay and Warren Hill appears to be running smoothly, with Governors’ responsibilities now stretching across both prisons. However, it has been observed by the IMB and prisoners that Governors are generally less visible around Hollesley Bay.
Staffing Staff re-profiling implementation: the Board will monitor closely to see if this has any negative impact on the day-to-day running of the prison.
Safety While a concerning increase in key compromises was noted (48% increase: 40 in 2025 compared with 27 in 2024 and 24 in 2023), the IMB was pleased to observe the prison was quick to respond and introduce new measures to strengthen site security.
Overcrowding Repeated Ensure that opportunities are found wherever possible to accommodate prisoners in single rooms, despite national prison population pressures.
Estate/Conditions Address the ongoing issues with the clock in the visits hall, and make plans to replace it given that it does not display the correct time.
Healthcare Repeated DNAs (did not attends) continue to be a problem for the healthcare department. A further review of the management of the appointments process is requested.

Recommendations

14 items · 6 repeated

Recommendation 1

Addressee: Ministry of Justice

The Board was seriously concerned by the Government’s cut in prison education budgets. At Hollesley Bay, this was a significant 35%. In light of this, how can education and training credibly be regarded as a priority for rehabilitation?

Source text verified

Recorded status:

Topic: Education

Recommendation 2

Addressee: Ministry of Justice

Prisoners continue to raise issues around ROTL [release on temporary licence] delays. These often are attributable to prison staff awaiting responses from community offender managers. Give this, what steps is the Minister taking to address these delays, and will the anticipated increase in probation funding reduce them?

Repeated Source text verified

Government response
Regionally, probation services worked closely with prison teams to develop release plans and complete safeguarding checks. To support future resilience, we are increasing probation funding by 45%, investing up to £700 million by 2028, and recruiting 1,300 trainee probation officers by March next year.

Recorded status:

Topic: Resettlement

Recommendation 3

Addressee: Ministry of Justice

The Board repeats its concerns regarding ‘short-term’ prisoners who arrive with little time left to serve. The Minister has acknowledged the importance of preparing prisoners for release, but these men have little time in which to engage with appropriate departments and agencies, and often display minimal interest, if any. What action will the Minister take to address this?

Repeated Source text verified

Recorded status:

Topic: Resettlement

Recommendation 4

Addressee: Ministry of Justice

The Board continues to hopes that significant release on temporary licence [ROTL] work opportunities will become available for prisoners at Hollesley Bay, and that Sizewell C’s engagement with the local employment advisory board will lead to more positive developments. What concrete progress has been made to secure these opportunities?

Repeated Source text verified

Government response
The Minister recognised the importance of ensuring that major government-backed projects offer inclusive employment pathways. Hollesley Bay’s reducing reoffending team have been building a relationship with Sizewell C and its skills development leads, exploring bespoke vetting processes. Supply chain engagement has led to small, but positive, opportunities for those on release on temporary licence (ROTL). Joint interviews with contractors and the resettlement team have taken place.

Recorded status:

Topic: Resettlement

Recommendation 5

Addressee: HMPPS

Is any monitoring being carried out nationally to ensure compliance with this rule: ‘Excess property must be sent on as quickly as possible within the existing four-week period after a prisoner transfers.’ Locally, prisoner property complaints have continued to rise and these often cite inter-prison transfers.

Repeated Source text verified

Government response
HMPPS notes the Board’s ongoing concerns about the handling of prisoners’ property. When could This is an area to which HMPPS is currently giving further attention.

Recorded status:

Topic: Complaints

Recommendation 6

Addressee: HMPPS

The Board considers that the chaplaincy offices and the chapel require capital investment and modernisation to make them more comfortable and welcoming. The world faith centre, where services such as the Muslim Friday prayers take place, would benefit from soundproofing to ensure that noise from adjacent offices does not disturb the worship. What plans are in place to deliver these improvements?

Source text verified

Recorded status:

Topic: Estate

Recommendation 7

Addressee: HMPPS

Why was the IMB Secretariat not consulted prior to the rollout of SharePoint to discuss the potential impact on local Boards, given the difficulties this has caused for the Hollesley Bay and Warren Hill Boards? What steps will the Prison Service take to resolve these issues and ensure that ongoing discussions with the IMB Secretariat on SharePoint, Kahootz and the CJSM mailing system reach a satisfactory conclusion?

Source text verified

Recorded status:

Topic: Other

Recommendation 8

Addressee: Governor / Director

How will you ensure that Governor visibility at Hollesley Bay is improved?

Source text verified

Recorded status:

Topic: Staffing

Recommendation 9

Addressee: Governor / Director

Staff re-profiling implementation: the Board will monitor closely to see if this has any negative impact on the day-to-day running of the prison.

Source text verified

Recorded status:

Topic: Staffing

Recommendation 10

Addressee: Governor / Director

What steps is the Governor taking, despite national prison population pressures, to ensure that opportunities are found wherever possible to accommodate prisoners in single rooms?

Repeated Source text verified

Government response
Acknowledged at Board meetings. Will continue to push for this whenever possible.

Recorded status:

Topic: Overcrowding

Recommendation 11

Addressee: Governor / Director

What action is the Governor taking to address the ongoing issues with the clock in the visits hall, and are there plans to replace it given that it does not display the correct time?

Source text verified

Recorded status:

Topic: Estate

Recommendation 12

Addressee: Governor / Director

The Board asks that the number of benches in the outdoor seating area adjacent to the visits hall is kept under review to ensure that as many visitors as possible can be accommodated.

Source text verified

Government response
Acknowledged verbally and at Board meetings. Some further benches installed.

Recorded status:

Topic: Estate

Recommendation 13

Addressee: Governor / Director

DNAs (did not attends) continue to be a problem for the healthcare department. The Board requests that a further review of the management of the appointments process is undertaken.

Repeated Source text verified

Government response
Discussed at Board meetings.

Recorded status:

Topic: Healthcare

Recommendation 14

Addressee: Governor / Director

The Board asks if there any plans to introduce in-cell telephony at Hollesley Bay.

Source text verified

Government response
Discussed at Board meetings. Trial issue of mobile phones underway at another open prison.

Recorded status:

Topic: Regime

Applications to the IMB

CategoryCurrentPrevious
Canteen 16 0
DIRFs 14 16
Food 14 7
Healthcare 7 —
OASys/OMU 87 93
Other 56 0
Property 51 20

Related inspections & investigations

3 Apr 2024 HMIP · Unannounced Safety 4 · Respect 4 · Activity 3 · Release 4
25 Sep 2024 PPO fatal incident John Stafford · Natural causes
20 Mar 2024 PPO fatal incident Neil McCarthy · Other non-natural
13 Jun 2024 PPO fatal incident Anthony Matthews · Natural causes
13 Jan 2024 PPO fatal incident Kevin Giles · Natural causes
21 Nov 2023 PPO fatal incident David Budd · Natural causes

Other reports for Hollesley Bay

2024 Published 16 Sep 2025 · Self-harm 5 · Concerns
2023 Published 16 Aug 2024 · Self-harm 7 · Concerns
2022 Published 28 Apr 2023 · Self-harm 5 · Concerns
2021 Published 7 Apr 2022 · Self-harm 3 · Concerns
2020 Published 29 Apr 2021 · Self-harm 1 · Concerns