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Oakwood

AI-generated report summary HMP Oakwood, a large Category C training prison, generally provides a safe environment with strong staff-prisoner relationships and exceptional family support. However, it faces significant challenges including high IPP recall rates, insufficient neurodiversity support, and anticipated reductions in education provision. Persistent issues with property management, healthcare transfer delays, and food budget constraints continue to be key concerns for the Independent Monitoring Board.

Year: 2026 Published: 20 Aug 2026 Type: Prison · Cat C Key concerns Positive findings
Original IMB report page ↗

Safety statistics

Incidents during reporting year
IndicatorThis yearPrevious
Deaths in custody6—
Self-harm incidents1,3921,366
ACCT cases opened484424
Prisoner assaults128—
Assaults on staff7491
Use of force642691
Drug finds372546

Positive findings

AI-generated summary
The Board commends HMP Oakwood for being a generally safe and secure environment, with well-maintained modern facilities and one of the best induction processes. Staff-prisoner relationships are good, and peer-led initiatives provide valuable support. Healthcare provision by Practice Plus Group is equivalent to community standards, and the prison offers exceptional support to terminally ill prisoners and their families. Education and vocational training are valued, with notable successes like the Barbering Academy and expanding Farms and Gardens. Family contact provision, including various intervention programs and dog visits, is outstanding.

Key concerns

15 items
Resettlement/Release Repeated Of the 68 IPP prisoners at HMP Oakwood, 49 are on recall (72%). Given that the majority are ten or more years over their original tariff, when will extra funding be given to the Probation Service to prioritise reducing this recall percentage for IPP prisoners? If no additional resources are planned, what is the rationale for this decision?
Equality/Diversity Repeated There remains only one neurodiversity support manager (appointed by the Ministry of Justice) for each prison in England, including HMP Oakwood, irrespective of its population or the level of need. HMP Oakwood’s neurodiversity support manager estimates that 900 prisoners (40%) are neurodivergent. Given the scale of need and the over-representation of neurodivergent prisoners among those involved in violence, when will the Minister review the allocation of neurodiversity funding and support to ensure it better reflects the needs and population size of individual prisons?
Education/Purposeful Activity Education provision is expected to reduce by 5% from September 2026. How does the Minister justify this reduction, given that HMP Oakwood is a training prison that places considerable emphasis on education, including making English and maths courses mandatory up to Level 2 for prisoners who have not yet achieved these qualifications?
Safety Drones continue to pose an increasing threat to prisons through their ability to deliver illicit items. What resources is the Prison Service providing to prisons to detect, deter and disrupt drone activity, and are these resources sufficient to address the growing risk?
Other Repeated Since the implementation of the Prisoners’ Property Policy Framework in 2022, the Board remains concerned that it is seeing a lack of adherence to the policy, particularly with missing property from incoming prisoners. The highest numbers of complaints both to the prison and to the IMB continue to concern missing property. How – and when - will the Prison Service address this concern?
Mental Health Repeated The vast majority of transfers to a secure mental health facility from Oakwood continue to exceed the 28-day stipulated timeframe. How – and when - will the Prison address this ongoing concern?
Food/Catering Repeated The Food in Prisons Policy Framework was again revised again in February 2026 to promote healthier diets for prisoners; however, the daily allowance per prisoner remains at £3.16 per day at Oakwood. When will the Prison Service review the amount, especially given the inflation increases in food costs?
Food/Catering Repeated What measures is the Director taking to ensure that food service standards at prison serveries are consistently maintained, including compliance with PPE requirements and regular checks to ensure that all catering equipment is functioning correctly?
Healthcare Repeated What steps is the Director taking to continue to work with health champions and members of the HAS Line, a prisoner-led initiative that works with the healthcare unit, to address concerns regarding the availability of health complaint forms on houseblocks?
Other Repeated The Board continues to be concerned about complaints regarding property lost whilst at HMP Oakwood. What resources is the Director deploying to improve the management of property during internal movements and cell clearances and to reduce the incidence of lost property?
Equality/Diversity Repeated What steps is the Director taking, in partnership with the chaplaincy team, to recruit a Rabbi?
Complaints/Property Repeated There have been ongoing issues throughout the reporting year concerning the lack of availability of complaints forms (Comp1, Comp1A, Comp2, IPCI and DIRF) on the houseblocks, but especially on Cedar. In addition to this, there was a general dissatisfaction among prisoners with the complaints system in general, especially in replacing many Comp1s with three-day requests.
Mental Health Repeated As noted in our previous report, the mental health team remains concerned about the lack of availability of forensic psychological secure place. This means that some prisoners remain in the care and separation unit (CSU), where there is no provision or resource for enhanced mental health support.
Mental Health There is a 30-week wait for routine mental health referrals.
Healthcare PEL reported that concerns regarding medications are running high but similar to other prisons. The main challenge is managing hospital appointments, due to the increasing number of incoming prisoners with complex needs, often involving three or four medical conditions.

Applications to the IMB

CategoryCurrentPrevious
Accommodation, including laundry, clothing, ablutions 35 27
Canteen, facility list, catalogues 13 16
Discipline, including adjudications, incentives scheme, sanctions 17 13
Equality 12 18
Finance, including pay, private monies, spends 16 30
Food and kitchens 18 18
Health, including physical, mental, social care 43 82
Letters, visits, telephones, public protection, restrictions 24 26
Miscellaneous 151 223
Property at Current Establishment 50 73
Property During Transfer 46 104
Purposeful activity, including education, work, training, time out of cell 31 30
Sentence management, including HDC (home detention curfew), ROTL (release on temporary licence), parole, release dates, recategorisation 33 56
Staff / Prisoner Related 32 39
Transfers 14 18

Related inspections & investigations

9 Apr 2024 HMIP · Unannounced Safety 4 · Respect 4 · Activity 4 · Release 3
17 May 2021 HMIP · Unannounced
— PPO fatal incident Mark Jones · Natural causes
— PPO fatal incident Lee Ellis
— PPO fatal incident Haifong Bian · Natural causes
— PPO fatal incident Ryan Sedgwick
— PPO fatal incident James Bond

Other reports for Oakwood

2025 Published 27 Aug 2025 Population 2,135 · Self-harm 1,366 · Concerns
2024 Published 23 Aug 2024 Population 2,097 · Self-harm 1,388 · Concerns
2023 Published 5 Sep 2023 Population 2,067 · Self-harm 1,139 · Concerns
2022 Published 2 Aug 2022 Population 2,048 · Concerns
2021 Published 24 Aug 2021 Population 2,047 · Self-harm 887 · Concerns
2020 Published 7 Aug 2020 Population 2,060 · Self-harm 1,176 · Concerns