United Kingdom · Midlands · Wolverhampton
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UK YOI prison operated by HM Prison & Probation Service. Listed in the GOV.UK Find a prison directory.
Capacity
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Current population
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Occupancy
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Year opened
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Operational
Figures from official sources · verified 7 Jul 2026 · methodology
Operator
HM Prison & Probation ServicePopulation held
male
Opened
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Region
Midlands
Security level
Medium
Death-row facility
No
against nine key concerns and Ofsted examined progress against four we made the following judgements about outcomes for prisoners. Figure 1: HMP/YOI Brinsford healthy prison outcomes in 2021 and 2023 In June 2023, preparation for release was a strength, but outcomes were otherwise not sufficiently good or poor, in line with a pattern of concerning inspection judgements over the previous 10 years. A risk-averse staff culture had resulted in prisoners languishing behind been given to providing meaningful education and training. Violence in a poor state of repair, and the critical task of receiving and preparing There was good progress in three areas of concern, reasonable Promising work to address the prison’s culture was reflected in a less told us that the changes made by the prison’s senior leaders had they felt safer because of a more effective staff approach towards managing conflict. — UK IMB Annual Report (2024) — Safety: 4.1 Reception Brinsford is a local prison serving local courts; as a result, prisoners often arrive late in the evening. Officers offer a call to family and, if necessary, offer prisoners something to eat. From the Board’s observations, prisoners are received at reception and are treated well. The Board is particularly concerned about prisoners arriving at the prison for resettlement, as they [...] Respect: 5.1 Accommodation, clothing, and food There are six residential units, with the majority of cells in the five larger units in need of refurbishment. The smaller unit 6 was refurbished during the previous reporting year. Cell toilets and sinks are in poor condition, throughout the prison but particularly in the CSU. This is exacerbated by poor cleaning regimes, which should be picked up as part of [...] Purposeful activity: The Board continues to be concerned about many of the issues we raised in our previous report. Brinsford has the advantage of having two large education blocks, Hawthorn and Rowan, however this capacity is not maximised. Despite there being multiple empty classrooms, indicating that there is space for more prisoners to be in education, the prison has not purchased enough spaces for every prisoner [...] Preparation for release: The visits centre is a warm and welcoming space. It has recently been refurbished with new sofas and chairs. The addition of a small coffee shop, where visitors can pre-order drinks and snacks for themselves and the prisoner they are visiting, helps to make the visit a pleasant experience. Brinsford has hosted regular family days (which bring together prisoners and their families outside of their [...]
prisoners aged from 18 to 29. At this independent review visit, which What we found during this review visit refurbished visits hall and visitors who had tested negative for COVID-19 were
days sleeping and watching television. This attitude remained a huge block to had been made of the large grounds and in developing other facilities to make was depressing to find so many young men wiling away their time sleeping or
themes relating to education, skills and work. Note: rehabilitation and release planning became ‘preparation for release’ in October 2023. In June 2023, preparation for release was a strength, but outcomes been given to providing meaningful education and training. Violence Promising work to address the prison’s culture was reflected in a less risk-averse approach towards prisoners, more time out of cell and more effective.
been given to providing meaningful education and training. Violence managing conflict. This was despite objectively high levels of violence, although it was encouraging that the rate of violence had been the incident. In other jails, where leaders have been more resolute, we have We continued to be concerned about levels of violence, which remained too themselves drivers of violence.
Derived signal — not a judgement. How it's calculated
What the score is responding to:
This facility scores 20. The national average across 584 scored United Kingdom facilities is 4 — 16 points above national average.
Same country, matched on type + security level where possible.
