The prison was given an inspection in early 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:
Located near Wrexham in north Wales and opened in February 2017, HMP Berwyn is a publicly run category C training, resettlement and reception prison, and the largest prison in England and Wales. At the time of the inspection it held around 1,900 to 2,000 adult men. This was the prison’s third full inspection since opening.
Safety was the area of greatest concern, with the rating downgraded to not sufficiently good. Levels of violence and self-harm had risen markedly since the previous inspection, and around a third of prisoners tested positive for drugs, with a majority saying illicit substances were easy to obtain. Inspectors linked some of the strain to the prison increasingly receiving transfers from courts outside its original north Wales catchment area, including Merseyside and Greater Manchester, which added pressure to the population.
Respect was assessed as reasonably good. Physical living conditions were rated positively, with amenities such as in-cell showers and personal laptops for prisoners, but only around half of prisoners said staff treated them with respect, below the level seen in comparable prisons, and the keyworker scheme meant to build staff-prisoner relationships was judged largely ineffective.
Purposeful activity remained not sufficiently good. About a quarter of prisoners had no work or education placement, and many spent long hours locked in their cells each day. Where teaching did take place its quality was considered reasonable, but attendance was patchy.
Preparation for release showed the clearest improvement, moving up to reasonably good. Inspectors highlighted a well-coordinated, multi-agency resettlement hub helping prisoners prepare for release, and credited a newer leadership team with driving improvements, though a large share of officers still had less than two years’ experience.
Charlie Taylor
HM Chief Inspector of Prisons
May 2025
To read the full reports, go to the HM Inspectorate of Prisons website or follow the links below:
- Inspection report (1.1 MB), Report on an unannounced inspection of HMP Berwyn by HM Chief Inspector of Prisons (27 January – 7 February 2025)
- Action plan (284 kB), HM Prison and Probation Service action plan in response to the 2025 inspection of HMP Berwyn
- Inspection report (2 MB), Report on an unannounced inspection of HMP Berwyn by HM Chief Inspector of Prisons (16–17 and 23–27 May 2022)
- HMP Berwyn (869.04 kB), Report on an unannounced inspection of HMP Berwyn (4-14 March 2019)