Prison
Cat C, YOI
Key Concerns Identified
Positive Findings
Stoke Heath
IMB Annual Report 2025 · Published 2 January 2026
HMP/YOI Stoke Heath is a closed, Category C training and resettlement prison for men with an operational capacity of 782. The reporting year saw concerning increases in self-harm incidents (486), assaults (157), and deaths in custody (4), with drugs remaining readily available. Despite a full quota of officers, staff shortages in healthcare and offender management units continue to impact prisoner support and progression. Living conditions in cramped double cells, inadequate food, and insufficient purposeful activity for 30% of the population remain significant challenges.
Positive Findings
The prison has addressed late arrivals and improved induction processes, and strengthened defenses against illicit items through scans and technology. Forward Trust and HAWC initiatives offer positive support for substance misuse and health. Staff in the SRU show commitment to reintegration, and there are good staff-prisoner relationships. The healthcare kitchen has been refurbished, and the main kitchen maintains a five-star rating. Education and employer engagement, including Forest Fencing, are showing improvements, and family visit food provision has improved.
Key Concerns
Substance Misuse
Repeated
Drugs are still readily available inside the prison, with many reports of prisoners being under the influence.
Safety
Repeated
The number of deaths in the prison is concerning, with four over the reporting year (following three reported in the previous year).
Safety
Repeated
There has been an increase in the instances of serious self-harm.
Safety
The number of assaults has increased by 10%, to 157, and the use of force on prisoners is 7% higher than last year.
Overcrowding
Repeated
Living space is cramped, especially for two people in a cell, with a lack of privacy for personal hygiene and inadequate space or ventilation.
Staffing
Repeated
Prisoners have repeatedly reported difficulties contacting their prison offender managers (POMS) about transfer applications, sentence plans, progression and preparing for release.
Food/Catering
Repeated
Food is inadequate and lacks imagination and there is too much waste, with the budget per capita well below that provided for schools.
Estate/Conditions
Repeated
Accommodation and service areas, such as the kitchen and boilers, are all showing their age, with refurbishment postponed year after year, and issues like damp on E wing and poor flooring in healthcare and the kitchen.
Complaints/Property
Repeated
The largest area of complaint is prisoners’ property, particularly whilst being transferred from prison to prison.
Healthcare
Healthcare is underfunded in some areas and struggles to recruit good staff, relying on agency staff and locums to fill the gaps.
Mental Health
The new secondary mental health contract is not providing the therapy needed.
Healthcare
Waiting times for a dental appointment are 16 weeks due to cancelled clinics and an increase in new prisoners.
Resettlement/Release
Repeated
The prison still seems to under-perform in its role to train and resettle prisoners back into the community, with 30% of prisoners inactive and often spending unreasonable time in their cells.
Safety
The Prison Service transfers prisoners with a history of serious self-harm to Stoke Heath, where their needs may not be adequately met.
Board Commentary
Staffing
Healthcare is understaffed at 80% and reliant on agency staff due to spending caps, impacting service delivery. While the prison has a full quota of officers, 24% are non-effective due to detached duty or sickness. Prison Offender Managers (POMs) are overstretched with increased workloads and staffing shortages, leading to prisoners having difficulty contacting them. Key worker roles, although vital, are not consistently fulfilled, with some prisoners reporting not seeing their key worker for months.
Healthcare
Healthcare is 80% staffed, relying on agency workers due to funding caps, and faces challenges with an unreliable lift for mobility-impaired prisoners and incompatible IT systems in the SRU. The healthcare building is aging, with worn carpets and deteriorating skirting boards. Dental waiting times are 16 weeks, and external hospital appointments average 12 months. The new secondary mental health contract is deemed insufficient for therapy, and a lack of secure mental health beds leads to prisoners staying inappropriately in the SRU or healthcare. However, the learning disability nurse runs effective clinics, and Forward Trust provides valuable psychosocial drug services.
Regime & Daily Life
Living conditions in double cells are cramped, basic, and lack privacy, with inadequate temperature control, which the Board considers inhumane. A significant 30% of prisoners are inactive, spending excessive time in their cells, and the quality and variety of food are inadequate, leading to waste. Facilities for mobility-impaired prisoners are still insufficient. Officer presence on some wings is lacking during meal times and association, and much of the purposeful activity offered is not seen as beneficial for post-release employment.
