The prison was given a full inspection in December 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:
HMP Swaleside is a category B training prison on the Isle of Sheppey in Kent, run by HM Prison and Probation Service, holding 879 men against a baseline certified normal capacity of 1,112. Inspectors rated safety, respect, purposeful activity and preparation for release all Poor, a decline across the board from not sufficiently good, the lowest possible outcome and triggering an Urgent Notification issued in December 2025, ahead of the full report’s publication. Charlie Taylor described a prison “in disarray,” with conditions “in a complete state,” saying the outcomes represented serious failings by leaders in the prison service and the worst he had given in five years as chief inspector.
A new permanent governor started in July 2025, after more than a year without one, and staff were said to be positive about the honest, clear-eyed direction of the new leadership. The substance misuse and recovery service, supporting around 38% of the population, was rated impressive, well led and offering innovative therapies, and end-of-life care, mental health leadership and dental care were all rated good. Family contact provision, including social visits, family days and secure video calls, was a genuine bright spot, and key worker coverage was comparatively strong at 82% of prisoners.
Inspectors nonetheless found the second-highest assault rate and the highest rate of assaults on staff of any adult male prison in England and Wales, with serious assaults up 78% and assaults on staff up 122% since the previous inspection; three-quarters of prisoners said they had felt unsafe at some point. Use of force rose 87%, with only around half of staff up to date on training. Drug test positivity reached 34%, though leaders themselves estimated real use closer to 50%, with drones remaining the main smuggling route. Nearly half of prisoners were not in purposeful activity, Ofsted rated education inadequate across all areas, and of 21 patients needing transfer under the Mental Health Act, one waited 711 days, which inspectors called an unacceptable failure causing wholly avoidable harm.
Charlie Taylor
HM Chief Inspector of Prisons
February 2026
To read the full reports, go to the HM Inspectorate of Prisons website or follow the links below:
| Inspection report (PDF), Report on an unannounced inspection of HMP Swaleside by HM Chief Inspector of Prisons (1–11 December 2025, published 19 March 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 Swaleside | |