Prison
Cat local
Key Concerns Identified
Positive Findings
Birmingham
IMB Annual Report 2024 · Published 11 December 2024
HMP Birmingham, a busy local reception prison, has made significant progress in safety and decency since 2018, attributed to strong leadership, though future leadership stability is a key concern. The Board highlights issues with poor prison fabric, high use of force, and persistent self-harm and violence. Concerns include inhumane cell sharing due to a lack of single cells, long remand times, inadequate kit provision, and staffing problems in healthcare and key working, despite overall improved staff availability. The report also notes positive developments in neurodiversity support, reduced canteen complaints, and proactive healthcare recruitment.
Positive Findings
The Board commends the senior leadership team and staff for running a relatively smooth and safe regime despite overwhelming pressure on the prison estate. Significant progress has been made, moving the prison from 'rife with drugs and violence' to 'much safer and more decent'. Staffing has improved, leading to more purposeful activity and fewer cancelled hospital escorts. The excellent neurodiversity support manager has made a positive impact, and canteen-related complaints have dropped dramatically due to improved processes. The Board welcomes the relocation of the library to a larger space as part of a new learning hub, and notes the positive work of the Shannon Trust in improving literacy.
Key Concerns
Staffing
The Board is very concerned about future leadership at the prison. Without high-calibre leadership, there is a risk that all the progress made over the last five years will be lost.
Estate/Conditions
Repeated
One cannot overstate the effect that poor prison fabric has on the lives of individual prisoners and their morale. Birmingham has had more than its fair share of leaking roofs, failed heating systems, broken lifts and showers long overdue for refurbishment. It is not acceptable that prisoners who use wheelchairs cannot see their family for weeks on end because the lift to the visits’ centre is out of order and complicated to repair.
Safety
Repeated
There has been disproportionate use of force against black prisoners and those with mixed ethnic background.
Safety
Use of force remains high, in relation to comparator prisons, and this is a concern for the Board.
Safety
levels [self-harm] remain too high, in the Board’s opinion.
Safety
There were five deaths in custody during the reporting year and any learning from these tragic events will need to be put into practice.
Overcrowding
Repeated
There are too few single cells available in the prison; cell sharing, coupled with little time out of cell, is both inhumane and a risk to prisoner safety.
Regime/Time Out of Cell
Prisoners have told the Board they have experienced ongoing challenges in securing adequate provision of kit (such as clothes, bedding and towels).
Segregation
Unfortunately, the CSU ends up housing vulnerable people, who should not really be there but for whom no practicable alternative exists in this prison. This includes a significant number of people whose neurodiverse needs make life very difficult on a large, busy wing.
Regime/Time Out of Cell
The minimum time out of cell is better than it was but still not enough.
Mental Health
In the last few months of the reporting year, there has been extreme pressure on secure mental health beds in the region. This has meant that prisoners have had to wait longer for transfers to secure units.
Healthcare
Primary care has experienced ongoing staffing problems, with an over-reliance on agency staff.
Resettlement/Release
Repeated
Too many prisoners are still spending too long on remand. In June 2024, one prisoner had been on remand for more than four years.
Overcrowding
The prison still holds too many sentenced prisoners who should have progressed on to another establishment.
Regime/Time Out of Cell
Repeated
Prisoners should receive one key working session per week, but this is not the case: on average, only 38% of men are receiving a weekly key work session.
Food/Catering
The IMB receives a significant number of formal and informal complaints about the food, mostly relating to portion size. The diet is very carbohydrate heavy and very light on fresh fruit and vegetables. Prisoners seldom complain about the health aspect of the food, which is perhaps just as well, as the £3.04 budget per prisoner, per day, would not allow for the Government’s ‘5-a-day’ health advice to be followed.
Complaints/Property
The Board is concerned that discrimination incident report forms (DIRFs) are often unavailable on the wings and staff are not always sure where to find them. These need to be made much more accessible for prisoners.
Staffing
Neurodiversity: Having a NSM in post has revealed the need for this service, although one member of staff is not enough.
Regime/Time Out of Cell
The number of prisoners on the basic (bottom) level of the incentives scheme has increased from 48 (5%) in June 2023 to 79 (8%) in June 2024. In the same period, the number of men on an the enhanced (top) regime has fallen from 222 (22%) to 163 (17%). This is a concerning trend.
Complaints/Property
Property is one of the most common reasons for prisoners submitting applications to the IMB and is the most common issue found in formal complaints to the prison. These fall into three main categories: Property going missing on transfer, especially when a prisoner has a higher volume of property than they are allowed to travel with. Property forwarded post transfer often goes astray and there is no accountable tracking system in place. Cell clearance continues to be an issue. Most complaints result from a failure to safeguard property.
Safety
HMP Birmingham continues to be troubled by drones transporting illicit items such as drugs and phones for prisoners. One wing is being fitted with grilles over the windows to prevent prisoners reaching out to get these items.
Education/Purposeful Activity
Attendance figures for education this year are recognised as being poor and are not showing any signs of improving. Attendance against planned capacity averaged 42%.