1.1 HMP/YOI Brinsford holds over 500 sentenced and remanded young prisoners aged from 18 to 29. At this independent review visit, which took place about 10 months after the inspection, we assessed progress against nine key concerns and Ofsted examined progress against four themes relating to education, skills and work. What we found at our last inspection 1.2 At our previous inspections of HMP/YOI Brinsford in 2021 and 2023, we made the following judgements about outcomes for prisoners. Figure 1: HMP/YOI Brinsford healthy prison outcomes in 2021 and 2023 Note: rehabilitation and release planning became ‘preparation for release’ in October 2023. 1.3 In June 2023, preparation for release was a strength, but outcomes were otherwise not sufficiently good or poor, in line with a pattern of concerning inspection judgements over the previous 10 years. 1.4 A risk-averse staff culture had resulted in prisoners languishing behind their cell doors for lengthy periods with little to do. Little priority had been given to providing meaningful education and training. Violence and use of force, especially of PAVA incapacitant spray, were too high, and governance in relation to both was weak. The prison was dirty and in a poor state of repair, and the critical task of receiving and preparing newly arrived prisoners was carried out badly. What we found during this review visit 1.5 There was good progress in three areas of concern, reasonable progress in three and insufficient progress in three. Ofsted found insufficient progress against all four of their themes. Report of an independent review of progress at HMP/YOI Brinsford 1.6 Promising work to address the prison’s culture was reflected in a less risk-averse approach towards prisoners, more time out of cell and more trust given to prisoner peer supporters. Middle managers were now clearly supporting the positive vision set out by the governor, and many told us that the changes made by the prison’s senior leaders had substantially improved the atmosphere in the jail. Prisoners told us that they felt safer because of a more effective staff approach towards managing conflict. This was despite objectively high levels of violence, although it was encouraging that the rate of violence had been reducing during 2024. There was improving governance of use of force, but we remained concerned about high use of PAVA without clear justification in some cases. 1.7 Some progress had been made in improving living conditions, but it was minimal and mostly recent. Many showers were still in very poor condition and cleanliness was still not good enough. A significant exception was in the first night and induction unit, where the accommodation was now among the best maintained in the prison. 1.8 Over 40% of prisoners had been at Brinsford for less than three months and the high turnover made effective early days support especially important. It was therefore encouraging to see substantial improvements in most aspects of prisoners’ early days experience. 1.9 Health care attendance rates had improved and innovative approaches to reduce prisoners’ reliance on sedative medication had been effective. Public protection work was still not good enough and had not been helped by the pressure to release prisoners with outstanding needs on an end of custodial sentence licence. 1.10 A major disappointment was in the area of purposeful activity, which had seen very limited progress. Too many prisoners were still not able to attend education on time or have a well-managed and useful experience when they arrived there. The range of work still did not meet the needs of the population well enough. 1.11 Brinsford is an establishment with a difficult history and many challenges. The uneven progress made against the concerns showed that much still needed to be done to ensure a positive full inspection
4.1 Reception Brinsford is a local prison serving local courts; as a result, prisoners often arrive late in the evening. Officers offer a call to family and, if necessary, offer prisoners something to eat. From the Board’s observations, prisoners are received at reception and are treated well. The Board is particularly concerned about prisoners arriving at the prison for resettlement, as they have either completed necessary courses and find there isn’t anything suitable for them, or they are in the middle of a course that isn’t offered in Brinsford. Their frustrations can lead to them being argumentative and disruptive during the 16-month period that should have been preparation for release. Prisoners who are 22 years plus see themselves as being in a YOI when they are adults. They have come from an adult prison, but feel they are being treated as ‘kids’. This is seen as another reason to be disruptive and as a way to get a move to an adult establishment. Sometimes, prisoners arrive without their property, which has gone missing, or it is lost within Brinsford, often from poor record keeping, in the Boards view. Compensation of £2743.74 was paid out during the reporting year for lost property. In recent months, a new paper process has been introduced in Brinsford, where clothing parcels are recorded more accurately and signed for by the prisoner, which seems to be working well. The Board has not received any complaints in this area and the prisoners we spoke to have [...]
The Board continues to be concerned about many of the issues we raised in our previous report. Brinsford has the advantage of having two large education blocks, Hawthorn and Rowan, however this capacity is not maximised. Despite there being multiple empty classrooms, indicating that there is space for more prisoners to be in education, the prison has not purchased enough spaces for every prisoner to be in full-time education. The detriment to prisoners of having only a limited number of spaces is further compounded by them not being optimally utilised. Allocation figures show that classes are not always allocated to their full capacity. The Board sees many classes with only a handful of students. The reasons for this vary from ‘keep aparts’ (generally prisoners who are gang affiliated and cannot mix with opposing gang members due to the risk of violence), to prisoners not wanting to attend. In this respect, the Incentives Policy Framework fails as it does not sufficiently motivate prisoners to attend education and/or behave whilst there. Hawthorn has closed multiple times, due to staff shortages, which has meant prisoners could not be escorted to education. There have also been instances where prisoners have lost learning time due to issues with the roll count, which have delayed their arrival at class. This is an ongoing issue. The Board has spoken to prisoners who are not in education but express a desire to be. It has taken an enquiry from the Board, asking what the plan [...]
