Prison
Cat C
Key Concerns Identified
Positive Findings
Wealstun
IMB Annual Report 2025 · Published 25 September 2025
HMP Wealstun has experienced a substantial increase in prisoner receptions and churn, impacting stability, staff workload, and resettlement efforts. Key concerns include rising violence, persistent drug availability, and poor conditions in older wings, alongside insufficient time out of cell and challenges faced by IPP prisoners. The Board notes good healthcare provision and well-managed segregation, but highlights staff retention issues, inconsistent regime application, and delays in drug test results.
Positive Findings
The Board commends the generally good healthcare provision and the well-managed segregation unit, noting a reduction in segregation times. There have been positive improvements in property management, with reduced complaints, and the chaplaincy team provides invaluable support. The new K wing is a positive addition offering a more relaxed regime. The prison has also seen improvements in work attendance and diversity initiatives, including a notable decrease in non-disclosure of sexual orientation.
Key Concerns
Overcrowding
Receptions have nearly doubled over the reporting period. This has caused significant work for staff across the prison which, despite efforts made, has affected prisoners in many ways.
Regime/Time Out of Cell
The massive churn of prisoners with prisoners from all over north and central England including those with less than two weeks left to serve, has meant that the stability of the prison has reduced.
Safety
Whilst the number of prisoners on open assessment, care in custody and teamwork (ACCT) plans remains consistent, the level of violence has increased.
Substance Misuse
Despite a considerable amount of work by the prison, illicit substances are still widely available and contributing to the violence and debt problems. Positive mandatory drug tests peaked at 44% in one month of the year.
Estate/Conditions
Repeated
The Board remain concerned about the condition of the older wings and the plan to increase more double cells across the prison.
Regime/Time Out of Cell
Repeated
The length of time prisoners are permitted outside their cells continues to be of concern, particularly for those prisoners unemployed or on a basic regime.
Resettlement/Release
The high churn of the prison, with many prisoners having very short sentences remaining, has limited the work that can be done by the prison to prepare prisoners for their release.
Education/Purposeful Activity
The loss of jobs from the beverage packing facility has reduced work options for prisoners and may have disproportionately affected prisoners with neurodiversity.
Resettlement/Release
Prisoners serving imprisoned for public protection (IPP) sentences continue to struggle to make progress through the system.
Staffing
When will the Minister recognise that the additional churn of prisoners impacts staffing across the whole prison and ensure an increase in budget to recruit staff to undertake this additional work?
Mental Health
Repeated
As referenced in previous reports, what steps will the Minister take to ensure that prison is not used to house severely mentally ill people whilst they await a place in a suitable institution?
Resettlement/Release
When will the Minister end the inhumane treatment of prisoners serving IPP sentences across the prison estate and release all remaining IPP prisoners with no conditions?
Substance Misuse
What will the Minister do to help tackle the increasing rates of illicit substances entering the prison and support the prison service in this work?
Estate/Conditions
Repeated
As referenced in previous reports, what is the prison service doing to ensure that prisoners are not housed sharing cells, as this is inconsistent with the obligation to provide high standards of decency for prisoners, particularly in respect of toilet facilities?
Estate/Conditions
Repeated
As referenced in previous reports, when will sufficient restoration work take place on the older wings (A and B wings)? It is increasingly apparent that this accommodation, built in the 1960s, needs significant remedial action for a number of reasons and is not a humane environment for prisoners.
Safety
The outsourcing of drug testing to the national centre has resulted in delays in bringing prosecutions, which affects security in the prison. When will these delays be addressed?
Regime/Time Out of Cell
Why has the performance measure on first night accommodation ceased to be collected at a time of increased pressure due to the early release schemes?
Staffing
What will the prison service do to address the retention issues amongst officers and provide better training for the role?
Staffing
When will the performance targets be set with an understanding of prisons? The current process is demotivating for staff and must impact on prisoners.
Regime/Time Out of Cell
How will the Governor resolve the inconsistency between wings, such as communication by officers and subtle changes to regime that are evident throughout this report?
Mental Health
Will the Governor consider reinstating the mental health sessions in the gym?
Safety
Repeated
As referenced in previous reports, how will the Governor ensure that information in an ACCT file only includes paperwork for one week whilst archiving and storing the remainder? The size of some files make them difficult to navigate by staff and IMB members, thus potentially failing to see the continuity clearly.
Staffing
How will the Governor ensure that key workers sessions are provided for each prisoner and raise their profile?
Board Commentary
Staffing
The high turnover of prisoners has significantly increased staff workload without additional recruitment, particularly in reception. The Board notes that 60% of officers are within their first three years, raising concerns about inexperience affecting staff-prisoner relationships. Staff shortages have led to only 55% of planned key worker sessions being delivered, and mental health teams face increased pressure. The report also raises concerns about officer retention and the need for better training.