Education/Purposeful Activity
The extensive rebuilding programme in the prison has led to some courses being suspended (barbering, mentoring, car maintenance and retail). This has reduced opportunities for prisoners to train in these areas.
Resettlement/Release
A pre-release course runs twice a week for men on 12 weeks or less of their sentence. This has been negatively impacted by the early release scheme (up to 70 days early release), meaning that men cannot always complete the pre-release course.
Resettlement/Release
The pre-release team raised concerns about case notes being uploaded late to P-Nomis (an internal computer system), sometimes 24 hours or more after arrival. There have been occasions when known risks to staff have not been recorded on P-Nomis in a timely manner, thus exposing the team to inappropriate behaviour.
Segregation
There are still many occasions when a security representative is not present [at segregation reviews] although this would have been helpful.
Board Commentary
Staffing
Staffing levels have improved over the last year, now at 84% availability, positively impacting the regime and purposeful activity. However, the recruitment process for prison officers is not fit for purpose, with a high attrition rate, despite local efforts to reduce officers leaving in their first year. Key working sessions, a crucial opportunity for staff-prisoner relationships, are underutilised, with only 38% of men receiving weekly sessions. The chaplaincy team experienced significant staffing issues, now largely resolved, but a permanent Roman Catholic chaplain is still sought. Healthcare, particularly primary care and clinical substance misuse, faced significant staffing problems and over-reliance on agency staff, though recent recruitment is expected to improve this by autumn 2024.
Healthcare
HMP Birmingham's healthcare team, overseen by NHS England, manages a busy inpatient unit for physical and mental health, serving as a resource for other regional prisons. The unit has cared for complex cases, and mental health services are generally good with strong community links. However, staffing has been a significant problem, especially in primary care and substance misuse, with reliance on agency staff. There has been extreme pressure on secure mental health beds, leading to longer transfer waits. The general inpatient ward houses a significant number of frail, elderly prisoners who would typically be in nursing homes, an environment not ideal despite being purpose-built. Waiting times for clinics are generally comparable to the community.
Regime & Daily Life
Despite operating a relatively smooth regime, prisoners experience insufficient time out of cell, with a minimum of 135 minutes (2.25 hours) per day, though some working prisoners get 6-9 hours. The Board views cell sharing, coupled with limited out-of-cell time, as inhumane and a safety risk, especially given the lack of single cells. Poor living conditions persist due to failing infrastructure, including leaking roofs, heating issues, and broken lifts, exacerbated by funding limitations. Education attendance remains poor, averaging 42%, with issues in course allocation and the temporary suspension of some vocational courses due to rebuilding work.
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 | 45 | 10 | |
| Canteen, facility list, catalogues | 5 | 11 | |
| Discipline, including adjudications, incentives scheme, sanctions | 12 | 8 | |
| Equality | 2 | 7 | |
| Finance, including pay, private monies, spends | 18 | 21 | |
| Food and kitchens | 19 | 14 | |
| Health, including physical, mental, social care | 36 | 39 | |
| Letters, visits, telephones, public protection, restrictions | 24 | 34 | |
| Miscellaneous | 42 | 53 | |
| Property during transfer or in another facility | 3 | 16 | |
| Property within the establishment | 33 | 39 | |
| Purposeful activity, including education, work, training, time out of cell | 16 | 8 | |
| Sentence management, including HDC (home detention curfew), ROTL (release on temporary licence), parole, release dates, recategorisation | 21 | 28 | |
| Staff/prisoner concerns, including bullying | 45 | 56 | |
| Transfers | 10 | 19 |
Recommendations (3)
Ministry of Justice: 3
2 repeated
Recommendation 1
Repeated
Prev. unaddressed
Fully cognisant of the current population pressures, the Board still believes that, for most prisoners, single cells are the only safe and humane option in the 21st century. What plans does the Minister have to increase the ratio of single to double cells?
Ministry of Justice
Overcrowding
Response
Double cells are never desirable, but population pressures mean that this is inevitable in the shorter term.
Recommendation 2
Repeated
Prev. unaddressed
Again, the Board asks what the Minister intends to do to reduce the amount of time men spend on remand and asks what resettlement support they will receive?
Ministry of Justice
Resettlement
Response
The Government has introduced a ‘raft of measures’ to improve the justice system, including the recruitment of more judges and the refurbishment of court buildings. The Government is working to extend resettlement support to remand prisoners. The probation team has been increased and works with all prisoners.
Recommendation 3
Bearing in mind the number of elderly prisoners with reduced mobility on the inpatient wards at Birmingham (and in many other establishments), what plans does the Minister have to introduce secure nursing homes to provide alternative - and more appropriate - accommodation for such prisoners?
Ministry of Justice
Healthcare
Other IMB Reports for Birmingham
HMIP Inspections
Recent inspections by HM Inspectorate of Prisons for this establishment.
6 Oct 2025
Unannounced
30 Jan 2023
Unannounced
Safety: 3
Respect: 3
Activity: 1
Release: 2
PPO Fatal Incidents
Prisons and Probation Ombudsman fatal incident investigations for this establishment.