Prison
Cat B, local
Key Concerns Identified
Positive Findings
Hewell
IMB Annual Report 2025 · Published 20 February 2026
HMP Hewell, a local Category B reception prison, continues to face significant challenges from overcrowding, high population churn, and court backlogs, despite dedicated efforts by staff. Positive developments include a reduction in self-harm, a proportionate approach to use of force, and impactful peer mentorship schemes, alongside strong commitment to equality. However, profound concerns persist regarding mental health provision, limited purposeful activity, the quality of regime and accommodation, and the high number of men released without secure housing, with several issues repeated from previous reports.
Positive Findings
The Board observed that the Governor and staff at HMP Hewell have continued to focus on delivering a safe, fair and humane regime. The prison has an effective prison council and ‘Here to Help’ peer mentors, which positively impacts organisational culture, staff-prisoner relationships, and wellbeing. Self-harm incidents fell significantly, and use of force was observed to be proportionate. Communal areas are clean and well-maintained, and the segregation unit provides a fair and safe regime with the transformational support of a dedicated nurse. The 'Here to Help' mentors are doing a transformational job. Efforts in equality, diversity, and inclusion have continued, including the repair of lifts and the creation of a neurodiversity hub. The employment hub offers a well-resourced and purposeful service, with DWP staff ensuring access to benefits and identification for release.
Key Concerns
Overcrowding
Repeated
Crowding and cell sharing, leading to discomfort and conflict, especially for those with mental health or neurodivergent needs, and making cell maintenance difficult. Inadequately designed accommodation with poor ventilation and temperature control.
Regime/Time Out of Cell
Repeated
Persistent court backlogs resulting in high numbers of prisoners on remand for long periods, impacting population balance and rapid turnover of prisoners.
Staffing
Inconsistent and low-level delivery of formal key working.
Mental Health
Repeated
High levels of mental ill health within the prison population and prolonged waits for appropriate services, with segregation often used as a last resort for unwell individuals. Governors frequently having to override healthcare assessments for mentally unfit prisoners in segregation due to lack of specialist external provision and 28-day transfer limits not being met.
Education/Purposeful Activity
Population churn negatively impacting the potential for men to complete education programmes and access purposeful activity.
Regime/Time Out of Cell
Repeated
Insufficient purposeful activity and employment opportunities for all prisoners, and limited time out of cell.
Regime/Time Out of Cell
Repeated
Inadequate social visit sessions, lack of a separate child contact room, and inability to provide basic refreshments for visitors.
Staffing
The 'Here to Help' peer mentorship programme's continuation is at risk due to lack of secure funding for mentor training and accreditation.
Regime/Time Out of Cell
Repeated
IT access for prisoners remains unavailable, impacting skills development and efficiency, and relying on paper-based systems.
Staffing
Repeated
Staffing issues including inexperience, officers being harassed/distracted, and Governors being unable to interview Band 3 staff locally, impacting officer-prisoner relationships and de-escalation efforts.
Resettlement/Release
A significant proportion of men leaving the prison without accommodation having been arranged, despite resettlement efforts.
Board Commentary
Staffing
The prison maintained a 'twilight' shift within existing resources to manage late arrivals. While positive interactions between staff and prisoners were observed, some staff appeared harassed and distracted, impacting personal interaction time. The delivery of formal key working remains at a low level. Attempts to de-escalate situations vary, potentially reflecting staff inexperience. The continuation of the valuable 'Here to Help' peer mentorship programme is questioned due to the end of funding for mentor training and the dedicated lead staff member. There is a concern that Governors are unable to interview Band 3 staff locally, which could help mitigate high recruitment drop-out rates.
Healthcare
The Board remains shocked by the high levels of mental ill health within the prison population and the prolonged waits for appropriate services, noting that a local prison is not an acceptable environment for such unwell individuals. At year-end, 170 men were receiving specialist mental health treatment, and ten were awaiting transfer to secure mental hospitals. The segregation unit is frequently used to house mentally unwell prisoners, and Governors often override healthcare assessments for those deemed unfit for segregation due to a lack of specialist external provision. While weekly healthcare meetings review cases, the Board noted reports of missed healthcare appointments, often attributed to late notifications or prisoner refusals. Approximately 200 prisoners, or 20% of the population, are engaged in clinical treatment, including opioid-substitution therapies.
