The prison was given a full inspection in February and March 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 Stoke Heath is a category C training prison in Shropshire, run by HM Prison and Probation Service, holding 741 men against an operational capacity of 782. Inspectors rated safety not sufficiently good, a decline from Good, and respect and rehabilitation and release planning both reasonably good, the latter an improvement from not sufficiently good, while purposeful activity remained Poor, unchanged. Charlie Taylor credited a governor of around a year’s standing, who followed four governors and four deputy governors in quick succession, with bringing determination and realism to a prison he said could flourish if drug ingress fell and purposeful activity rose.
An unusually experienced, stable staff team produced warm, professional relationships with prisoners, and healthcare was a clear strength, with strong primary care, good diagnostics and routine GP appointments within 12 days. Offender management and public protection work had improved since the last inspection, with good multi-agency risk-management meeting attendance, and the small category D unit on site had improved oversight with a good progression route into the community. Five of the eleven concerns raised at the previous inspection had been fully addressed.
Inspectors nonetheless found drug positivity at nearly 30% on random testing, the highest of any category C prison, with 156 suspected intoxication incidents in a single month and weak gate security blamed for contraband getting in. Self-harm rates were among the highest of any category C prison, with four self-inflicted deaths since the last inspection. Around a quarter of the population was locked up during the working day, Ofsted rated education overall inadequate, and widespread damp and mould affected one wing that inspectors said should be rebuilt. Only 56% of prisoners had a named key worker, and 352 men had received no visits at all in the past year owing to the prison’s remote location.
Charlie Taylor
HM Chief Inspector of Prisons
April 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 Stoke Heath by HM Chief Inspector of Prisons (23 February–5 March 2026, published 1 June 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 Stoke Heath | |
What have they done about it all ?Has it been aorted or what ?? What this space