Source · IMB Annual Report
Feltham
Year: 2025
Published: 3 Feb 2026
Type: Prison · Cat YOI / Category C
Population: 553
Recommendations: 41
Key concerns
Positive findings
The IMB report for HMP/YOI Feltham (August 2024-September 2025) highlights significant internal restructuring into Feltham A (YOI) and Feltham B (Category C). While commendable progress has been made in staff professionalism, substance-free units, and reduced 'keep aparts', critical concerns persist regarding high staff absence on Feltham A affecting regime, severe probation staffing shortages, and the negative impact of new visa rules on foreign national prison officers. The establishment also faces ongoing issues with estate underinvestment, insufficient purposeful activity, and the prevalence of weapons and drug contraband.
Safety statistics
| Indicator | This year | Previous |
|---|---|---|
| Deaths in custody | 0 | 0 |
Positive findings
The Board commends the successful internal split of Feltham into two distinct establishments and the positive changes observed, particularly at Feltham B, which is now a very different place from 12 months ago. Staff are consistently praised for their professional and humane treatment of prisoners. Notable improvements include the introduction of substance-free living units on Feltham B, the elimination of 'keep aparts' leading to increased free flow to activities, and a significant reduction in incidents at height on Feltham A. The IMB also highlights the dedicated support provided by staff on the Alpine unit and the valuable work of charities like Catch 22 and Belong.
Key concerns
Staffing
Repeated
Shortage of Probation Service staff hampers delivery of resettlement services.
Staffing
Repeated
Recent changes to visas for overseas workers will prevent many foreign national people who have recently joined the Prison Service from continuing to work in the UK, leading to deportations and hindering recruitment.
Regime/Time Out of Cell
Repeated
Insufficient meaningful activity and time out of rooms to allow all boys (Feltham A) to have more time out of their rooms, particularly at weekends and on bank holidays.
Education/Purposeful Activity
Repeated
The education contract with Shaw Trust (Feltham A) is not fit for purpose in a number of key respects and needs revision.
Education/Purposeful Activity
Repeated
Shortage of workshop places and slow delivery of building and renovation projects for workshops (e.g., bricks workshop closure due to fan failure, delays in recycling workshop) on Feltham B.
Estate/Conditions
Repeated
Underinvestment in the fabric of the estate, leading to persistent roof leaks (visitors centre, CSRU), damp and mould issues in cells (Lapwing, Kingfisher), and units taken out of use.
Safety
Repeated
Continued prevalence of weapons finds (50 in August 2025 on A side, 44 in July 2025 on B side), and ongoing issue of drones delivering drugs. Concerns around staff competency and corruption related to weapons finds.
Resettlement/Release
Release plans for boys on Feltham A are often finalised very close to release dates, causing distress and anxiety.
Food/Catering
Repeated
Inconsistent cleanliness in serveries, sporadic wearing of hygienic uniform by servery workers, and vermin issues (rodent faeces, live mice) due to exposed food.
Recommendations
| # | Recommendation | Addressee | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |
What is being done to recruit staff to the Probation Service? The shortage of probation staff hampers delivery of resettlement services in prisons and will be a serious impediment to the proposed community sentence proposals in the Government’s Sentencing Bill.
Repeated
Response
Dedicated national campaign to recruit youth justice workers. Additional funding; staffing levels in London increased 13% in the year ending December 2023; additional support in London through Civil Service detached duty scheme; alumni scheme to recruit returners to the Probation Service. |
Other | |
| 2 | The IMB understands that recent changes to visas for overseas workers will prevent many foreign national people who have recently joined the Prison Service from continuing to work in the UK. These trained and operational working prison officers face deportation. The changes will also prevent current overseas applicants from being successfully recruited. In this situation, where else will the Government look for prison staff? | Other | |
| 3 | What plans are in place to support 18-year-olds with complex needs who are released from a children’s prison, in terms of housing and probation support? | Other | |
| 4 |
When will there be sufficient meaningful activity to allow all boys to have more time out of their rooms, particularly at weekends and on bank holidays?
Repeated
Response
A Side: the YCS ‘Road Map to Effective Practice’ with integrated care model introduced. Small improvements seen by August 2025 but lost by October 2025. |
HMPPS | |
| 5 |
The education contract with Shaw Trust is in year three of seven years. It is not fit for purpose in a number of key respects. When will the education contract be revised so it is fit for purpose?
