Chelmsford inspection report 2024

Summary

In 2021 our inspection of HMP Chelmsford revealed a prison that was in a state of near collapse: morale among staff was low, the prison was violent and rife with drugs and most prisoners were locked in their cells for more than 22 hours a day. As a result of multiple failings at this Essex jail, I issued an Urgent Notification to the then Secretary of State. At our independent review of progress in 2022, we found that Chelmsford was improving under some effective and determined leadership. I am pleased to report that, despite the level of support to the jail having been reduced, the strong governor and his team had continued to make progress. Chelmsford remained a challenging jail, housing many vulnerable prisoners with mental health difficulties, who were often addicted to drugs or alcohol and frequently homeless. Staff had worked hard to reduce the amount of contraband getting into the prison through improved security systems and better intelligence gathering, which had also led to a reduction in the level of violence and an increase in stability.

Inspection ratings