Key concerns 26 items
Key concerns were extracted from the report text by an AI model.
Key concern 1
Safety
Violence in the prison remains a concern for the Board and the presence of alcohol, drugs and other prohibited items creates an unsafe environment for both prisoners and prison staff.
Key concern 2
Substance Misuse
The incidence of illicit drug use within the prison has risen. A lack of effective perimeter protection made this a challenging issue to resolve.
Key concern 3
Safety
The Board has observed that assessment, care in custody and teamwork (ACCT) documents (used to support prisoners who are at risk of self-harm and suicide) continue to be of variable quality with observations missing, conversations not meaningful and supervisors’ checks not taking place.
Key concern 4
Estate/Conditions · Repeated from a previous year
As reported previously, dilapidated buildings with leaking roofs, broken heating and boilers, faulty lighting, and washing machine failures continue to undermine the efforts of staff and management to make the prison a place of safety and reform.
Key concern 5
Estate/Conditions · Repeated from a previous year
Despite the segregation building not complying with PSO17002, there are still no plans to upgrade/refurbish it.
Key concern 6
Equality/Diversity
There is a growing disparity between prisoners aged 18 - 24 and rest of the prison population in respect of use of force, the violence reduction landing and incentive schemes.
Key concern 7
Healthcare
Patient confidentiality, the removal of prisoner complaints from the prison complaints system and difficulty accessing performance data from the healthcare providers have limited the Board’s ability to assess the standard of healthcare within the prison.
Key concern 8
Healthcare
The Board observed that prisoners placed into 24-hour isolation by the healthcare provider were denied access to regime for several weeks.
Key concern 9
Healthcare
The prison did not have a dentist for seven months during this reporting period.
Key concern 10
Education/Purposeful Activity
A cut of nearly 40% in the prison’s education provision ended all vocational courses and led to six members of education team being made redundant.
Key concern 11
Resettlement/Release
A total of 25% of prisoners released during the reporting period were homeless.
Key concern 12
Mental Health
From observations, there continues to be a significant number of prisoners who, for a variety of reasons, choose to self-isolate. The Board is still concerned about the effect this potentially has on their mental health.
Key concern 13
Equality/Diversity · Repeated from a previous year
Some prisoners with mobility issues are housed in inappropriate accommodation. Prisoners with reduced mobility on the wings struggle to get their meals and with other daily activities. There are no lifts on B and C wings and the only lift on A wing remains out of action. The healthcare wing remains without a specially adapted shower for prisoners with disabilities.
Key concern 14
Equality/Diversity · Repeated from a previous year
At the end of the reporting period there were four foreign national detainees being held at HMP/YOI Norwich. ...detention in prison beyond the end of a sentence causes frustration and manifests itself in bad behaviour.
Key concern 15
Equality/Diversity
Use of force remains disproportionate for this age group: 41% and 36% of all incidents in January and February 2026 respectively. Of 26 prisoners housed in the violence reduction landing at the end of the reporting period, 11 were aged between 18 – 24 (42%). There are also disparities within the incentive schemes. Young adults accounted for 41% of all prisoners on basic and only 9% enhanced.
Key concern 16
Resettlement/Release · Repeated from a previous year
There continues to be difficulties transferring PCoSOs out of HMP/YOI Norwich. This results in delays accessing courses needed for their sentence management plans. As a reception prison, it does not receive funding to provide these courses which limits prisoners’ rehabilitation and prevents progress when their cases are considered by the parole board.
Key concern 17
Complaints/Property
Prisoners continue to complaint to the IMB that their property has not been safeguarded when relocated elsewhere in the prison.
Key concern 18
Mental Health
Throughout the reporting year there has been uncertainty over contractual arrangements for the provision of mental health care, still unresolved. This uncertainty appears to have resulted in staff resignations and a reduction in services.
Key concern 19
Staffing
Not only have staff shortages curtailed regime, activities such as visits to the gym and library have to be cancelled at short notice due to staff being needed elsewhere.
Key concern 20
Substance Misuse
According to the most recent HMIP report following their inspection in January 2026, 43% of prisoners reported that acquiring drugs was easier than before. The report also revealed that 24% of random drug tests return positive.
Key concern 21
Mental Health · Repeated from a previous year
As noted in the last three annual reports, the Board remains concerned that prisoners with mental health issues continue to be held in the segregation unit because no suitable place of safety is available when they are violent or disruptive.
Key concern 22
Regime/Time Out of Cell · Repeated from a previous year
As mentioned in previous annual reports, there is little to occupy segregated prisoners. There are no gym facilities and limited exercise is offered daily in two small, bare yards.
Key concern 23
Estate/Conditions
Problems with the prison heating system persist. The wings can become very cold in winter and too hot in summer. In C wing, system faults meant that the heating stayed on until June 2025. Following a leak from a faulty boiler in April 2025, the daycare centre did not have any heating or hot water until October.
Key concern 24
Regime/Time Out of Cell
The prison has taken steps to bring laundry services in-house. This has led to disruption and delays to clothes being washed.
Key concern 25
Food/Catering
During the year there was a lack of staff supervising mealtimes and ongoing issues with serveries. For example, prisoners not wearing whites or using gloves, the same gloved hands used to serve vegetarian or non-vegetarian meals, incorrect meals. Portion control remains an issue.
Key concern 26
Regime/Time Out of Cell · Repeated from a previous year
There are still no baby bonding sessions (aimed at introducing prisoners to newborn babies) for prisoners on the category B site following the removal of facilities in 2023.