HMP Birmingham HMIP Inspections

The prison was given a full inspection in October 2025, followed by an Independent Review of Progress in June 2026. The full reports can be read on the HM Inspectorate of Prisons website, just follow the links below. In their latest full report the inspectors said:

HMP Birmingham is a category B men’s prison in the Winson Green area of the city, with an operational capacity of around 1,000 to 1,030 prisoners. It has been run by the public sector, HM Prison and Probation Service, since the government took over from the private contractor G4S in 2019, following an earlier Urgent Notification and a well documented history of serious problems.

Inspectors found that conditions had deteriorated since the previous inspection in 2023, with both safety and respect falling to not sufficiently good. Organised crime groups were said to be actively targeting the prison, using drones and other methods to smuggle in contraband and drugs. High drug availability was linked to elevated levels of violence between prisoners and continuing incidents of self-harm.

Purposeful activity remained rated poor, a longstanding weakness. Around four in ten prisoners had no work, education or training placement, and many spent long periods locked in their cells with little meaningful activity to occupy them. Preparation for release was also rated not sufficiently good, unchanged from the previous inspection.

Inspectors raised particular concern about a change in local policing practice that saw acutely mentally unwell people, including some experiencing psychosis, sent into prison custody rather than diverted to mental health services before reaching the criminal justice system.

One area of genuinely positive practice was highlighted: a regular football competition between wings, which inspectors said had helped build better relationships between staff and prisoners and improved the atmosphere across the prison.

Charlie Taylor
HM Chief Inspector of Prisons
January 2026

A further Independent Review of Progress, carried out in June 2026 and published in August 2026, checked on progress against the concerns raised at the October 2025 inspection. Independent Reviews of Progress do not re-score the four healthy prison tests, but instead assess how far a prison has moved on specific earlier concerns. Inspectors found that of eight concerns examined, only two had seen reasonable progress, three had seen insufficient progress and three had seen no meaningful progress. The proportion of prisoners testing positive for drugs remained largely unchanged at around 35%, and inspectors again raised serious concern about the mental health referral pathway, noting that some prisoners assessed as needing a hospital transfer were waiting over 300 days for a bed. The Chief Inspector separately wrote to ministers calling for mental health assessments to take place in police custody, rather than after individuals have already been sent into prison.

Charlie Taylor
HM Chief Inspector of Prisons
August 2026

HMP Birmingham

To see the full reports on the HM Inspectorate of Prisons website follow the links below, this section contains the reports for Birmingham from 2000 until present: