Prison
Cat B local training
Key Concerns Identified
Positive Findings
Cardiff
IMB Annual Report 2024 · Published 29 January 2025
HMP Cardiff, a Category B local training prison, maintained a 'Good' HMIP rating despite significant population pressures, with the IMB noting positive staff-prisoner relationships and cell refurbishment efforts. However, the Board expressed serious concerns over rising self-harm, violence, and use of force incidents, alongside persistent overcrowding leading to inhumane eating conditions. Key challenges included inadequate mental health staffing at weekends, a doubling of medication complaints, and poor key worker scheme delivery.
Positive Findings
HMP Cardiff received a 'Good' rating from HMIP across all aspects, demonstrating strong performance in safety, respect, purposeful activity, and preparation for release, with clean and settled conditions and positive staff-prisoner relationships. The IMB welcomed the ongoing cell refurbishment, significant reduction in lost property applications, and improved vetting clearance times for healthcare staff. Positive developments include enhanced links for substance misuse support, introduction of 'Here 2 Help' peers, and progress in educational activities and OMU staffing.
Key Concerns
Safety
Significant increase (63%) in the level of self-harm in this reporting year compared with last year.
Safety
Increase in reported incidents of violence (57% on previous year) and in force used (68%).
Estate/Conditions
Repeated
Ongoing accommodation issues including lack of hot water, fluctuating wing temperatures, and vermin.
Regime/Time Out of Cell
Repeated
Prisoners having no access to out-of-cell space to eat food, instead eating in shared cells with a shared toilet in the same space.
Mental Health
Repeated
Number of prisoners with mental health problems being housed in the CSU.
Staffing
Repeated
Inconsistent delivery of the key worker scheme.
Healthcare
Repeated
Doubling of applications to the Board specifically about prescription/medication issues, making it the most frequent subject raised overall.
Mental Health
Insufficient level of weekend cover in the mental health team.
Resettlement/Release
Concerns about accommodation and employment on release and wider support pre-release from prisoner surveys.
Equality/Diversity
Repeated
Unsuitability of the premises for disabled/less mobile prisoners.
Staffing
Low proportion of staff from minority ethnic groups (3.95%) significantly below the representative proportion for the surrounding community (20.8%).
Healthcare
Repeated
Proposed health needs’ analysis has yet to be undertaken.
Board Commentary
Staffing
The prison continued to struggle with the inconsistent delivery of the key worker scheme, evidenced by a low compliance rate of 11.08% for sessions, attributed to various operational demands and staff absence. While healthcare nursing faced 9.5 full-time vacancies, improved vetting clearances have positively impacted recruitment. However, the proportion of staff from ethnic minority backgrounds remains significantly below that of the local community, raising concerns about representation.
Healthcare
Healthcare saw a doubling of applications concerning medication/prescriptions, becoming the most frequent issue, partly due to GP vacancies. The Board expressed concern over the lack of sufficient weekend mental health cover despite high demand, and noted the continued delay in undertaking the health needs analysis. While GP waiting times reduced, dental services are now emergency-only, and the average wait for mental health transfers was 10.2 weeks, with an ADHD assessment waiting list of 24 weeks.
Regime & Daily Life
The prison consistently operated at or near operational capacity, leading to continued overcrowding where prisoners often share cells designed for one and eat in shared cells with integrated toilets, a situation the Board finds unacceptable. While time out of cell for those in purposeful activity is substantial (6.5 hours on weekdays), non-workers and all prisoners at weekends have significantly less time out, typically 2.5 hours per day. Overall, 76% of prisoners engaged in purposeful activity weekly.
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 | |
| Adjudications/Discipline | 11 | 10 | |
| Employment/education/training | 4 | 2 | |
| Equality | 6 | 0 | |
| Family contact/visits | 2 | 6 | |
| Food | 11 | 7 | |
| Healthcare | 97 | 62 | |
| Legal | 1 | 0 | |
| Lost property on transfer | 7 | 35 | |
| Lost property within prison | 15 | 25 | |
| Medication/prescriptions | 54 | 28 | |
| Money/earnings/debt | 7 | 10 | |
| Other | 20 | 27 | |
| Property | 22 | 60 | |
| Regime | 33 | 35 | |
| Safety | 14 | 12 | |
| Segregation/Rule 45 | 1 | 0 | |
| Staff/staff behaviour | 45 | 36 | |
| Total applications received by the Board | 373 | 329 |
Recommendations (6)
Governor / Director: 2
HMPPS: 1
NHS / Healthcare Provider: 3
1 repeated
Recommendation 1
The Board recommends that data collection be improved to identify repeat offenders in the care and separation unit (CSU), to not provide a potentially disproportionate picture.
Governor / Director
Segregation
Recommendation 2
The Board recommends that the Prison Service works with HMP Cardiff to explore opportunities to promote to, and recruit from, local minority ethnic communities in the surrounding area, to better reflect the prison population, which comprises 19% ethnic minorities.
HMPPS
Staffing
Recommendation 3
The Board recommends the Health Board review the level of weekend cover in the mental health team in view of the significant demand for mental health support within the prison.
NHS / Healthcare Provider
Mental Health
Recommendation 4
Repeated
Prev. unaddressed
The Board again wishes to highlight applications about medication/ prescriptions continue to be received at a very high level and recommends further consideration be given to addressing this.
NHS / Healthcare Provider
Healthcare
Recommendation 5
The Board suggests the newly introduced practice of triaging only those individuals who ask to see mental health during their reception or secondary health screening process be kept under review to ensure other prisoners are not inadvertently overlooked.
NHS / Healthcare Provider
Mental Health
Recommendation 6
The Board believes the process for provision of specific dietary needs should be reviewed and improvements made where possible.
Governor / Director
Food
Other IMB Reports for Cardiff
2022
Published 17 Jul 2025
HMIP Inspections
Recent inspections by HM Inspectorate of Prisons for this establishment.
29 Jan 2024
Unannounced
Safety: 3
Respect: 3
Activity: 3
Release: 3
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.