MAJOR PROBLEM AT SWINFEN HALL, 6th August 2015
| General Information | Inspections |
| IRP Report | Visits and getting there |
| Regimes | Work and education (to follow) |
Key data and contact details
| Name or Prison | HMYOI Swinfen Hall |
| Address: | Swinfen Hall, Lichfield, Staffordshire WS14 9QS |
| Other contact details: | |
| Web Site: | |
| Email: | |
| Main switchboard: | 01543 484 000 |
| At Risk hotline: | |
| Fax: | 01543 484 001 |
| Visits booking number: | 0300 060 6507. |
| Visits booking email: | visitsbooking.westmidlands@noms.gsi.gov.uk. |
| Visits booking txt number: | |
| Type of Prison: | Male Young Adults & Cat C Male |
HMP&YOI Swinfen Hall, in Staffordshire, opened in 1963 as a borstal and became a long-term young offenders’ institution in 1972. It now holds young adult men aged 18 to 28 serving four years to life, alongside Category C men serving longer sentences, accommodated across nine wings of single cells. An earlier inspection in 2001 praised the prison as a centre of excellence for its understanding of young prisoners’ needs.
More recently, an unannounced inspection in August and September 2024 found drug availability had become a significant threat to safety and stability, with mandatory drug testing showing an average positive rate of 45% over the year, peaking at nearly 55% in one month. Inspectors also found worn and dirty communal areas, showers lacking privacy and affected by mould, and around 30% of prisoners locked up during working hours, with weekend time out of cell limited to just 90 minutes for most men. Family contact was a particular concern: around 60% of prisoners had received no face-to-face visits in the previous six months, and the prison lacked sufficient staffing to support family contact properly.
Given how few visits many prisoners are receiving, families who can visit someone at Swinfen Hall may want to check current booking arrangements well in advance using the contact details above — a visit may matter more than usual given these findings.