Swinfen Hall inspection report 2024

Summary

Built largely in the early 1960s, Swinfen Hall is a category C training prison near Lichfield in the West Midlands. With a long history of dealing with mainly young adult men, it currently only accepts new arrivals aged 18 to 28, although half of the 611 prisoners held at the time of our inspection were under 21. Most presented a high risk of harm and nearly all were serving long sentences, including 130 who were lifers and. This was our first inspection since 2021, when we reported on a prison that was reasonably respectful, but where outcomes in safety, purposeful activity and preparation for release were not good enough. At this inspection we found a similar picture. There had been a measurable deterioration in outcomes in our healthy prison test of respect, but they had improved in preparation for release.

Inspection ratings