Prison
Cat Category C training and resettlement
Key Concerns Identified
Positive Findings
Wayland
IMB Annual Report 2022 · Published 17 March 2023
The IMB for HMP Wayland concludes that the prison continues to be failed by the Prison Service and the government across multiple areas, from infrastructure maintenance to adequate staffing and training. The report notes a decline in the quality and effectiveness of prisoner treatment, with key concerns including prisoner safety, deteriorating accommodation, and inadequate resettlement support. While some positive initiatives have begun, the Board finds that fundamental issues persist and require urgent, comprehensive intervention.
Positive Findings
The Board noted a reduction in prisoner-on-prisoner assaults and self-harm rates, and an improved, more supportive approach to prisoners in self-isolation. Efforts to prevent illicit items entering the prison were acknowledged. Positive developments since the reporting year ended include staff support, improved regime planning, increased senior staff visibility, commitment to staff training, and a start to improved induction and property management. Open access to the library has also resumed.
Key Concerns
Safety
Repeated
More prisoners this year reported they felt unsafe after 18 months in the establishment than they did on arrival, by a significant margin. The proportion of prisoners feeling unsafe after reception had risen from about a fifth (22.5%) in the 2019 survey, to almost a third (30.5%) in the latest survey.
Estate/Conditions
Repeated
The disintegration of the basic accommodation infrastructure, indeed the whole prison’s infrastructure, has continued to accelerate, with conditions in some new build units bordering on the inhumane due to non-functioning heating and windows.
Staffing
Repeated
Critical staffing shortages, high turnover, and a lack of experienced officers severely hinder effective prisoner management and rehabilitation, with inadequate initial and development training for new recruits.
Healthcare
Prisoners express significant dissatisfaction with healthcare provision, citing extreme waiting times for GP appointments, and the Board notes that external comparisons do not adequately address prisoners' unique, often poorer health needs.
Resettlement/Release
Repeated
The prison is failing prisoners at almost every level in their progression towards successful resettlement, from initial assessment to discharge, with approximately 20% of prisoners having no known discharge address.
Regime/Time Out of Cell
Repeated
The induction process for new prisoners is consistently reported as unhelpful, with 70% of respondents stating it was not helpful, an even worse figure than in 2021 (65%).
Segregation
Repeated
The new segregation unit remains unfinished and unused due to issues with telephone capacity and lock procurement, and concerns persist over insufficient staffing to provide the necessary 'care' element upon opening.
Other
Repeated
Frequent prisoner property complaints persist, almost all attributed to the lack of proper management and an inadequate IT system for property on reception, transport, and transfer.
Board Commentary
Staffing
Wayland faces critical staffing challenges, including low numbers, high resignation rates, and a significant proportion of young, inexperienced officers. The Board notes that many staff lack the life skills and experience required for their demanding roles, with about 50% having less than a year's service. Issues like lower pay, location, and a reduced recruitment pool exacerbate these problems, impacting staff morale and their ability to effectively manage and rehabilitate prisoners.
Healthcare
Prisoners expressed significant dissatisfaction with healthcare, particularly regarding long waits for GP appointments, reflecting broader NHS issues. The Board highlighted that prisoners have unique, often poorer health needs requiring a reappraisal of provision. Concerns were raised about violence in medication queues, potentially linked to prescription reduction policies, and frequent attendance for suspected 'under the influence' incidents.
Regime & Daily Life
The prison's spread-out design and complex movement pathways make managing the regime challenging for staff. The current "half-and-half" regime remains restrictive, leading prisoners to spend long periods in their cells, which the Board believes contributes to illicit substance use. While some regime planning improvements have occurred, overall unlock hours are still far from pre-pandemic levels.
Applications to the IMB
Prisoners can apply to their IMB about any aspect of their treatment. This table shows application counts by category.
| Category | Current | Previous | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Accommodation (including transfers) | 45 | 38 | |
| Adjudications | 27 | 34 | |
| Catering | 10 | 13 | |
| Chaplaincy | 8 | 7 | |
| Complaints | 9 | 26 | |
| Drugs | 7 | 6 | |
| General Requests | 3 | 19 | |
| Healthcare | 30 | 21 | |
| Offending Behaviour Programmes | 22 | 10 | |
| Other | 57 | 27 | |
| Property | 33 | 42 | |
| Release, Resettlement and Home Leave | 4 | 4 | — |
| Security and Discipline | 3 | 17 | |
| Sentence Planning | 21 | 16 | |
| Visitors and Visiting | 5 | 12 | |
| Work, Education and Training | 14 | 11 |
Recommendations (25)
Ministry of Justice: 2
HMPPS: 8
Governor / Director: 15
16 repeated
Recommendation 1
Repeated
The IMB at Wayland can see no effective alternative to a request to the Minister to order a complete review of the initial and development training of prison officers.
Ministry of Justice
staffing
Recommendation 2
The Board considers that there might be thought given by the Minister to a consideration of post-release drug treatment perhaps through a new sentence licence requirement, given the links now, operationally, through the combined Prison and Probation Service.
