The prison was given a full inspection in April 2026, 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:
HMP & YOI New Hall is a closed prison and young offender institution for adult women near Wakefield, West Yorkshire, run by HM Prison and Probation Service, holding 317 women against an operational capacity of 376. Inspectors rated safety Good, unchanged, and respect Good, an improvement from reasonably good, while preparation for release also improved to Good, up from reasonably good, and purposeful activity remained the weak spot, staying not sufficiently good. A relatively new governor was praised for a clear grasp of the prison’s strengths and weaknesses, with three of the four tests now rated Good.
Eighty-six per cent of women said they were treated very or quite well on reception, and 75% felt safe on their first night. Time locked up during the core working day fell to 19% of prisoners, down from 31% at the last inspection, and use of force incidents, while numerous, had the lowest rate of any comparator prison. The drug-recovery unit was found to improve wellbeing for 73% of the women housed there, compared with 31% elsewhere in the prison, and segregation use had reduced since the previous inspection.
Inspectors nonetheless found the highest positive rate for random mandatory drug testing of any women’s prison in England and Wales, at 13%, alongside inadequate gate security. Self-harm remained very high, with over two-thirds of incidents involving just 13 women who self-harmed repeatedly, and 23% of women said they currently felt unsafe. Purposeful activity was criticised for a curriculum not broad enough to include proper English and maths support, and 9% of women had been released homeless in the previous year, with high-risk women sometimes refused by probation hostels.
Charlie Taylor
HM Chief Inspector of Prisons
June 2026
To read the full reports, go to the HM Inspectorate of Prisons website or follow the links below:
- Inspection report, Report on an unannounced inspection of HMP & YOI New Hall by HM Chief Inspector of Prisons (20–30 April 2026, published 27 July 2026)
- Easy read summary of the 2026 inspection report
- Action plan, HM Prison and Probation Service action plan in response to the 2026 inspection of HMP & YOI New Hall