Repeated
Response
The YCS does not qualify for additional LA funding to support SEN/EHCP children: ‘We are working with the Department for Education to see how we can support learners with SEN.’ There was an acknowledgement that Feltham A education provision requires improvement. The YCS has developed a new contractual assurance cycle. In October 2023, this recorded shortcomings in outreach. Action to improve outreach forms part of the school development plan and is monitored monthly. The YCS education leads monitored this in January 2024 and confirmed some improvement but that more is required. |
HMPPS | |
| 6 | What steps will you take to support the A side Governor in recruiting more staff for resettlement and well-being teams? Repeated | HMPPS | |
| 7 | The IMB understands there is an intention to open Grebe unit as a construction workshop area. When will this be achieved? | Governor / Director | |
| 8 | What steps will you take to improve staffing levels in the resettlement team? Repeated | Governor / Director | |
| 9 | What steps will you take to improve staffing levels in the wellbeing team? | Governor / Director | |
| 10 |
What plans are in place to further increase time out of room for the boys at the weekends and in the evenings?
Repeated
Response
A Side: the YCS ‘Road Map to Effective Practice’ with integrated care model introduced. Small improvements seen by August 2025 but lost by October 2025. |
Governor / Director | |
| 11 |
The IMB has seen plans to increase workshop capacity by early 2026. What steps will you take all steps to ensure these plans are delivered?
Repeated
Response
A review of current workshop spaces is underway; a new carpentry workshop is being introduced. The recycling workshop moving to a new compound. There is a new initiative for servicing and repairing garden machinery from other prisons. ‘Additional vocational training programmes are being introduced in high demand industries.’ Higher level qualifications are being introduced. All staff are attending regular training to upskill to deliver high quality instruction. ‘A structured process in place to gather information about each learner early in their custody, allowing for a personalised learning plan’. Partnerships with external employers and apprenticeships. Partnerships with charities/not-for-profit organisations to ensure individuals have mentorship and support on release. |
Governor / Director | |
| 12 |
Implement dedicated national campaign to recruit youth justice workers.
Repeated
Response
Dedicated national campaign to recruit youth justice workers. |
HMPPS | |
| 13 |
Recruitment of probation staff?
Repeated
Response
Additional funding; staffing levels in London increased 13% in the year ending December 2023; additional support in London through Civil Service detached duty scheme; alumni scheme to recruit returners to the Probation Service. |
Ministry of Justice | |
| 14 |
Address prisoners’ lost property issues.
Repeated
Response
The Prisoners’ Property Policy Framework was introduced in 2022. Onus is on Governors and Directors to ensure management checks are undertaken to have confidence that prisoners’ property is being handled correctly and with care. HM Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS) to monitor framework and see if improvements can be made. |
HMPPS | |
| 15 |
Improve information sharing between social services and the YCS, so looked-after children (LACs) receive entitlements.
Repeated
Response
The Youth Custody Service (YCS) will build relationships with local authorities (LAs) and site safeguarding teams. Working-together guidance being prepared by the YCS and the youth justice board (YJB). |
HMPPS | |
| 16 |
Address staff absence and improve retention.
Repeated
Response
Answer, as above, given by the Minister. |
HMPPS | |
| 17 |
Investigate if local authority funding for SEN/EHCP children can follow them into custody.
Repeated
Response
The YCS does not qualify for additional LA funding to support SEN/EHCP children: ‘We are working with the Department for Education to see how we can support learners with SEN.’ There was an acknowledgement that Feltham A education provision requires improvement. The YCS has developed a new contractual assurance cycle. In October 2023, this recorded shortcomings in outreach. Action to improve outreach forms part of the school development plan and is monitored monthly. The YCS education leads monitored this in January 2024 and confirmed some improvement but that more is required. |
HMPPS | |
| 18 |
Ensure older prisoners on B side have access to appropriate education and training.
Repeated
Response
This lies with the Governor, who commissions courses, informed by a need-analysis in consultation with employers and HMPPS New Futures Network. Review of activities is underway. Additional resource is targeted to cater for the older cohort. ‘The quality and type of workshop provision will be addressed to mitigate the current poor levels of engagement and attendance.’ |
HMPPS | |
| 19 |
Address underinvestment in the structural fabric of the estate.