Healthcare
The Board generally finds healthcare provision good, with few vacancies and back-filled agency staff. Primary care, pharmacy, mental health, and substance misuse services are almost fully staffed, and waiting times for psychiatrist appointments are prompt. While mental health transfer referrals are timely, the increased prison population and churn are adding pressure to mental health teams, suggesting a need for more staffing. Healthcare complaints have significantly increased from 10 to 75 compared to the previous year, a trend the Board will monitor.
Regime & Daily Life
The length of time prisoners spend out of their cells remains a significant and consistent concern for the Board, with the regime often curtailed due to staff availability. Most prisoners are engaged in part-time work or education, receiving a fixed 2.5 hours of structured activity, with varied additional evening hours based on IPF level. Weekend TOoC has increased to 2.5 hours daily, and basic level prisoners now receive 2 hours. The Board welcomes secured funding for an Extended Working Week project, set to increase out-of-cell time from October 2025.
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 transfers) | 45 | 38 | |
| Discipline and adjudications | 12 | 15 | |
| Food | 7 | 11 | |
| General | 205 | 213 | |
| Medical, dental, optical | 18 | 26 | |
| Other (external, legal, confidential) | 12 | 14 | |
| Property | 47 | 61 | |
| Regime (time out of cell, activities) | 24 | 31 | |
| Religion, race, diversity | 3 | 5 | |
| Security (safety, bullying, searches) | 15 | 19 | |
| Social care and family ties | 2 | 3 | |
| Staff (actions, attitude, treatment) | 27 | 35 | |
| Visits | 4 | 6 | |
| Work, education, training | 8 | 13 |
Recommendations (14)
Other: 4
HMPPS: 6
Governor / Director: 4
4 repeated
Recommendation 1
When will the Minister recognise that the additional churn of prisoners impacts staffing across the whole prison and ensure an increase in budget to recruit staff to undertake this additional work?
Other
(minister)
Staffing
Recommendation 2
Repeated
Prev. unaddressed
As referenced in previous reports, what steps will the Minister take to ensure that prison is not used to house severely mentally ill people whilst they await a place in a suitable institution?
Other
(minister)
Mental Health
Recommendation 3
When will the Minister end the inhumane treatment of prisoners serving IPP sentences across the prison estate and release all remaining IPP prisoners with no conditions?
Other
(minister)
Resettlement
Recommendation 4
What will the Minister do to help tackle the increasing rates of illicit substances entering the prison and support the prison service in this work?
Other
(minister)
Substance Misuse
Recommendation 5
Repeated
Prev. unaddressed
As referenced in previous reports, what is the prison service doing to ensure that prisoners are not housed sharing cells, as this is inconsistent with the obligation to provide high standards of decency for prisoners, particularly in respect of toilet facilities?
HMPPS
Estate
Recommendation 6
Repeated
Prev. unaddressed
As referenced in previous reports, when will sufficient restoration work take place on the older wings (A and B wings)? It is increasingly apparent that this accommodation, built in the 1960s, needs significant remedial action for a number of reasons and is not a humane environment for prisoners.
HMPPS
Estate
Recommendation 7
The outsourcing of drug testing to the national centre has resulted in delays in bringing prosecutions, which affects security in the prison. When will these delays be addressed?
HMPPS
Safety
Recommendation 8
Why has the performance measure on first night accommodation ceased to be collected at a time of increased pressure due to the early release schemes?
HMPPS
Regime
Recommendation 9
What will the prison service do to address the retention issues amongst officers and provide better training for the role?
HMPPS
Staffing
Recommendation 10
When will the performance targets be set with an understanding of prisons? The current process is demotivating for staff and must impact on prisoners.
HMPPS
Staffing
Recommendation 11
How will the Governor resolve the inconsistency between wings, such as communication by officers and subtle changes to regime that are evident throughout this report?
Governor / Director
Regime
Recommendation 12
Will the Governor consider reinstating the mental health sessions in the gym?
Governor / Director
Mental Health
Recommendation 13
Repeated
As referenced in previous reports, how will the Governor ensure that information in an ACCT file only includes paperwork for one week whilst archiving and storing the remainder? The size of some files make them difficult to navigate by staff and IMB members, thus potentially failing to see the continuity clearly.
Governor / Director
Safety
Recommendation 14
How will the Governor ensure that key workers sessions are provided for each prisoner and raise their profile?
Governor / Director
Staffing
Other IMB Reports for Wealstun
PPO Fatal Incidents
Prisons and Probation Ombudsman fatal incident investigations for this establishment.