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 | 10 | 12 | |
| Allegations of bullying from staff | 5 | — | |
| Canteen, facility list, catalogue(s) | 2 | 18 | |
| Discipline, including adjudications, incentives schemes, sanctions | 11 | 38 | |
| Equality | 4 | 9 | |
| Finance, including pay, private monies, spends | 20 | 30 | |
| Food and kitchens | 9 | 2 | |
| Health, including physical, mental, social care | 59 | 30 | |
| Letters, visits, phones, public protection restrictions | 8 | 10 | |
| Miscellaneous, including complaints system | 15 | 22 | |
| Property transfer or in another establishment or location | 58 | 88 | |
| Property within this establishment | 33 | 37 | |
| Purposeful activity, including education, work, training, library, regime, time out of cell | 10 | 18 | |
| Sentence management, including HDC (home detention curfew), ROTL (release on temporary licence), parole, release dates, recategorisation | 44 | 44 | — |
| Staff/prisoner concerns, including bullying | 40 | 66 | |
| Transfers | 19 | 28 |
Recommendations (11)
Ministry of Justice: 1
HMPPS: 5
Governor / Director: 5
9 repeated
Recommendation 1
Stoke Heath has many prisoners serving less than six months, as well as a high proportion of prisoners recalled from the community. This puts pressure on the prison’s ability to train and resettle prisoners. The Board recommends that the Minister addresses this issue.
Ministry of Justice
Resettlement
Recommendation 2
Repeated
Prev. unaddressed
The Board recommends that the Prison Service implements an urgent review to set minimum standards that are fair and humane for prisoners, particularly regarding adequate space and ventilation in double cells.
HMPPS
Regime
Recommendation 3
Repeated
Prev. unaddressed
The Board recommends that the Prison Service provides the funding required to make accommodation and service areas, such as the kitchen and boilers, decent and safe, as refurbishment has been postponed year after year.
HMPPS
Estate
Recommendation 4
Repeated
The Board recommends that the Prison Service provides resource to improve the food options available to prisoners, given the many complaints and the budget per capita being well below that provided for schools.
HMPPS
Food
Recommendation 5
Repeated
Prev. unaddressed
The Board recommends that the Prison Service acts on findings by the IMB and the Prisons and Probation Ombudsman (PPO) to improve the transfer of property between prisons.
HMPPS
Other
Recommendation 6
The Board recommends that the Prison Service reviews its policy on transferring prisoners with a history of serious self-harm to Stoke Heath, especially where their needs may not be adequately met.
HMPPS
Safety
Recommendation 7
Repeated
Prev. unaddressed
The Board recommends that the Governor makes resettlement a priority for the next 12 months, acknowledging the enormous resource pressure on the prison.
Governor / Director
Resettlement
Recommendation 8
Repeated
Prev. unaddressed
The Board recommends that the Governor assesses whether the current drug strategy is achieving the results to maintain a safe environment for prisoners and staff, despite welcome work to reduce drug entry.
Governor / Director
Substance Misuse
Recommendation 9
Repeated
Prev. unaddressed
The Board recommends that the Governor explores more opportunities for staff to actively engage with prisoners who are at risk to help reduce self-harm, given the significant increase in deaths and serious self-harm cases.
Governor / Director
Safety
Recommendation 10
Repeated
Prev. unaddressed
The Board recommends that the Governor improves the service level in reception, so that prisoners can view and receive their property in a timely fashion.
Governor / Director
Other
Recommendation 11
Repeated
Prev. unaddressed
The Board recommends that the Governor makes a concerted effort to reduce food waste by improving food quality, in response to prisoner complaints about quality and quantity.
Governor / Director
Food
Other IMB Reports for Stoke Heath
HMIP Inspections
Recent inspections by HM Inspectorate of Prisons for this establishment.
9 Jan 2023
Unannounced
Safety: 4
Respect: 3
Activity: 1
Release: 2
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.