Werrington inspection report 2025
Summary
Werrington is a young offender institution near Stoke-on-Trent, which at the time of this inspection held just 81 boys aged between 15 and 18. The high level of risk managed within YOIs, recent poor performance, and the particular vulnerabilities associated with the children held, mean we inspect young offender institutions more frequently than adult prisons. Our last inspection of Werrington in 2023 found an unstable establishment in need of substantial support to address the poor outcomes in our healthy prison tests of safety and purposeful activity. At this inspection we found a more stable leadership team; in particular, the governor, who had been in post since the previous inspection and had worked well to address the previous staffing shortages. However, many staff needed more support to develop their skills and knowledge. While many were enthusiastic and wanted to improve outcomes, they simply did not have the time to build the relationships needed to achieve this.