Regime & Daily Life
The regime underwent a radical change to reduce time in cell and distribute work/education opportunities more fairly, splitting the population into morning and afternoon activities. However, time out of cell remains limited, and the regime is again under review. Gym places are frequently left unused, and timetabled activities are restricted or cancelled due to specialist staff redeployment. The lack of sufficient purposeful activity to engage the entire population remains a persistent problem. Crowding forces men to share cells intended for one, and poor ventilation leads to uncomfortable temperatures. These factors highlight the need for further regime re-evaluation to maximise purposeful activity and time out of cell.
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 laundry, clothing, ablutions | 11 | 8 | |
| Canteen, facility list, catalogue(s) | 2 | 7 | |
| Complaints | 9 | 9 | — |
| Covid-19 | 0 | 0 | |
| Discipline including adjudications, incentives, sanctions | 11 | 3 | |
| Equality | 2 | 2 | — |
| Finance including pay, private monies, spends | 12 | 5 | |
| Food and kitchens | 4 | 3 | |
| Health including physical, mental and social care | 45 | 8 | |
| Letters, visits, telephones, public protection restrictions | 10 | 15 | |
| Miscellaneous, including complaints | 0 | 0 | |
| Property during transfer or in another establishment or location | 9 | 9 | — |
| Property within this establishment | 9 | 25 | |
| Purposeful activity including education, work, training, library, regime, time out of cell | 3 | 4 | |
| Sentence management including home detention curfew (HDC), release on temporary licence (ROTL), parole, release dates, recategorisation | 19 | 13 | |
| Staff/prisoner concerns including bullying | 28 | 22 | |
| Transfers | 8 | 3 | |
| Unknown | 3 | 8 |
Recommendations (13)
Ministry of Justice: 4
HMPPS: 4
Governor / Director: 5
8 repeated
Recommendation 1
Repeated
Prev. unaddressed
What is the Minister doing to ensure that the provision of mental health services for prisoners, inside prison and in dedicated mental health facilities, is improved? What is the timetable for impact of the forthcoming Mental Health Act for prisoners?
Ministry of Justice
Mental Health
Recommendation 2
What is being done to ensure that the 28-day limit for transfer of prisoners to a mental health hospital is enforceable?
Ministry of Justice
Mental Health
Recommendation 3
Repeated
Prev. unaddressed
Will the Minister ensure that all prisons and prisoners have access to IT systems to increase prisoners’ skills and chances of employment, to free up prison officer time spent on paper systems and to promote a fairer and more transparent regime?
Ministry of Justice
Regime
Recommendation 4
Repeated
Prev. unaddressed
What is the Minister doing to extend support for prisoners after release to reduce recall and reoffending?
Ministry of Justice
Resettlement
Recommendation 5
Repeated
Prev. unaddressed
When will Hewell benefit from changes to training, as identified in the independent review of training carried out by Lord Timpson, and to be taken forward as part of the wider Enable programme?
HMPPS
Staffing
Recommendation 6
Repeated
Prev. unaddressed
Why are Governors unable to interview band 3 staff locally? This could help mitigate the high drop-out rate for new recruits.
HMPPS
Staffing
Recommendation 7
Repeated
Prev. unaddressed
When will HMP Hewell have IT access for prisoners? All prisons should allow direct access for prisoners to enable them to be self-directing and reduce the burden and mistrust of paper-based systems.
HMPPS
Regime
Recommendation 8
What measures will the Prison Service take to ensure that funded pilot schemes, such as the HMP Hewell Here-to-Help peer mentorship programme, include metrics and criteria for success, as well as a contingency plan for scaling up if successful?
HMPPS
Staffing
Recommendation 9
What steps will you take to develop an incentives scheme that is respected and effective?
Governor / Director
Regime
Recommendation 10
How will you maintain and build on the successful ‘Here to Help’ peer mentorship programme, and what steps will you take to secure funding for mentor training and accreditation?
Governor / Director
Staffing
Recommendation 11
Repeated
Prev. unaddressed
How will you re-evaluate the regime to maximise opportunities for time out of cell, work and education?
Governor / Director
Regime
Recommendation 12
What actions will be taken to increase the capacity for assessing men during induction so they can be quickly assigned to appropriate work or education?
Governor / Director
Education
Recommendation 13
Repeated
Prev. unaddressed
When will the transfer of men with severe or complex mental health conditions be consistently achieved within the 28-day limit?
Governor / Director
Mental Health
Other IMB Reports for Hewell
PPO Fatal Incidents
Prisons and Probation Ombudsman fatal incident investigations for this establishment.
Prevention of Future Deaths Reports
Coroner PFD reports issued to this establishment.