Hatfield inspection report 2024
Report for Hatfield Prison
Summary
Located in South Yorkshire and comprising two elements, the main site and ‘The Lakes’ facility a few miles away, Hatfield is an open prison with space for just under 360 adult men. We last inspected it five years ago when we assessed outcomes for prisoners as good, our highest assessment, against all four of our healthy prison tests. At a time when there is much criticism of the prison system, it is pleasing to report that Hatfield has maintained those standards and arguably surpassed them. For the second inspection in a row, we found outcomes against all of our tests to be good, an impressive achievement for a men’s prison. A very safe place with hardly any violence or self-harm, the success of Hatfield is predicated on good relationships, respect, and the sense of purpose and opportunity engendered by a meaningful prison regime. A third of the men were working out of the prison on temporary release each day.