Prison
Cat High Security, Category B
Key Concerns Identified
Positive Findings
Whitemoor
IMB Annual Report 2025 · Published 8 October 2025
HMP Whitemoor experienced a challenging year with initial low staff morale, though improvements in cleanliness and regime were noted from November 2024. Violence remained a concern with several serious incidents, and staff shortages significantly impacted purposeful activity and time out of cell towards the end of the reporting period. The Board highlighted issues with food, aging infrastructure, and delays in healthcare transfers, while commending improvements in family visits and the thorough review of use of force incidents.
Positive Findings
The atmosphere in the prison became more settled as inexperienced officers found their feet. The Board was pleased to note improvements in cleanliness and regime from November 2024, significant improvement to time out of cell, and improvements in the cleanliness and facilities in the residential Healthcare unit. Progressive moves and downgrades improved significantly, and use of force events were rigorously reviewed. The Board welcomed the removal of restrictions on Muslim prayers to be a single event, and physical visits improved due to security upgrades and online booking facilities.
Key Concerns
Safety
Five serious incidents of violence against officers, as well as four committed by prisoners against other prisoners, one of which was an apparent homicide. Violence against staff showed a decreasing trend from July to November 2024, but incidents increased in subsequent months.
Food/Catering
The Board was concerned about food quality and quantity, portion sizes, hygiene in serveries and the poor state of the main kitchen.
Estate/Conditions
There remain some showers on each wing in very poor condition.
Mental Health
Segregation staff found it difficult to deal humanely with some seriously mentally ill prisoners who attacked officers whenever their cell was opened.
Regime/Time Out of Cell
Keywork sessions improved in frequency, but the quality of discussions varied widely.
Staffing
Repeated
Important functions such as visits administration and general applications processing suffered from staff absence, highlighting a failure to address the lack of resilience in the staffing of some activities.
Regime/Time Out of Cell
Repeated
The administration of social and legal video visits was chaotic, leading to long waits and frequent short notice cancellations.
Healthcare
21% of health appointments were missed, 12% as prisoners declined to attend and 9% (over 1000 appointments) due to officers not escorting prisoners to the unit.
Regime/Time Out of Cell
Staff shortages late in the reporting year reversed the trend of improved opening for Education and workshops.
Education/Purposeful Activity
Vocational work continued to be low quality, with no replacement for previously lost contracts. Unemployment was almost double the target. Anticipated major cuts in the education budget will worsen the situation.
Estate/Conditions
Aging infrastructure to be replaced.
Complaints/Property
Repeated
Inadequate property management system that is fit for purpose.
Staffing
Insufficient training to new officers on how to manage prisoner relationships.
Board Commentary
Staffing
The reporting year started with low staff morale following multiple incidents, but the atmosphere became more settled as new officers found their feet. However, reduced staffing negatively impacted regime and cleanliness towards the end of the year, and key functions like visits administration and general applications suffered from staff absence, highlighting a lack of resilience. A shortage of around 40 officers led to increased regime restrictions, and recruitment and retention remain challenging. Many Band 3 officers have limited experience, raising questions about the adequacy of training in managing prisoner relationships.
Healthcare
The Healthcare unit saw significant improvements in cleanliness and facilities, with an increase in PE instructors. While physical healthcare was deemed adequate and daily medication delivery was problem-free, there were long waits for dentistry and for segregated prisoners accessing optical services. Crucially, 21% of health appointments were missed, with 9% due to officers not escorting prisoners. The mental health team effectively managed a challenging caseload and persistently pressed for transfers, yet eight prisoners were awaiting secure hospital places, with one having waited over a year.
Regime & Daily Life
Regime and cleanliness improved from November 2024 following a change of leadership, with significant improvements in time out of cell on main residential wings. However, staff shortages from April 2025 led to increased closures and ‘red regime’ locking prisoners in cells for parts of the day, particularly impacting smaller units, workshops, and Education. Vocational work remained low quality, and employment/education places fell short. Furthermore, specialist units like CSC and PIPE faced frequent staff redeployments and facility closures, limiting therapeutic activity and exacerbating prisoner dissatisfaction.
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 | 9 | 6 | |
| Canteen, facility list, catalogues | 7 | 4 | |
| Discipline, including adjudications, incentives scheme, sanctions | 21 | 18 | |
| Equality | 3 | 3 | — |
| Finance, including pay, private monies, spends | 7 | 7 | — |
| Food and kitchens | 14 | 8 | |
| Health, including physical, mental, social care | 20 | 16 | |
| Letters, visits, telephones, public protection, restrictions | 33 | 30 | |
| Miscellaneous | 13 | 17 | |
| Property during transfer or in another facility | 10 | 12 | |
| Property within the establishment | 48 | 19 | |
| Purposeful activity, including education, work, training, time out of cell | 13 | 19 | |
| Sentence management, including HDC, ROTL, parole, release dates, re-categorisation | 16 | 16 | — |
| Staff/prisoner concerns, including bullying | 20 | 31 | |
| Transfers | 3 | 1 |
Recommendations (6)
Ministry of Justice: 2
HMPPS: 2
Governor / Director: 2
4 repeated
Recommendation 1
Repeated
Prev. unaddressed
Will the Minister require formal standards for time spent on purposeful activities, along with verifiable criteria to test that such activities are truly purposeful?
Ministry of Justice
Purposeful Activity
Response
HMPPS responded that they are committed to rehabilitation and taking the right approach, for the right person at the right time. Core expectations have been developed for regime delivery and reviewed targets under the new purposeful activity measures and core expectations will be monitored during quarterly performance assurance report meetings.
Recommendation 2
Will the Minister ensure that priority is given to funding to enable aging infrastructure to be replaced?
Ministry of Justice
Estate
Recommendation 3
Repeated
Prev. unaddressed
Will the Prison Service establish a property management system that is fit for purpose?
HMPPS
Complaints
Recommendation 4
Will the Prison Service increase the quality and quantity of training to new officers on how to manage prisoner relationships, given the importance to stability of cooperation between officers and prisoners?
HMPPS
Staffing
Recommendation 5
Repeated
Prev. unaddressed
Will the Governor ensure that prisoners have timely access to video-based legal and social visits?
Governor / Director
Regime
Recommendation 6
Repeated
Prev. unaddressed
Will the Governor take action to prevent interruptions to key functions such as visits management due to lack of resilience in staffing?
Governor / Director
Staffing
Other IMB Reports for Whitemoor
HMIP Inspections
Recent inspections by HM Inspectorate of Prisons for this establishment.
5 Dec 2022
Unannounced
Safety: 3
Respect: 2
Activity: 1
Release: 2
PPO Fatal Incidents
Prisons and Probation Ombudsman fatal incident investigations for this establishment.