HMP Featherstone

Reports

• HMIP12 Jan 2026

  Located near Wolverhampton, HMP Featherstone is a category C training and resettlement prison holding 658 adult men at the time of inspection. The establishment holds prisoners principally from the West Midlands region, with a significant turnover of population. Many of those held were serving quite lengthy sentences – over four years – and many were considered to present significant risk of harm to others. The prison is publicly run, with health and education services provided by external partners. Since our last inspection in May 2022, progress has been limited. For example, of the eleven listed concerns we raised previously, only three have been fully addressed, the rest remaining unresolved. Notably, concerns about preparation for release have not been tackled, and the overall trajectory of outcomes for prisoners has stagnated or declined. These findings were reflected in our four healthy prison assessments, for all of which we judged outcomes to be ‘not sufficiently good’. Despite some investment, the older residential units, mainly built in the 1970s, are still in poor condition, and facilities management is under strain. There is a drabness to the institution which undermines well-being, although the prison is reasonably clean and most prisoners look after their cells. The quality of staff prisoner relationships is very mixed and depends very much on location. On those wings with a specific task or function, they are reasonably supportive. On those units lacking a defined purpose they tend to be more transactional, although this is mitigated to some extent by efforts in the prison to make the key work model work. In terms of the main safety metrics, Featherstone is similar and comparable to other category C trainers. Violence and self-harm rates exemplify this although there is no plan to drive improvement. Social care provision is weak, with inadequate adaptations for prisoners with reduced mobility. The drug strategy is well-coordinated and supports recovery, but the mandatory drug testing data suggests access to illicit drugs is far too high, and overall prison culture does not sufficiently encourage positive behaviour or sentence progression. Despite being a training prison, the range of vocational training is failing to equip prisoners with skills for employment, compounded by a significant amount of lock up and indifferent attendance rates at work, training or education. Added to this, there are insufficient opportunities for prisoners to demonstrate risk reduction and progress in their sentences, with inconsistent offender manager contact and a lack of structured interventions. Public protection work is similarly problematic. Despite the challenges, leadership at Featherstone has been committed and visible, with the governor providing an honest, if somewhat optimistic, self- assessment of what the prison is able to achieve. Featherstone faces significant challenges in delivering safe, respectful, and purposeful custody, as well as effective preparation for release. There are pockets of good practice and committed leadership, but systemic issues persist. Leaders must address the

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• HMIP16 May 2022

  Featherstone is a category C training prison near Wolverhampton that contained 661 prisoners at the time of our inspection. The impressive work leaders had undertaken to reduce the supply of drugs had led to large falls in violence, despite the regime being far more open with more prisoners in activities and work than we have seen in recent inspections of similar prisons. The effective and well-respected governor had come into post at the beginning of the pandemic and had, alongside her strong and supportive deputy, taken on some of the challenges that had dogged this prison in recent years. In our survey, a far larger proportion of prisoners told us that they felt safe than at our 2018 inspection, and ambulance call outs and general alarms on the wings were becoming much rarer than in the past. Senior leaders, however, had not paid enough attention to offender management and the unit was not operating effectively. There were examples of poor leadership in the unit and a staff group that lacked direction or support. As a result, prisoner progression was often limited and we received many complaints from men who were unable to get any response from offender managers. There was also a long backlog of prisoners waiting to get onto accredited programmes. Poor public protection arrangements meant that some higher-risk prisoners were not having their telephone calls monitored promptly, undermining the collection of timely risk information. It was disappointing to find that some acutely mentally ill prisoners were ending up in the segregation unit, where staff did not have the training or the skills to create a therapeutically orientated environment. There were also unacceptable problems in getting these prisoners to the inpatient wing at HMP Birmingham, as well as delays in moving those in crisis to a secure hospital. Improvement in this area must be a priority for both local and regional leaders. Despite competing with nearby prisons, leaders had worked hard to improve staff retention rates, which had been some of the worst in the area. Thought had gone into providing the newer and often younger officers with the support they needed to feel more comfortable and skilled in the role. Education provision had reopened, but ongoing teacher shortages meant that it was not yet as effective as at our last inspection. Due to a new regime, prisoners were only in work or education for half of the day – this did not replicate working hours in the community and the ambition must be to run a full regime. Prisoners at Featherstone were getting out of their cells for longer than we have seen in most recent inspections and it was good to see association rooms open with pool, snooker and table tennis in use. The governor had recognised that improvements were needed to the staff culture – in our survey prisoners reported victimisation and bullying from officers at a higher level than comparable prisons. This was disappointing, because we also saw some very skilled officers maintaining high standards and helping the men in their care. Officers often did not switch on their body-worn cameras and consequently, scrutiny and oversight of the use of force was lacking. Leaders had commissioned a staff climate report that was helping them to identify poor practice and attitudes. As we said in our last two inspections, much of the accommodation at Featherstone was very run down, and some of the older house blocks were beyond repair and need replacing. High standards set by staff meant that the prison was, at least, generally clean. There is much to be optimistic about Featherstone where, if the current senior

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