Prison
Cat C
Key Concerns Identified
Positive Findings
Rye Hill
IMB Annual Report 2025 · Published 8 August 2025
HMP Rye Hill, a privately run Category C training prison for men convicted of sexual offences, successfully managed a significant expansion and recategorisation during the reporting year. The prison saw a considerable reduction in violence, self-harm, and use of force, alongside an 'outstanding' CQC rating for its healthcare provision. Key concerns persist regarding the ongoing injustice of IPP sentences, the complexities of the compassionate release process, and issues with prisoner property and hospital escort availability.
Positive Findings
The Board observed considerable falls in violent incidents and self-harm, and commended the prison's handling of its expansion and recategorisation to a Category C training prison. Prisoner Led Initiatives (PLI) have grown positively, and key worker sessions maintain high attendance. Healthcare, rated outstanding by CQC, has streamlined services and proactively brought some specialist care in-house. Education attendance and course completion rates are good, with varied enrichment opportunities and consistent family contact. The dedicated one-to-one work with some IPP prisoners is also making a real difference.
Key Concerns
Mental Health
Repeated
The Board remains concerned that there is no centrally directed, long-term solution to the injustice of the IPP sentence and its impact on the mental health and wellbeing of affected prisoners.
Resettlement/Release
The Board is interested to see what initiatives the government is able to facilitate to enable prisons that hold prisoners convicted of sexual offences (PCoSOs) to build meaningful national partnerships with employers and charities. It is also interested in the actions the government can take to encourage appropriate employment opportunities on release.
Healthcare
Repeated
The Board remains concerned that the process for compassionate release remains unnecessarily difficult and despite the answer given to the previous report, it has remained the situation that three out of four applications were not completed and therefore not considered. Simple changes to allow someone other than the consultant to confirm the terminal diagnosis and to remove the requirement to wait until there is only three months left to live would enable individual decisions to be made.
Staffing
Given the ageing population at establishments such as HMP Rye Hill, can consideration be given to increasing the staff available, to avoid the need to ration hospital escorts? As this is likely to be a funding issue can the metric be reviewed and amendments made if necessary?
Other
Repeated
The property that goes missing at times contains sensitive documentation relating to the prisoner’s index offence. Can you comment on what steps have been and are being taken to address this?
Safety
Questions have been raised on the reliability of the prison scanner and the introduction of a new scanner has not alleviated this.
Mental Health
there was a sense of hopelessness amongst many [IPP prisoners] and a frustration at the barriers they still faced specifically when preparing for and appearing before the Parole Board. As long-term prisoners who interact with the rest of the prison population, there is a risk that the hopelessness they have could be a motivator for negative and violent behaviour.
Resettlement/Release
There may now be a gap in one-to-one targeted support for the more complex prisoners; this process originally focused on -Imprisonment for Public Protection (IPP) and prisoners with life sentences or those with neurodiverse conditions.
Board Commentary
Staffing
Overall staff and prisoner relationships are observed to be good, with 85% attendance at key worker sessions and a focus on involving prisoners in initiatives. While the healthcare department has seen new leadership and increased staffing in mental health, the Board raised a concern that additional staff may be needed to avoid rationing hospital escorts, particularly for the ageing population, suggesting a potential funding issue.
Healthcare
Healthcare services, provided by Practice Plus Group, underwent significant changes in personnel and structure, with a new head and deputy appointed. The department was rated 'outstanding' by the CQC in September 2024 and is streamlining services with new Integrated Care Pathways. Despite this, demand for hospital outpatient appointments remains high, often outstripping the availability of escorts, though the department is proactively bringing services on-site. Mental health caseloads are stable at 59, with new psychologists and mental health nurses recruited, and a neurodiversity team established.
Regime & Daily Life
The daily regime has seen positive developments, including an increase in fresh air time to one hour a day. The introduction of 'community concessions' has positively impacted prisoner behaviour, leading to an overall reduction in violence. Education attendance was 79.8% with an 86% overall achievement rate, complemented by varied enrichment activities. Employment levels remained high, with all prisoners who could work being allocated jobs.
