Pentonville inspection report 2022
Report for Pentonville Prison
Summary
HMP Pentonville in north London is one the oldest prisons in the country. It received its first prisoners in 1842 and was designed to hold 520 people in single cells. In recent times, it has routinely been one of most challenging and troubled prisons, with a succession of poor inspections. Our last full inspection in 2019 was no exception to this sorry history, but at our scrutiny visit in 2020 we saw evidence of fragile progress. At this inspection, the promise of improvements had been realised in part, but many serious concerns remained, including some fundamental weaknesses in offender management and provision of activities. Safety had improved, with much reduced violence, a well-run segregation unit and better governance of force.