Recommendation 1
Recommendation (the Board's words)What urgent action is proposed to reduce the time taken to process security clearance and enable staff to take up their roles?
Source text verified
Independent Monitoring Boards annual report
Erlestoke
Report year 2026
Published 21 Aug 2026
Type Prison, category C
Responsible body HMP Erlestoke
11 recommendations
Original IMB report page ↗ Ministerial response, 21 Sep 2026 ↗ 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)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.
Positive findings
Summary written by this site (AI-generated)The 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.
Recommendations
- Recommendation 1Addressed to HMPPS
- Recommendation 2Addressed to HMPPS
- Recommendation 3Addressed to HMPPS
Key concerns
- Key concern 1Regime/Time Out of Cell
- Key concern 2Safety
- Key concern 3Safety
Recommendations 11 items · 2 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.
Recommendation 2
Recommendation (the Board's words)What is being planned to redress this incomprehensible decision?
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Recommendation 3
Recommendation (the Board's words)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?
Government response (as published)
Please see the letter from Lord Timpson dated 27 October 2025 at Annex B.
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Recommendation 4
Recommendation (the Board's words)What is being done to address this as a matter of urgency?
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Recommendation 5
Recommendation (the Board's words)What is being done to resolve the issue?
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Recommendation 6
Recommendation (the Board's words)What measures will be put in place to promote increased use?
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Recommendation 7
Recommendation (the Board's words)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?
Government response (as published)
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.
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Recommendation 8
Recommendation (the Board's words)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?
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Recommendation 9
Recommendation (the Board's words)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?
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Recommendation 10
Recommendation (the Board's words)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?
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Recommendation 11
Recommendation (the Board's words)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?
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Key concerns 15 items
Key concerns were extracted from the report text by an AI model.
Key concern 1
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.
Key concern 2
The number of prisoners self-isolating has increased due to fears of threat and being in debt.
Key concern 3
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.
Key concern 4
Gates and doors have been left unlocked on several occasions which is of concern to the Board.
Key concern 5
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.
Key concern 6
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.
Key concern 7
The Board notes with concern the considerable increase in the number of prisoners admitted to the segregation unit on an open ACCT.
Key concern 8
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.
Key concern 9
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.
Key concern 10
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.
Key concern 11
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.
Key concern 12
Profound issues remain in relation to social care, and the management of the population of elderly and frail prisoners.
Key concern 13
Lack of staff led to a direct impact on the regime and prisoners’ time out of cell.
Key concern 14
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.
Key concern 15
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.
Safety statistics
Incidents during the reporting year.
| Indicator | This year | Previous |
|---|---|---|
| Deaths in custody | 0 | not recorded |
| Self-harm incidents | 275 | 318 |
| ACCT cases opened | 200 | 200 |
| Prisoner assaults | 97 | not recorded |
| Assaults on staff | 65 | not recorded |
| Use of force | 467 | 386 |
| Drug finds | 236 | not recorded |
Population
| Operational capacity | 512 |
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 |
Report details
- Establishment
- Erlestoke
- Type
- Prison, category C
- Report year
- 2026
- Published
- 21 August 2026
- Responsible body
- HMP Erlestoke
- Recommendations
- 11
- MoJ rating (2025/26)
- 3, Good
Service providers
| Service | Provider |
|---|---|
| Dentistry | Time for Teeth |
| Education | Milton Keynes College |
| Escort contractor | Serco |
| GP services | Dr PA |
| Healthcare | Oxleas NHS Foundation Trust |
| Library | Milton Keynes College |
| Maintenance | Gov Facility Services Limited (GFSL) |
| Resettlement support | Catch 22 |
| Social Care | Wiltshire County Council |
| Substance misuse programme | Change, Grow, Live |
| Visitors’ centre | Prison Advice and Care Trust (PACT) |