Prison
Cat B local
Key Concerns Identified
Positive Findings
Birmingham
IMB Annual Report 2020 · Published 20 October 2020
HMP Birmingham has demonstrated significant improvements in safety, staff-prisoner relationships, and living conditions following an urgent notification in 2018. The Board commended the prison's effective management of the COVID-19 pandemic, which saw reduced violence and enhanced communication, though it also led to a severely restricted regime and mental health challenges. Key concerns include prolonged segregation for mentally unwell prisoners, persistent issues with lost property, and the need to sustain positive changes post-pandemic, particularly regarding staffing and purposeful activity.
Positive Findings
HMP Birmingham has shown significant improvement, becoming much safer with reduced violence and improved staff/prisoner ratios. The Board commended the senior leadership and staff for their effective management of the COVID-19 pandemic, which saw assaults drop and drug ingress interrupted. Healthcare provision is generally good, and staff-prisoner relationships have improved, particularly during lockdown, supported by initiatives like the key worker scheme and in-cell telephones. The prison has also made progress in accommodation refurbishment and the efficiency of internal processes.
Key Concerns
Mental Health
Lengthy and inappropriate stays in the Care and Separation Unit (CSU) for prisoners with complex mental health needs or challenging behaviours who do not meet criteria for specialist transfer.
Other
Repeated
The unacceptable frequency of lost or stolen prisoner property, both within the establishment and during transfers, with inadequate compensation and complaint resolution.
Equality/Diversity
Over-representation of Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) men and young adults (21-24 years) in adjudications.
Mental Health
The negative impact of the severely restricted COVID-19 lockdown regime on prisoners' mental health and time out of cell.
Education/Purposeful Activity
Repeated
Low attendance rates for education, vocational training, and work, leaving too many activity places unfilled.
Staffing
Concerns that improved safety achieved during lockdown may be lost if post-COVID staffing levels and staff-prisoner ratios are not revised upwards.
Estate/Conditions
Repeated
Inadequate regulation of cell temperatures, leading to prisoners being too hot in summer and too cold in winter.
Estate/Conditions
Repeated
Inappropriate housing of an increasingly ageing prisoner population on standard wings with bunk beds and stairs, and insufficient capacity in the dedicated social care wing.
Other
Delays by the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) in progressing decisions on charges following violent offences, leading to a failure of the justice system.
Board Commentary
Staffing
Staff morale and team building have been a focus, leading to improved staff-prisoner relationships, particularly noted during the COVID-19 lockdown. However, concerns exist regarding the sustainability of safety improvements if staffing levels do not increase post-COVID. There is also an issue with officers being deployed to unfamiliar wings and claiming lack of knowledge, which the Senior Leadership Team is attempting to address by promoting staff competency across all areas.
Healthcare
Overall healthcare provision is good, with inpatient wards receiving particular praise and standards comparable to community care. However, the Board notes that healthcare concerns are the second highest category for prisoner applications. There are protracted delays in transferring mentally ill prisoners to high-secure hospitals, which places pressure on prison staff and bed availability. The COVID-19 lockdown significantly impacted mental health, leading to increased self-harm, though staff remained vigilant and community psychiatric nurses and psychology services continued to provide support.
Regime & Daily Life
The COVID-19 lockdown imposed a severely restricted regime, with prisoners spending 23.5 hours a day in-cell, and access to exercise and showers limited. While this was generally accepted as necessary for safety, it led to negative impacts on mental health and some resistance to returning to cells. Prior to lockdown, the prison aimed for a fair regime where time out of cell was linked to employment or purposeful activity, but education and workshop places often remained unfilled.
Recommendations (8)
Ministry of Justice: 5
HMPPS: 1
Governor / Director: 2
1 repeated
Recommendation 1
Will the minister guarantee that, as advised, when the three Victorian wings, now closed, are refurbished they will be single-occupancy cells, to avoid the overcrowding of the past that contributed to uninhabitable living conditions, poor staff/prisoner relationships and an unsafe prison?
Ministry of Justice
Estate
Recommendation 2
Will consideration be given to transitioning Birmingham to a completely single-cell prison, to facilitate a regime which keeps people safe?
Ministry of Justice
Estate
Recommendation 3
The improved safety during lockdown is likely to be lost if staffing levels remain unchanged. Increased staffing during ‘step-in’ has proved to be the transforming impact of a better staff/prisoner ratio. Will the ratio of staff to prisoners be revised upwards, to ensure that more landing officers are available after the COVID-19 lockdown?
Ministry of Justice
Staffing
Recommendation 4
Strategies are in place inside the prison to manage bullying behaviour and address the seemingly endless cycle of debt and resulting violence. How will the minister communicate to other departments the need for corresponding measures in the community, to reduce the influence of urban street gangs and organised crime gangs?
Ministry of Justice
Safety
Recommendation 5
Repeated
The Board repeats the question put to the minister in the 2017 annual report: how will the minister resolve the issue of prisoners serving indeterminate sentences for public protection (IPP) held in custody beyond their sentence and, apparently, indefinitely?
Ministry of Justice
Other
Recommendation 6
A complete overhaul of the management of prisoners’ property is required, and at its core needs to be respect for an individual’s worldly goods and the necessity not to lose them or allow them to be stolen. Will the prison service provide a nationwide fair and effective system for moving prisoners’ property, with compensation guaranteed for any unreasonable loss?
HMPPS
Other
Recommendation 7
Will the Governor undertake a review of the recording and tracking of mens’ property received into the prison, with the aim of reducing the frequency of property being lost on site, and will he ensure fair and just compensation when losses are not the fault of the prisoner?
Governor / Director
Other
Recommendation 8
How will the Governor ensure that the cultural changes and improvements already achieved are embedded and sustained throughout the prison, now and for the future?
Governor / Director
Other
Other IMB Reports for Birmingham
HMIP Inspections
Recent inspections by HM Inspectorate of Prisons for this establishment.
6 Oct 2025
Unannounced
30 Jan 2023
Unannounced
Safety: 3
Respect: 3
Activity: 1
Release: 2
PPO Fatal Incidents
Prisons and Probation Ombudsman fatal incident investigations for this establishment.