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 | 0 | 13 | |
| Canteen, facility list, catalogues | 0 | 2 | |
| Discipline, including adjudications, incentives scheme, sanctions | 1 | 18 | |
| Equality | 6 | 1 | |
| Finance, including pay, private monies, spends | 2 | 0 | |
| Food and kitchens | 0 | 0 | |
| Health, including physical, mental, social care | 11 | 33 | |
| Letters, visits, telephones, public protection, restrictions | 2 | 7 | |
| Miscellaneous | 3 | 5 | |
| Property during transfer or in another facility | 3 | 14 | |
| Property within the establishment | 9 | 10 | |
| Purposeful activity, including education, work, training, time out of cell | 7 | 8 | |
| Sentence management, including HDC (home detention curfew), ROTL (release on temporary parole), parole, release dates, recategorisation | 5 | 8 | |
| Staff/prisoner concerns, including bullying | 5 | 27 | |
| Transfers | 1 | 8 |
Recommendations (6)
Ministry of Justice: 2
HMPPS: 2
Governor / Director: 2
3 repeated
Recommendation 1
Repeated
Prev. unaddressed
The Board remains concerned that there is no centrally directed, long-term solution to the injustice of the IPP sentence and its impact on the mental health and wellbeing of affected prisoners. Despite the excellent internal work at HMP Rye Hill, the numbers have stayed the same as last year. Will the Minister be revisiting the recommendations from the select committee?
Ministry of Justice
Resettlement
Response
I appreciate your continued concerns regarding Imprisonment for Public Protection (IPP) sentences. On 5 September, the Lord Chancellor announced that the Government would implement reforms we supported in opposition to the IPP licence period in the Victims and Prisoners Act 2024. These commenced on 1 November, when the licences for 1,742 IPP offenders in the community were terminated. The remaining reforms will be implemented on 1 February 2025, when the reduced qualifying period for consideration of licence termination will see around 600 additional referrals made to the Parole Board. The government is determined to support the rehabilitation of IPP offenders through a refreshed Action Plan, which we published on 15 November 2024. The refreshed plan puts an important emphasis on effective frontline delivery in our prisons and the probation Service, to ensure that those serving IPP sentences have robust and effective sentence plans, which they are actively engaging with, and that they are in the correct prison to access the right interventions and rehabilitative services. This is the most effective way to help them to reduce their risk so that they can progress towards safe release from custody. The refreshed Action Plan was published in our IPP Annual Report and can be accessed using the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/hmpps-annual-report-on-the-ipp-sentence-2023-to-24
Recommendation 2
The Board is interested to see what initiatives the government is able to facilitate to enable prisons that hold prisoners convicted of sexual offences (PCoSOs) to build meaningful national partnerships with employers and charities. It is also interested in the actions the government can take to encourage appropriate employment opportunities on release.
Ministry of Justice
Resettlement
Recommendation 3
Repeated
Prev. unaddressed
The Board remains concerned that the process for compassionate release remains unnecessarily difficult and despite the answer given to the previous report, it has remained the situation that three out of four applications were not completed and therefore not considered. Simple changes to allow someone other than the consultant to confirm the terminal diagnosis and to remove the requirement to wait until there is only three months left to live would enable individual decisions to be made.
HMPPS
Healthcare
Response
I note the Board’s concerns regarding Early Release on Compassionate Grounds (ERCG). HMPPS balance essential public protection concerns with the needs of prisoners who may be reaching the end of life or have serious and complex health or social care needs while serving custodial sentences. The policy allows for prison Governors to make applications at any stage of a prisoner’s sentence when a terminal or complex diagnosis is given. For terminal diagnoses, while the policy provides a guide that the prisoner is within the last few months of life as an appropriate point at which to release under the provisions of ERCG, each case is considered on its own merits. The current process to confirm diagnosis provides vital and necessary information for an informed decision to be made regarding the need for early release and possible ongoing care requirements in the community, if early release were to be granted.
Recommendation 4
Given the ageing population at establishments such as HMP Rye Hill, can consideration be given to increasing the staff available, to avoid the need to ration hospital escorts? As this is likely to be a funding issue can the metric be reviewed and amendments made if necessary?
HMPPS
Healthcare
Recommendation 5
The Board would welcome sight of any strategies for improving this area of work.
Governor / Director
Equality
Recommendation 6
Repeated
Prev. unaddressed
The property that goes missing at times contains sensitive documentation relating to the prisoner’s index offence. Can you comment on what steps have been and are being taken to address this?
Governor / Director
Other
Other IMB Reports for Rye Hill
HMIP Inspections
Recent inspections by HM Inspectorate of Prisons for this establishment.
20 Aug 2024
Unannounced
Safety: 4
Respect: 4
Activity: 3
Release: 4
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.