Isle of Wight inspection report 2023
Report for Isle of Wight Prison
Summary
The Isle of Wight prison has existed in its current form since 2009, when historic Parkhurst was amalgamated with the adjacent Albany, an institution dating from the late 1960s. A third jail, Camphill, originally part of the cluster, subsequently closed and has now been decommissioned. Designated a category B training prison and part of the long-term high security estate, the two sites contain a varied mix of accommodation types, which adds a certain complexity to the institution. That said, the prison’s primary purpose is quite clear. It holds nearly 1,000 men who, with the exception of a small number of local islander remand or sentenced prisoners, have been convicted of serious sexual offences. The vast majority are assessed as presenting a high risk of harm to the public, although most are now category C, presenting a lower security risk than the majority category B population we encountered when we last inspected in 2019.