Repeated
Response
In the past year, over £100,000 has been spent on short-term roofing repairs. There is a £20 million MoJ capital project for roof replacements on five-and-a-half units on B side (Ibis, Lapwing, Nightingale, Osprey, Raven and Swallow), as well as the legal and social visits areas. Project in design phase; works expected 2024-2025. |
Ministry of Justice | |
| 20 |
Take proactive steps to reduce staff absence and provide support for those on sick leave.
Repeated
Response
Update given verbally to IMB at Board meetings on a continual basis. In cases of unauthorised absence, action has been taken, post-absence, to reduce further occurrences and to tighten up on TOIL (time off in lieu of overtime pay). The increase in violence adds to staff absence. |
Governor / Director | |
| 21 |
Improve delivery of key worker and custody support plan (CUSP) sessions.
Repeated
Response
September 2025: there is a B side new key worker strategy, with an increase in quality and quantity. Changes to A side mean more CUSP sessions are delivered now. |
Governor / Director | |
| 22 |
Provide suitable spaces for outreach meetings.
Repeated
Response
August 2025: 80% of outreach interventions take place, more rooms are available and some are being refurbished. |
Governor / Director | |
| 23 |
Investigate why the population of Wren unit is generally white, when a significant proportion of the prison population is black.
Repeated
Response
2025: Wren now open as a substance free living unit and reflects the population of the prison in terms of diversity. |
Governor / Director | |
| 24 |
Make more information available regarding time out of room (TOoR), e.g. inclusion of data in daily briefing and flagging all children with less than two hours.
Repeated
Response
August 2025: This information is now in every daily briefing notice. |
Governor / Director | |
| 25 |
Address youth knife crime and gang culture.
Repeated
Response
The government manifesto committed to halving knife crime over 10 years’ and every person caught possessing a knife referred to YOT to draw up plan to prevent reoffending… We are working up proposals though stakeholder engagement.’ A new offence in the Crime and Policing Bill to increase convictions against exploiters and gangs who use children to commit crimes. MoJ’s programme Turnaround providing funding to YOTs running to March 26 Young Futures Programme to identify young people who could be drawn into crime. |
Ministry of Justice | |
| 26 |
Address knife crime and gang conflict in London (Mayor of London).
Repeated
Response
The Mayor has committed £15.6m for London Children and YP Violence and Exploitation Support Service. MOPAC worked with London Prisons Group formulate a violence reduction strategy. At Feltham, this includes peer mentoring, enhanced purposeful activity, specialist support for prisoners, phase 2 now a specialist therapeutic group work programme. |
Other | |
| 27 |
Implement enhanced gate security (EGS), considering the rise in substance misuse and the admission of older prisoners on B side.
Repeated
Response
HMP/YOI Feltham implementing EGS-working towards building a new area for staff searches. Local-led project re-allocating local existing resources due for completion July 2025. |
HMPPS | |
| 28 |
Take proactive steps to address the issue of prisoners making and carrying weapons in custody.
Repeated
Response
YCS has ‘prioritised research to better understand why children create, carry and use weapons’ and if neurodiversity is a factor. Feltham A is being offered support through group safety leads, and the site is developing a ‘weapons strategy’. This will include a consistent response to those young people making, holding and using weapons. |
HMPPS | |
| 29 |
Change the policy where a boy who removes parts from his laptop, in order to make a weapon, is given a replacement after only 28 days; and look at the design of laptops so they do not include removable strips of rigid metal or other removable parts that can be sharpened into weapons.
Repeated
Response
YCS policy is quoted in the response: a proven adjudication on proof of tampering with a laptop leads to 28-day ban on laptop use. A suitability review is conducted before a replacement is given and, if not suitable on review, the person is reassessed but at no longer than 35 days. There are seals on laptops. |
HMPPS | |
| 30 |
Reopen the enhanced support unit on Feltham A.
Repeated
Response
This now operational. It was opened in October 2024. It has six beds but has had never more than three or four occupants. |
HMPPS | |
| 31 |
Improve purposeful activity and increase the number of workshop places to ensure prisoners have access to further education and training, such that they can secure employment on release (Feltham B).
