HMYOI Werrington, Inspections

The prison was given a full inspection in April and May 2025, the full report can be read on the HM Inspectorate of Prisons website, just follow the links below. In their latest report the inspectors said:

HMYOI Werrington is a young offender institution in Staffordshire holding boys aged 15 to 18, run by HM Prison and Probation Service, holding 81 children against a certified normal capacity of 118. Inspectors rated safety improved to not sufficiently good from Poor, care not sufficiently good, unchanged, purposeful activity Poor, unchanged, and resettlement reasonably good for a second consecutive inspection, unchanged.

Leadership showed improved stability, with the governor’s team having already begun an improvement plan a month before inspectors arrived. Self-harm incidents fell to 10.9 per 100 children per month, down from 14.2 previously, and safeguarding processes were relatively robust, with 301 referrals processed within 24 hours and 98% of children’s applications actioned on time. Faith provision was strong, with 91% of children reporting access to chaplaincy of their own faith, and resettlement work remained the strongest area of the prison’s performance.

Inspectors nonetheless found only 34% of children said they felt cared for by staff, well below comparator institutions, and 85% were not receiving the minimum 15 hours of education a week. Average time out of cell was just three and a half hours a day, and a small number of children, often those too frightened to leave their cells, were not unlocked for several days in a row, one for as long as 10 days. There were 324 assaults in the year, 26 of them serious, and 125 “keep-apart” arrangements existed among a population of just 81 children, severely constraining movement and education.

Charlie Taylor
HM Chief Inspector of Prisons
May 2025

HMYOI Werrington

To read the full reports, go to the HM Inspectorate of Prisons website or follow the links below: