Prison
Cat C
Key Concerns Identified
Positive Findings
Aylesbury
IMB Annual Report 2024 · Published 15 January 2025
HMP Aylesbury, a Category C prison, completed its transformation from a YOI this year, adapting to an older population with improved but still sub-standard regime delivery. Significant efforts were made to enhance safety, reduce gang violence, and manage illicit items, though their incursion remains a serious problem. While staffing levels improved, staff inexperience and a lack of purposeful activity remain key challenges impacting prisoner wellbeing, progression, and resettlement, as evidenced by long waiting times for healthcare and inadequate release preparation.
Positive Findings
HMP Aylesbury saw considerable improvements in its overall regime and HMIP's areas of concern, supported by stable senior management and near full staffing by year-end. Significant efforts enhanced safety, reducing gang violence and implementing new coordination for illicit items, though the prison still faces challenges in this area. The prison environment is generally clean, and the Care and Separation Unit (CSU) is well-run with positive staff-prisoner relationships. Healthcare improved later in the year following efforts to manage the contract, and the Head of Healthcare provided much-needed continuity.
Key Concerns
Safety
Repeated
The incursion of illicit items, including more dangerous drugs, continues to make it hard to keep vulnerable prisoners safe, leading to debt, bullying, and significant health issues.
Regime/Time Out of Cell
Repeated
The regime falls below Category C standards due to insufficient and uninspiring purposeful activity that bears little relation to the world of work outside the prison.
Resettlement/Release
Repeated
Prisoners are released from HMP Aylesbury with minimal preparation, presenting serious risks, as the prison is not designed or resourced for resettlement.
Staffing
Repeated
There is a deleterious imbalance between the number of experienced and inexperienced staff, impacting consistent process delivery, prisoner support, and potentially increasing use of force incidents due to newer staff's lack of de-escalation skills.
Healthcare
Increased waiting times for GP (three weeks) and dental (13 weeks) appointments.
Staffing
The Offender Management Unit operates significantly understaffed (60% of plan), leading to overstretched staff and inadequate support for prisoners' sentence plans and progression.
Mental Health
A lack of secure hospital beds places intolerable pressures on prison staff, forcing them to manage prisoners with severe mental illness in an unsuitable prison environment.
Equality/Diversity
Disproportionate representation of Black and Muslim prisoners in adjudications, with a lower likelihood of dismissals compared to white and Christian prisoners, suggesting potential inappropriate application of disciplinary processes.
Other
Repeated
Frequent loss or misplacement of prisoner property, particularly during transfers between establishments, causing distress and administrative burden.
Estate/Conditions
The age and layout of the prison building present challenges, including unreliable heating, inadequate adaptations for disabled prisoners, and difficulties for those with mobility issues in an ageing population.
Board Commentary
Staffing
Operational staff numbers gradually increased to near full complement by September 2023, improving regime consistency. However, over 60% of staff had less than two years' experience, creating an imbalance and stretching experienced staff who supported newer recruits. This inexperience contributed to prisoners' complaints about staff knowledge and potentially earlier use of force. The key worker system remains ineffective, with long gaps between sessions and poor follow-through, leading to low prisoner trust.
Healthcare
Central and North West London NHS Foundation Trust (CNWL), the healthcare provider, found stability with a new Head of Healthcare despite initial staffing changes and reliance on agency nurses. However, care quality was not significantly impacted by agency staff. Key concerns included increased waiting times for GP appointments (three weeks) and dental appointments (13 weeks). Healthcare was frequently called to incidents related to illicit substances like Spice, which was a major problem. An interim head of mental health was appointed by CNWL in November 2023.
Regime & Daily Life
The regime at HMP Aylesbury continued to fall below Category C standards, primarily due to insufficient and uninspiring purposeful activity that lacks relevance to the modern job market. While the first half of the year saw improvements in predictability and time out of cell, the overall lack of meaningful activity contributes to boredom and may fuel drug use. The CSU, despite limited activity, offers a greater sense of safety for some prisoners compared to a busy wing.
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/adjudications | 4 | 1 | |
| Education/activities | 7 | 13 | |
| Equality and diversity | 4 | 3 | |
| Family contact | 12 | 15 | |
| Finance | 10 | 6 | |
| Healthcare | 20 | 37 | |
| Legal | 8 | 9 | |
| Meals/diet | 9 | 4 | |
| Other | 28 | 12 | |
| Property | 32 | 29 | |
| Release on temporary licence (ROTL) | 5 | 3 | |
| Sentence management, recategorisation, parole | 25 | 32 | |
| Staff conduct | 28 | 22 | |
| TOTAL | 243 | 230 | |
| Visits | 6 | 6 | — |
Recommendations (10)
Ministry of Justice: 4
HMPPS: 3
Governor / Director: 3
7 repeated
Recommendation 1
Repeated
Prev. unaddressed
Champion sentencing reform, including accepting the recommendations of the Justice Committee on the re-sentencing and licensing of IPP prisoners.
Ministry of Justice
Resettlement
Response
The Minister acknowledges that public protection is not just about custody. He added: ‘…evidence shows that sentences served in the community are more effective in reducing reoffending and rehabilitating people than short custodial sentences’. He mentions details from the Sentencing Bill, introduced in November 2023, in which it was proposed to establish a presumption to suspend most short custodial sentences of 12 months or less. The changes to sentencing, mentioned by the minister, did not occur.
Recommendation 2
Repeated
Prev. unaddressed
Establish more appropriate penalties for lawbreakers reducing the number of people sent to prison, particularly those being sent on recall, would allow the prison system to achieve better results within resourcing constraints.
Ministry of Justice
Other
Response
The Minister acknowledges that public protection is not just about custody. He added: ‘…evidence shows that sentences served in the community are more effective in reducing reoffending and rehabilitating people than short custodial sentences’. He mentions details from the Sentencing Bill, introduced in November 2023, in which it was proposed to establish a presumption to suspend most short custodial sentences of 12 months or less. The changes to sentencing, mentioned by the minister, did not occur.
Recommendation 3
Repeated
Prev. unaddressed
Prioritise pre-release welfare and employment planning by establishing and funding stronger statutory links between prisons, external agencies offering ex-offender support, and employers.
Ministry of Justice
Resettlement
Response
The Minister writes about efforts made to improve coordination between education, skills and work at HMP Aylesbury, including the appointment of a new head of education, skills and work to lead this area. He mentioned HMPPS prison industries’ assessment of the existing workshop facilities at the prison and options for improvement to work opportunities, one result of which was investment in the development of a new laundry facility.
Recommendation 4
Improve the structuring and supervision of third-party contracts so they can be more successfully managed at the point of delivery. In turn, this should raise the quality of services delivered to prisoners, in particular in health, education and vocational training, whilst bearing down on cost.
Ministry of Justice
Healthcare
Recommendation 5
Repeated
Put in place centrally funded, continuing support for the newly trained officers who begin work after just ten weeks’ foundation training. The Board welcomes the new recruits, but the short length of training they undergo is insufficient to meet the many challenges on the wing. In turn, new recruits lean too heavily on the more experienced staff and this diminishes overall efficiency.
HMPPS
Staffing
Response
HMPPS assured us that there was a robust transition plan in place for the move to category C training prison, and that this was overseen by the appropriate levels of prison management in the service. They added encouraging information about the reduction in the offender assessment system backlog.
Recommendation 6
Repeated
Prev. unaddressed
Improve the quality and range of purposeful activity, so that the offer is meaningfully related to the development of skills that are useful in the job market on release.
HMPPS
Regime
Response
HMPPS outlined the provision of offending behaviour programmes (OBP) at Aylesbury. They acknowledged that the prison is working to the two-year prioritisation model, adding that, alongside the standard prioritisation, a list of motivated prisoners not falling into this priority bracket is compiled, who might take a space on an appropriate programmes if one becomes available.
Recommendation 7
Create a wider range of secure custody settings to meet the needs of: neurodiverse prisoners, those with severe mental illness, some of whom may be suffering from age-related dementia, and those with marked intellectual disability. Prisoners with extreme needs divert disproportionate amounts of staff time and effort from the majority of prisoners. At best, this approach simply manages a bad situation, but fixes nothing. More places, and different places, are needed for some of these prisoners with complex needs.
HMPPS
Mental Health
Recommendation 8
Continue to disrupt the supply of illicit items by all means available.
Governor / Director
Safety
Recommendation 9
Repeated
Prev. unaddressed
Make consistent and visible celebration of prisoner successes a core part of the Aylesbury culture.
Governor / Director
Respect
Response
The Governor noted that celebration of academic and work success was limited in the reporting year. He added that there were plans in place to host more regular celebrations of educational and work-based success, engaging families to further promote such efforts.
Recommendation 10
Repeated
Prev. unaddressed
Build on the improvements that have recently been made to the prisoner experience, with a greater focus on the quality of activity and education. Further engage third-sector and private sector resources to expand the offer.
Governor / Director
Regime
Response
The Governor noted that there was one third-sector partnership in workshops. Bikes are refurbished for the South Bucks Hospice. Further efforts have been made to create such links, such as, for example, agreeing a waste recycling contract. He noted the prison’s intention to continually seek to expand the offer to Aylesbury prisoners.
Other IMB Reports for Aylesbury
HMIP Inspections
Recent inspections by HM Inspectorate of Prisons for this establishment.
2 Feb 2026
Unannounced
PPO Fatal Incidents
Prisons and Probation Ombudsman fatal incident investigations for this establishment.