Since 2019, HM Inspectorate of Prisons has carried out short “Independent Reviews of Progress” (IRPs) at prisons where a previous full inspection had found performance to be poor, with those prisons subject to the Chief Inspector’s Urgent Notification (UN) protocol treated as a priority.
These brief visits, typically around 15–20 a year, run alongside HMIP’s usual programme of full inspections and are now a well-established, permanent part of its work. Reports are normally published within around 25 working days of the visit, giving a much faster read on whether a failing prison is acting on the Inspectorate’s recommendations than waiting for the next full inspection.
In its Annual Report 2025-26, the Inspectorate reported carrying out independent reviews of progress at 16 prisons over the year, alongside four Urgent Notifications for improvement – at HMP Woodhill, HMP Pentonville, HMP Swaleside and Oakhill Secure Training Centre. When it first announced the programme, the Inspectorate said:
“IRPs are an important new area of work for us. They are designed to give the Secretary of State an independent assessment of whether prisons we have found to be unsafe or otherwise failing are getting to grips with our key recommendations for improvement. There are many governing teams and staff working hard in very challenging jails and through our IRPs we will work constructively with them to support the improvements we all want to see.”