Ministry of Justice
substance_misuse
Recommendation 3
Repeated
The Board recommends to the Prison Service that it immediately carries out a clear-eyed needs analysis of the new HMIP report’s recommendations to identify which of them will need additional resources provided to Wayland’s Governor for their delivery and then to commit to providing those resources.
HMPPS
other
Recommendation 4
Repeated
The Board recommends to the Prison Service that the review of staff profiling for which we have called in previous reports, and for which we are now calling again, must take into account the context we have just described, at least until the balance of experience is restored.
HMPPS
staffing
Recommendation 5
Repeated
The Board recommends that the Prison Service provides the finance and resources for a comprehensive overhaul of the new build heating systems to be put in place before the next cold season.
HMPPS
estate
Recommendation 6
Repeated
The Board recommends to the Prison Service that the new care and separation unit, built, so we are informed, at considerable cost, can at least be staffed to properly address the ‘care’ element as well as that of ‘separation’ in the management of prisoners held there when it does, finally, open.
HMPPS
segregation
Recommendation 7
Repeated
The Board recommends that prison officer training is reviewed to include deeper and more extensive training on key work and staff/prisoner relationships.
HMPPS
staffing
Recommendation 8
The Board believes that the management of the incentives scheme should be regarded as an absolute requirement at establishment level and therefore properly supported and resourced by the Prison Service.
HMPPS
regime
Recommendation 9
Repeated
The Board recommends to the Prison Service that it reviews its decision not to resource a modern IT system to support property management and that it seeks appropriate IT solutions without further delay.
HMPPS
other
Recommendation 10
Repeated
The Board believes that the Prison Service needs to shoulder its responsibilities to work with other government departments to provide the accommodation to allow the Governor and her staff to do the job expected of them.
HMPPS
resettlement
Recommendation 11
Repeated
The Board recommends to the Governor that the failure to manage the induction process properly is a situation which needs serious commitment to change.
Governor / Director
regime
Recommendation 12
The Board suggests that the separated nature of the accommodation units across the site could be used to manage the population through smaller, and more focused, groups and create a more cooperative population through encouragement and attention rather than simply punishment.
Governor / Director
substance_misuse
Recommendation 13
Repeated
The Board draws the prison’s attention to the finding that 40% of prisoners were still not getting a reliable weekly bedding exchange, for the third year in a row, and hopes again that effective measures will be put in place, this time, to achieve a reliable bedding change process as a matter of routine for all prisoners.
Governor / Director
regime
Recommendation 14
The Board recommends that the area of potential discrimination regarding almost all responsible prisoner jobs being held by white prisoners is reviewed by the Governor.
Governor / Director
equality
Recommendation 15
The Board views that prisoners should be told when either a negative or a positive entry has been made as a way of challenging poor behaviour openly, confirming good behaviour, and helping to make the incentives process transparent.
Governor / Director
regime
Recommendation 16
Repeated
The Board suggests wing management ensure that cell clearances are properly carried out in future.
Governor / Director
other
Recommendation 17
The Board suggests there may be a need to review how the medication periods are managed and supervised, especially considering instances of violence in the drug dependency medications queue and policy of prescription reduction.
Governor / Director
substance_misuse
Recommendation 18
The Board recommends that the concept of a buddy system within the prison for those prisoners who may be mobility-compromised or in need of a degree of personal care is researched and supported.
Governor / Director
healthcare
Recommendation 19
Repeated
The Board recommends to the Governor that the cooperation/collaboration between the operational and the education contractor sides could be significantly improved in order to make better use of an expensive prisoner rehabilitation resource.
Governor / Director
education
Recommendation 20
Repeated
The Board recommends that open access to the library is recommenced as soon as possible so that prisoners’ library needs can be more fully met, their reading improved, and their individual inner lives properly nurtured.
Governor / Director
education
Recommendation 21
The Board recommends that steps be taken by the education contractor and the Governor to reverse the unacceptable judgements regarding the education contractor, PeoplePlus, in the coming year.
Governor / Director
education
Recommendation 22
The Board recommends that the operational objections to allowing cross-unit mentoring by Shannon Trust volunteers be reviewed to see how this valuable addition to the prison’s rehabilitative function and its stated priority to ‘create careers’ for prisoners can be allowed.
Governor / Director
education
Recommendation 23
Repeated
The Board recommends to the Governor that greater training effort is made to upskill staff who are in daily contact with prisoners so that they are competent and confident to respond to prisoners who are seeking their help and, also, to proactively interact with prisoners to create the atmosphere and relationships where such interactions can take place.
Governor / Director
staffing
Recommendation 24
Repeated
The Board recommends to the Governor that steps are taken to consider how the charity-funded Storybook Dads initiative could be restarted in full with library access which was a valuable, and valued, feature of library activity before the pandemic.
Governor / Director
resettlement
Recommendation 25
Repeated
Prev. unaddressed
The Board highlights that the problem of the visits hall chairlift, which is often not working and unsuitable for all disabilities, requires an operational and reliable answer now.
Governor / Director
equality
Other IMB Reports for Wayland
HMIP Inspections
Recent inspections by HM Inspectorate of Prisons for this establishment.
26 Jan 2026
Unannounced
PPO Fatal Incidents
Prisons and Probation Ombudsman fatal incident investigations for this establishment.