The visits centre is a warm and welcoming space. It has recently been refurbished with new sofas and chairs. The addition of a small coffee shop, where visitors can pre-order drinks and snacks for themselves and the prisoner they are visiting, helps to make the visit a pleasant experience. Brinsford has hosted regular family days (which bring together prisoners and their families outside of their statutory entitlement to social visits, usually in more informal settings), supported by the charity, Prison Advice and Care Trust (PACT). These events have included Halloween, Christmas, Hawaiian and BBQ themes. Staff who host on the day do not wear uniforms and use their skills in things like face painting to engage with the children who are visiting. To the credit of staff, each family day has been a success. Population pressures have caused Brinsford to receive prisoners who do not live within the local area. The distance between ‘home’ and prison for these prisoners has made it difficult for family and friends to visit. This is particularly the case here visitors have health difficulties. The Board has spoken to multiple young prisoners who have not had any social visits during their time at Brinsford because of this. These young men report that they feel lonely and isolated and worry about their family and the impact on them of not being able to visit. The Board questions what factors are taken into account when prisoners are transferred between establishments and whether [...]
5.1 Accommodation, clothing, and food There are six residential units, with the majority of cells in the five larger units in need of refurbishment. The smaller unit 6 was refurbished during the previous reporting year. Cell toilets and sinks are in poor condition, throughout the prison but particularly in the CSU. This is exacerbated by poor cleaning regimes, which should be picked up as part of the accommodation fabric checks (AFC). Issues that are reported are dealt with too slowly; in particular, there is a repainting programme in place, but graffitied cells are not prioritised above other areas. In addition to the six standard residential units, there are 16 cells in the care and separation unit (CSU), where prisoners are separated from the rest of the prison population, and 10 spaces in the 24/7 healthcare facility. The cells in the CSU are in particularly poor condition, especially the toilets and sinks but also the beds and the floors. The poor conditions are, to a large extent, due to prisoner damage, but the Board is seriously concerned about the failure to ensure a basic standard of accommodation for prisoners. Despite a previous investment in new boilers, there are significant problems with the heating system. Thermostatic controls were omitted, so there is no flexible control, which means that heating is either fully on or off. There have been instances when the heating system has turned on and off of its own accord, which leads to extremes of temperature and [...]
When we inspected Brinsford in August 2021 we raised concerns about the amount of time that the 517 young men at the prison were spending out of their cells. On this inspection we found a slightly improved picture with more prisoners in at least part-time work, but our score of ‘poor’ for purposeful activity reflects a jail that still has a long way to go. The prison was held back by a culture among a significant minority of staff and middle managers that Brinsford prisoners were so risky that it was better to keep them locked behind their doors, where too many continued to spend their days sleeping and watching television. This attitude remained a huge block to the ambition of the governor, and she will need to take on these influential vested interests if the jail is to make further progress. An example of this inertia was the use of force: at our last inspection, we criticised poor governance and in particular the apparent reluctance of staff to turn on body-worn cameras. Since then, the prison had acquired enough new cameras for every staff member, but leaders had not done enough to make sure they were activated. Too often the only footage we were able to view was taken when the prisoner was being returned to his cell, rather than at the beginning of the incident. In other jails, where leaders have been more resolute, we have found that the use of body-worn cameras has become embedded. Teachers told me that they were frustrated that only a small and unpredictable number of students turned up to education, not because they did not want to come, but because getting them to the education block was not seen as a priority by some staff. Not enough work had been done to improve on some of findings from 2021, and none of the recommendations in this area had been fulfilled. It had taken too long to create a prison-wide reading strategy, assessment was weak and peer mentor support was very limited. Prisoners told me that sometimes, when they did get to education, they discovered it had been cancelled. This negative attitude also meant that men were often not taken to important health care appointments. We continued to be concerned about levels of violence, which remained too high and led to regime restrictions. This, in turn, also fed boredom, a sense of helplessness and a lack of motivation among prisoners – factors which were themselves drivers of violence. We