Prison
Cat D open
Key Concerns Identified
Positive Findings
Ford
IMB Annual Report 2025 · Published 17 March 2026
HMP Ford, a Category D open prison, continues its focus on rehabilitation and resettlement amidst significant challenges. The prison has seen a rise in high-risk prisoners and increased population churn, while facing persistent issues with failing infrastructure and substantial cuts to the education and training budget. Despite these hurdles, the IMB commends the prison for its generally safe environment, excellent healthcare provision, and ensuring all released prisoners secure accommodation.
Positive Findings
The IMB believes the prison is generally a safe environment and commends its efforts to provide a fair and humane setting despite infrastructure challenges, demonstrating impressive commitment to maintaining open areas. Healthcare provision is excellent, with Practice Plus Group proactively developing health promotion and preventive measures, achieving micro-elimination of Hepatitis C. The Board commends the Governor for a safer regime, successful management of high-risk prisoners, focus on sports, cleanliness, and dedication of GFSL. All prisoners released during the year had accommodation arranged.
Key Concerns
Estate/Conditions
Repeated
The building infrastructure across Ford is failing, with each occurrence being addressed with short-term fixes... The intermittent loss of hot water undermines prisoners’ dignity... Furthermore, the showers and lavatories in the wings... have remained in an unacceptable condition throughout the year.
Estate/Conditions
Repeated
The further delayed expansion project at Ford... has yet to receive planning permission... the planning application... was refused on 31 July 2025, due to the Ministry of Justice’s failure to provide multiple pieces of information.
Regime/Time Out of Cell
Repeated
The phone provision at Ford is inadequate for a resettlement prison... This inadequate phone provision arguably gives rise to much of the illicit mobile phone use.
Education/Purposeful Activity
The huge reduction in the education and training budget (20% of the core and 40% of the discretionary elements) has, inevitably, adversely affected the delivery of education services... As a result of the reduced budget, many courses are no longer available.
Resettlement/Release
Despite repeated assurances that Probation would be properly funded and resourced, the problems remain systemic, causing significant delays in men getting ROTL and putting additional pressure on the prison to provide purposeful activity... There is little evidence that these delays have reduced during the reporting year; in fact, the opposite is the case with some agencies, notably the Met Police.
Regime/Time Out of Cell
The number of high risk prisoners has risen during the reporting year, from 109 to 180... Together with cuts to the education budget, these pressures have reduced the availability of purposeful activity for prisoners... a general deterioration in attitudes towards work... a growing feeling of dissatisfaction and apathy among the prisoners, with poor work attendance becoming a growing problem.
Healthcare
It was extremely disappointing that funding has been stopped for the transfer and discharge co-ordinator role, as this provided a valuable link in supporting prisoners’ access to healthcare and drug treatment services on release.
Resettlement/Release
The Prisoner Earning Act deduction of 40% of earnings (levy) is seen by some men as a disincentive to take external work. It was previously understood that the levy was under national review, so we are disappointed by the lack of any progress.
Resettlement/Release
Repeated
At present, there is no way for a resettlement prison to evaluate the success of all that they do, including know what percentage of prisoners reoffend. When will the Minister set up an effective system to monitor prisoners after release?
Board Commentary
Staffing
The chaplaincy team is awaiting an additional Catholic Chaplain, but vetting has been incomplete for six months, causing concern. Mental health and drug rehabilitation services experienced disruption due to staff changeover and sickness absence. The Offender Management Unit (OMU) is under significant pressure from the increased number of high-risk prisoners, who require more qualified probation staff, further exacerbated by specific operational resourcing issues within the OMU.
Healthcare
Practice Plus Group (PPG) continues to provide an excellent healthcare service, ranking as the top team among 58 prisons internally. The healthcare team supports an increasing number of men with complex health needs. Despite a push to reduce them, rates of prisoners failing to attend appointments remain stubbornly high. Funding for the valuable transfer and discharge co-ordinator role, which supported prisoners transitioning back into the community with health and substance misuse issues, has been disappointingly removed from all prisons.
Regime & Daily Life
Despite operating a full regime with a focus on sport and activities, the prison faces significant challenges due to substantial cuts to the education and training budget. This has reduced the quality and quantity of education and led to the closure of key vocational training, like the Chichester School of Construction. The prison struggles to find purposeful activity places for prisoners, leading to overmanning in some areas and a growing sense of dissatisfaction and apathy, with poor work attendance becoming a problem.
