Recommendation 1
What urgent action is proposed to reduce the time taken to process security clearance and enable staff to take up their roles?
Source · IMB Annual Report
Erlestoke
AI-generated report summary HMP Erlestoke, a Category C training prison, reported an operational capacity of 512 prisoners for the year ending March 2026. While self-harm incidents decreased, violent incidents, use of force, and self-isolation increased, largely attributed to staffing shortages and illicit drug challenges. Significant concerns include persistent staffing issues due to vetting delays, a major reduction in education provision, and profound problems in social care for elderly prisoners. The Board commended improvements in ACCT attendance and positive family engagement initiatives, while calling for urgent action on staffing, infrastructure, and regime provision.
Year: 2026
Published: 21 Aug 2026
Type: Prison · Cat C
Recommendations: 11
Key concerns
Positive findings
Safety statistics
| Indicator | This year | Previous |
|---|---|---|
| Deaths in custody | 0 | — |
| Self-harm incidents | 275 | 318 |
| ACCT cases opened | 200 | 200 |
| Prisoner assaults | 97 | — |
| Assaults on staff | 65 | — |
| Use of force | 467 | 386 |
| Drug finds | 236 | — |
Positive findings
AI-generated summaryThe Board welcomed improvements in ACCT attendance and noted a significant reduction in self-harm incidents, reaching the lowest figure in six years. Positive staff-prisoner relationships and the dedicated efforts of the complaints clerk were commended. Progress in education quality, particularly in the allocation of prisoners and identification of employment pathways, was observed. Vocational opportunities like the multi skills workshop were well-received, and family engagement through family days and Storybook Dads continued to be positive initiatives. Employment outcomes on release were good, with nearly 96% of prisoners housed on the first night.
Key concerns
The quality of the induction programme and poor condition of the induction cells still need addressing to offer a better experience for newly arrived prisoners.
The number of prisoners self-isolating has increased due to fears of threat and being in debt.
The reduction in the use of body worn cameras is disappointing as usage provides evidence for both prisoners and staff to validate how incidents are handled.
Gates and doors have been left unlocked on several occasions which is of concern to the Board.
Delays in vetting for all staff, including healthcare, is having a significant negative impact on both prisoners and those staff in post, who find themselves increasingly stretched.
The number of key working sessions for the main prison population and the priority cohort remains inadequate, although it is recognised that this is an inevitable consequence of inadequate staffing.
The Board notes with concern the considerable increase in the number of prisoners admitted to the segregation unit on an open ACCT.
Courtesy keys (which allow prisoners to secure their cells when not in them) are not sufficiently widely available, resulting in numerous stolen and lost items.
The education department has been awaiting the installation of a ramp to allow access to wheelchair users for over four years. This is a violation of the 2010 Equality Act.
At times, supervision by officers during the collection of medication by prisoners has been ineffective, leading to prisoners secreting their medication for later sale and helping to compound the existing problem with drug supply within the prison.
An insufficient allocation of escorts (10 per week) and an occasional lack of sufficient staff to enable this number, continues to have an impact on the ability of the prison to provide sufficient escorts for hospital appointments.
Profound issues remain in relation to social care, and the management of the population of elderly and frail prisoners.
Lack of staff led to a direct impact on the regime and prisoners’ time out of cell.
The Board has very great concern arising from the decimation of the education provision, which will result in many prisoners not receiving the support they need while in prison, that will enable them to lead useful and fulfilled lives on release.
Pressure on the Offender Management Unit (OMU) remains, as continued changes to sentencing laws result in an increased workload and consequently less time to engage with individual prisoners.
Recommendations
Recommendation 2
What is being planned to redress this incomprehensible decision?
Recommendation 3
What specific action is being taken to address the need for suitable prison accommodation for the increasing numbers of elderly and frail prisoners, so that they may be provided with fair and humane treatment and so that prisons are not left to struggle to manage this cohort with ineffective systems and inappropriate facilities?
Response
Please see the letter from Lord Timpson dated 27 October 2025 at Annex B.
Recommendation 4
What is being done to address this as a matter of urgency?
Recommendation 5
What is being done to resolve the issue?
Recommendation 6
What measures will be put in place to promote increased use?
Recommendation 7
What action is being taken to ensure that key working sessions for the priority cohort are completed and what plans are in place to ensure that key working sessions for the remainder of the population are maximised, despite the current staffing difficulties?
Response
Quality Assurance has improved and the head of offender management delivery sends direct feedback to keyworkers. Managers now to provide assurance that they are giving QA feedback to staff. The establishment recently had a Keywork Audit, and the report and action plan, when published, will inform further improvements.
Recommendation 8
Is there scope for recruiting more paid orderlies, given the rehabilitative benefit to the orderlies and the unique type of support they are able to offer as a result of their lived experience?
Recommendation 9
What robust and timely system is in place to select and train social care and wheelchair buddies, given the vulnerability of those in their charge and the inherent risk of injury if they are untrained?
Recommendation 10
What urgent plans are there to ensure that motivated officers supervise medication collection, given that it is recognised some prisoners will secrete their medication for later sale?
Recommendation 11
Given the ongoing issues with the supply of medication for prisoners, their increasing complexity, and the expansion of the prison by over a third in the near future, is consideration being given to an on-site pharmacy?
Applications to the IMB
| Category | Current | Previous |
|---|---|---|
| Accommodation, including laundry, clothing, ablutions | 12 | 21 |
| Discipline, including adjudications, incentives scheme, sanctions | 20 | 5 |
| E1 Letters, visits, telephones, public protection restrictions | 21 | 11 |
| E2 Finance, including pay, private monies, spends | 3 | 3 |
| Equality | 8 | 6 |
| F Food and kitchens | 3 | 12 |
| G Health, including physical, mental, social care | 37 | 31 |
| H1 Property within this establishment | 26 | 16 |
| H2 Property during transfer or in another facility | 17 | 25 |
| H3 Canteen, facility list, catalogue(s) | 9 | 8 |
| I Sentence management, including home detention curfew (HDC), release on temporary licence (ROTL), parole, release dates, re-categorisation | 38 | 41 |
| J Staff/prisoner concerns, including bullying | 40 | 34 |
| K Transfers | 11 | 15 |
| L Miscellaneous | 5 | 4 |
| Purposeful activity, including education, work, training, time out of cell | 6 | 4 |
Related inspections & investigations
Safety 2
· Respect 2
· Activity 1
· Release 3
Liam Darby · Other non-natural
Davide Parra · Self-inflicted
Other reports for Erlestoke
Population 515
· Self-harm 318
· Concerns
· Self-harm 468
· Concerns
Population 467
· Self-harm 215
· Concerns
Population 443
· Self-harm 358
· Concerns
Population 428
· Self-harm 392
· Concerns
Population 484
· Self-harm 211
· Concerns