Woodhill inspection report 2026
Report for Woodhill Prison
Summary
HMP Woodhill is a prison that is a cause for deep concern. Despite some limited signs of more stability since our last inspection, much of this following the recent appointment of a new and experienced governor, the fundamental issues that have affected Woodhill for many years remained unresolved. This was particularly troubling given Woodhill’s role as a category B training prison holding long-term and complex prisoners, all of whom should be engaged purposefully and supported to reduce their risk of harm to others. For our healthy prison tests, we found outcomes in respect to be ‘not sufficiently good’, and ‘poor’ in our three other tests. These findings were – overall – even worse than at our previous inspection in 2023, and wholly reflective of the apparent intractability of problems that beset this prison. This was the principal reason that I decided to invoke our urgent notification (UN) process, writing to the Deputy Prime Minister on 17 March 2026.