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 | 1 | 2 | |
| Canteen, facility list, catalogues | 2 | 0 | |
| Discipline, including adjudications, incentives scheme, sanctions | 3 | 0 | |
| Equality | 1 | 1 | — |
| Finance, including pay, private monies, spends | 1 | 0 | |
| Food and kitchens | 0 | 0 | |
| Health, including physical, mental, social care | 1 | 2 | |
| Letters, visits, telephones, public protection, restrictions | 0 | 1 | |
| Miscellaneous | 4 | 1 | |
| Property during transfer or in another facility | 13 | 6 | |
| Property within the establishment | 1 | 0 | |
| Purposeful activity, including education, work, training, time out of cell | 1 | 0 | |
| Sentence management, including HDC (home detention curfew), ROTL (release on temporary licence), parole, release dates, re-categorisation | 8 | 1 | |
| Staff/prisoner concerns, including bullying | 3 | 1 | |
| Transfers | 0 | 1 |
Recommendations (10)
Ministry of Justice: 4
HMPPS: 3
Governor / Director: 3
7 repeated
Recommendation 1
Repeated
Prev. unaddressed
As we have reported for some years, the building infrastructure across Ford is failing, with each occurrence being addressed with short-term fixes, which, in the long run, cost the taxpayer more. Will the Minister commit to both undertaking a detailed survey and investigation of the existing fabric and services and to setting out a clear timetable for the development and delivery of a planned programme of maintenance and repair?
Ministry of Justice
Estate
Recommendation 2
Repeated
Prev. unaddressed
Given the continuing pressures of prisoner population on the prison estate, combined with the largely positive HMIP report of 2023 and recent IMB reports that highlight the improving work of HMP Ford, will the Minister confirm whether plans to expand HMP Ford’s capacity are to be expedited? If so, what timescale does the Minister envisage for this expansion in support of the Government’s objective of reducing reoffending
Ministry of Justice
Estate
Recommendation 3
A consequence of the early release schemes in 2024-2025 is a change in the risk profile of prisoners arriving at HMP Ford: at the end of the reporting year, 180 (109 in 2024) were classified as ‘high risk’. These men require additional checks by the Probation Service in order for them to be approved for ROTL. Despite repeated assurances that Probation would be properly funded and resourced, the problems remain systemic, causing significant delays in men getting ROTL and putting additional pressure on the prison to provide purposeful activity in the meantime. When will the Minister ensure that the Probation Service is properly funded and resourced to meet this increased demand, and what concrete steps will be taken to address the delays in ROTL assessments?
Ministry of Justice
Resettlement
Recommendation 4
The cuts to the education budget have had a significant impact on Ford’s ability to provide purposeful activity in support of reducing reoffending. Will the Minister commit to restoring the education budget at HMP Ford to a level that enables the prison to deliver meaningful education and skills provision?
Ministry of Justice
Education
Recommendation 5
Repeated
Prev. unaddressed
As we have reported for some years, the building infrastructure across Ford is failing, with each occurrence being addressed with short-term fixes, which, in the long run, cost the taxpayer more. Will HMPPS commit to undertaking a detailed survey and investigation of the existing fabric and services, and to setting out a clear timetable for the development and delivery of a planned programme of maintenance and repair?
HMPPS
Estate
Recommendation 6
The cuts to the education budget have had a significant impact on Ford’s ability to provide purposeful activity in support of the core reducing reoffending objective for Ford. Will HMPPS commit to restoring the education budget at HMP Ford to a level that enables the prison to deliver both meaningful education and skills provision?
HMPPS
Education
Recommendation 7
Repeated
Prev. unaddressed
Most men arriving at HMP Ford transfer from prisons equipped with in-cell phones. When will HMPPS ensure that appropriate phone access is put in place at Ford to support family contact and effective preparation for release?
HMPPS
Regime
Response
The pilot for the supervised use of mobile phones in the visits hall was stopped by a formal complaint lodged by the Prisoner Officers’ Association. The Governor is looking at alternative solutions.
Recommendation 8
Repeated
Prev. unaddressed
What steps will be taken to deliver a consistent and reliable heating and water supply to the accommodation blocks?
Governor / Director
Estate
Recommendation 9
Repeated
Prev. unaddressed
How and when will solutions to the lack of phone access for the men be introduced?
Governor / Director
Regime
Recommendation 10
Repeated
Prev. unaddressed
When and what action will be taken to address the unacceptable condition of the showers/bathrooms in R and Q blocks?
Governor / Director
Estate