Repeated
Response
A review of current workshop spaces is underway; a new carpentry workshop is being introduced. The recycling workshop moving to a new compound. There is a new initiative for servicing and repairing garden machinery from other prisons. ‘Additional vocational training programmes are being introduced in high demand industries.’ Higher level qualifications are are being introduced. All staff are attending regular training to upskill to deliver high quality instruction. ‘A structured process in place to gather information about each learner early in their custody, allowing for a personalised learning plan’. Partnerships with external employers and apprenticeships. Partnerships with charities/not-for-profit organisations to ensure individuals have mentorship and support on release. |
HMPPS | |
| 32 |
Improve the structural fabric of the whole prison.
Repeated
Response
Emergency lighting changed; dental suites A and B upgraded; knotweed removed; landscaping and pond renewed; control room and gate house refurbished; IBIS and Wren and visitors’ centre have a new roof; Nightingale refurbishment. Future projects: multi-sport court; fire safety; study into upgrading or replacing boilers and roofs; explore feasibility of improving lighting; consider relocating radiators; consider installing anti barricade doors in education. |
HMPPS | |
| 33 |
Provide A side education with a new management of information system (MIS).
Repeated
Response
YCS will be purchasing a new cloud-based system designed for schools. |
HMPPS | |
| 34 |
Provide B side prisoners with in-cell laptops that support study on remote learning courses such as the Open University.
Repeated
Response
Currently there is a suite of educational videos available on Feltham’s Launchpad hub and three guidance docs for Open University’. Recognised that Launchpad has limited functionality and is not interactive, nor can it do word processing. |
HMPPS | |
| 35 |
Ensure that the shortfall between planned hours of education and delivered hours continues to be monitored and reduced (Feltham A Governor).
Repeated
Response
Insufficient progress seen here. |
Governor / Director | |
| 36 |
Take steps to deliver more education via outreach to separated boys (Feltham A Governor).
Repeated
Response
Insufficient progress seen here, although attendance numbers have improved. Increase in red bands. Red bands now deployed on A side to clean. |
Governor / Director | |
| 37 |
Commission appropriate skills workshops and rehabilitation courses for prisoners in Feltham B (Feltham B Governor).
Repeated
Response
New standards role created on SLT with senior and very experienced leader. |
Governor / Director | |
| 38 |
Address the inconsistent cleanliness seen in the serveries, including inconsistent wearing of personal protective equipment (PPE) by servery workers (Feltham B Governor).
Repeated
Response
Servery cleanliness improved but remains variable, with vermin issues in the summer of 2025. Appropriate clothing rarely worn by servery workers. |
Governor / Director | |
| 39 |
Reduce the amount of food going missing between the kitchen and residential units (Feltham B Governor).
Repeated
Response
Measures have been introduced with some success. Officers pick up the food trollies from the kitchen and an audit trail shows amounts of food allocated to wings. |
Governor / Director | |
| 40 |
Commission the Traka units for dispensing medication for use (Feltham B Governor).
Repeated
Response
Traka units not commissioned in the 2024-2025 reporting year. There was a soft launch in October 2025 and this is now live, so B side prisoners are collecting their in-possession medication independently. |
Governor / Director | |
| 41 |
Re-introduce a working protocol for resolving lost property issues (Feltham B Governor).
Repeated
Response
No protocol but recently staff seem better able to track down property (as above). |
Governor / Director |
Applications to the IMB
| Category | Current | Previous |
|---|---|---|
| Accommodation (including transfers) | 45 | 38 |
| Medical treatment (including dental) | 27 | 25 |
| Other (eg. discipline, legal, visitors) | 60 | 55 |
| Property (lost or damaged) | 12 | 10 |
| Total | 144 | 128 |
Other reports for Feltham
Report details
- Establishment
- Feltham
- Type
- Prison · Cat YOI / Category C
- Report year
- 2025
- Published
- 3 February 2026
- Responsible body
- Feltham
- Recommendations
- 41
- MoJ rating (2024/25)
- 1 — Serious concern
Population
| Population | 553 |
Service providers
Charity
Catch 22
Education
Shaw Trust
Escort/Transportation
Serco