Recommendations 16 items · 4 repeated
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.
Addressee: Ministry of Justice · Topic: Other · Repeated from a previous year
Recommendation (the Board's words)
In spite of the revised prisoners’ property policy framework, the Board continues to be concerned about the loss or delay of prisoners’ property transfer between establishments and refers you to Section 5.8. The Board, once again, asks for an urgent review into the handling of prisoners’ belongings.
Addressee: Ministry of Justice · Topic: Other
Recommendation (the Board's words)
There has been no improvement in the management of prisoners’ property within the prison, and the Board would also like to see an improvement in the handling of prisoners’ parcels within the prison security framework.
Addressee: Ministry of Justice · Topic: Education
Recommendation (the Board's words)
Railtrack and construction: the Board would ask the Minister to acknowledge the excellent work carried out by the reducing reoffending team and the senior management team and would refer the Minister to the section 7.2.9.
Addressee: Ministry of Justice · Topic: Resettlement
Recommendation (the Board's words)
The Board is concerned about the high number of prisoners transferred from other establishments close to end of their sentence, which creates considerable problems for the resettlement staff.
Addressee: Ministry of Justice · Topic: Safety
Recommendation (the Board's words)
The Board would like to see greater searches of all persons entering the establishment. This is due to the high level of damage inflicted on the prison population through prison debt, substance misuse and the use of illegally held phones. This is illustrated by the three-fold increase in drug finds (1,135 in 2025) within the prison. The Board has raised these concerns with the Governing Governor, and at security meetings.
Addressee: Ministry of Justice · Topic: Mental Health
Recommendation (the Board's words)
The mental health team manage prisoners with serious mental illness very well, but a very high proportion of prisoners would benefit from psychological therapies. The Forward Trust has a dedicated team, but their staffing level means that they have very long waiting times for therapy. A national target is that 95% of referrals begin therapy within 18 weeks but at Highpoint this is achieved for 39% of prisoners.
Addressee: HMPPS · Topic: Estate · Repeated from a previous year
Recommendation (the Board's words)
The Board continues to be seriously concerned about the service provided by Gov Facility Services Ltd (GFSL). Again, we request an urgent review of the works maintenance contract to ensure it fully meets the ongoing needs of a challenging prison environment.
Addressee: HMPPS · Topic: Staffing
Recommendation (the Board's words)
The Board is aware of the growing inexperience of prison officer staff and recommends that the Prison Service looks into ways to incentivise staff to remain within the service.
Addressee: HMPPS · Topic: Safety · Repeated from a previous year
Recommendation (the Board's words)
As noted in three previous annual reports, the netting around the prison blew down in a storm and was slowly being replaced (in most units). However, it has still not been completely replaced, all this time later. The prison is still vulnerable to ‘throwovers’ (where people from outside the prison throw parcels over the walls, which contain illicit items, to be picked up by prisoners) and drone drops. The increased opportunity for contraband to get into the prison has a negative impact on the health and wellbeing of the prisoners.
Addressee: Governor / Director · Topic: Complaints
Recommendation (the Board's words)
With respect to prisoner and staff relations, including the complaint process and actions, there is a problem with lack of feedback and information to prisoners at wing level. The Governor is requested to reinforce stronger, more timely and clearer verbal and written communication ethics to avoid frustration and miscommunication of key information.
Addressee: Governor / Director · Topic: Substance Misuse · Repeated from a previous year
Recommendation (the Board's words)
The Board continues to be concerned that drug debt and fermenting liquids to brew prison alcohol are a major concern for the prison and we welcome the strategies, such as searches with specialist dogs and a designated search team (DST), which are being implemented to counteract this.
Addressee: Governor / Director · Topic: Regime
Recommendation (the Board's words)
As a Board, we are disappointed there no resources to provide of the award-winning National Prison Radio across the estate. In a survey carried out by the station, which is available in the majority of prisons in the UK, 75% of prisoners listen regularly. It aims to reduce reoffending by engaging prisoners in education and discussion and helps prisoners deal with custodial sentences. Many prisoners have drawn attention to its absence in Highpoint.
Addressee: Governor / Director · Topic: Safety
Recommendation (the Board's words)
The Board notes that although the number of reported violent incidents overall remains static, albeit at a high level, there has been a doubling in the instances of use of force since 2023 (676 in 2023, 878 in 2024 and 1,296 in 2025) coupled with a 20% increase in adjudications, all of which point to an unstable and volatile prison situation.
Addressee: Governor / Director · Topic: Resettlement
Recommendation (the Board's words)
The Board is concerned about the reductions in resettlement staff numbers, which, coupled with the high number of prisoner releases, means that targets for release planning cannot be met by the staff.
Addressee: Governor / Director · Topic: Regime
Recommendation (the Board's words)
The Board knows that the Governor is aware of the vital importance of maintaining family links while serving a sentence and the difficulties that many families encounter on visiting in person due to its location. The provision of video calls is therefore very important, yet the Board has received numerous complaints concerning cancellation of planned video calls.
Addressee: Governor / Director · Topic: Substance Misuse
Recommendation (the Board's words)
The very large number of drug overdoses resulting in ‘code blue’ emergencies (almost one per day) with an estimated 240 ambulance visits and 153 urgent transfers to hospital for treatment. This reflects the on-going ingress of dangerous drugs into the prison. The problems of drug intoxication and debt also fuel the worryingly high levels of violence and self-harm.