were pleased to see that the governor and her senior team had brought in some new ways of motivating good behaviour such as increased gym time, association, and sporting events, although rewards that had been earned were not consistently delivered. There was huge potential among the young men in the prison, but not enough had been made of the large grounds and in developing other facilities to make sure that they were expending their energy in more positive ways. Although we criticised the fabric of the prison at our last inspection, it continued to be substandard, apart from the refurbishment of some wings and showers. Unscreened lavatories were stained, there was toothpaste over many of the walls, and the redecoration initiative involving a party of prisoners seemed to have spattered almost as much paint on the floor as on the walls. The induction wing needed some serious managerial grip. One young adult I spoke to, who had arrived into prison for the first time two days before, found himself in a cell that had someone else’s tissues and a desiccated apple lying on the floor, a pair of trainers left by another prisoner and no duvet cover; sadly this was not untypical. This was not acceptable, nor was the lack of a proper induction for many new prisoners. The offender management unit continued to be a strength of the prison with a team of well-led, motivated staff providing a good and consistent service to prisoners. There continued to be concerns with public protection arrangements,
Brinsford is a category C prison holding 466 mostly young men who are on remand or sentenced to less than four years imprisonment. The attractive gardens (largely closed to prisoners) and the large open site belied a prison that faced some serious challenges in providing adequate care, education, training and rehabilitation and creating an environment that was safe and supportive to an often-troubled group of prisoners. Much of the accommodation was in poor condition with many prisoners living in shabby cells, of which some had inadequate furniture and graffiti on the walls. The showers needed refurbishment and the communal areas were tatty and uninspiring. Even parts of the prison that had been recently redecorated had begun to deteriorate. Officers tended to congregate in offices away from the wings, meaning prisoners were often left unsupervised. Inspectors saw poor behaviour going unchallenged by staff whose low morale seemed to have affected their motivation. The newly introduced incentives scheme was not being used to monitor or improve prisoners’ behaviour, because it had not been communicated effectively to staff and prisoners and was therefore not properly understood. Progress to open the regime after COVID-19 restrictions had been slow and it was depressing to find so many young men wiling away their time sleeping or watching daytime television. Leaders were not monitoring the regime adequately and were unaware that that prisoners who were not working or in education were locked in their cells for 23 hours a day, despite a planned increase in the amount of time out of cell. Face-to-face education was only provided to a few prisoners each day and opportunities for work were limited. One of the two education blocks was still closed and use of the library was very restricted. The gym provided irregular access for prisoners and this was cancelled when, particularly at weekends, staff members were cross deployed to other work. There was some exercise equipment outside, but yards were small and there was limited use of the extensive grounds that could have provided opportunities for outdoor activity for this largely young and energetic group of prisoners. The well-led and effective offender management unit was supported by the governor who had avoided cross-deployment of staff away from important sentence progression and release work. Enthusiastic staff had reopened the refurbished visits hall and visitors who had tested negative for COVID-19 were now able to hug prisoners. Though violence had reduced since our last inspection, levels of assaults between prisoners were higher than at any of the comparator prisons. The inclusion of parents and other family members in supporting challenging or vulnerable prisoners was an impressive innovation. Use of force had also reduced but more needed to be done to make sure prison officers turned on their body-worn cameras when there was an incident. The governor had rightly set ’back to basics’ as a priority for the prison, but plans were vague and had not been adequately communicated to staff and prisoners. This was a prison that required some real management grip; to make improvements, leaders must be clear about their expectations, set up effective systems for monitoring progress and be a visible presence on the wings, checking daily that that standards are being maintained. Charlie Taylor HM Chief Inspector of Prisons September 2021
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World Prisons. (2026). HMP Brinsford. Retrieved July 21, 2026, from https://worldprisons.com/prisons/hmp-brinsford
"HMP Brinsford." World Prisons. Accessed July 21, 2026. https://worldprisons.com/prisons/hmp-brinsford.
@misc{worldprisons-hmp-brinsford,
author = {{World Prisons}},
title = {HMP Brinsford},
year = {2026},
url = {https://worldprisons.com/prisons/hmp-brinsford},
urldate = {2026-07-21}
}