The prison was given a full inspection in June and July 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 Highpoint is a category C training and resettlement prison for adult men on a former RAF base in rural Suffolk, run by HM Prison and Probation Service, holding 1,103 prisoners against an operational capacity of 1,160. Inspectors rated safety Not Sufficiently Good, down from Reasonably Good, respect Reasonably Good, down from Good, purposeful activity Poor, unchanged and still the lowest rating, and preparation for release Not Sufficiently Good, unchanged. The prison was in the middle of a major expansion of 741 places, and a fire that closed one residential unit had disrupted the usual progression route between units.
Inspectors found an experienced governor keeping high standards of cleanliness and decency, with residential units and cells clean and well maintained. Reception support was strong, with 92% of prisoners saying they were treated well there, and time out of cell was better than usual, with few men locked up during the working day. Staff recruitment had improved, body-worn cameras were used in 87% of use-of-force incidents, and both drug finds and illicit phone finds rose significantly since 2023.
Inspectors nonetheless raised 15 concerns, six of them priorities. Drugs were too readily available, with the positive rate in random mandatory drug tests up from 21% to 28%, partly driven by drone deliveries, and two deaths had been linked to illicit drugs since the last inspection. The overall violence rate rose by 23% and serious assaults by 43%. Only 42% of prisoners were engaged in purposeful activity during the working day, around 350 men were not in education, training or work on a typical day, and oversight of health and social care was weak, with no local health delivery board or overarching improvement plan.
Charlie Taylor
HM Chief Inspector of Prisons
October 2026
To read the full reports, go to the HM Inspectorate of Prisons website or follow the links below:
| Full inspection report, Report on an unannounced inspection of HMP Highpoint by HM Chief Inspector of Prisons (29 June–16 July 2026, published 5 October 2026) | Easy read summary of the 2026 inspection report |