The prison was given a full inspection in November 2024, 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 The Mount is a category C training and resettlement prison near Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire, run by HM Prison and Probation Service, holding 1,022 men against an operational capacity of 1,032. Inspectors rated safety reasonably good, unchanged, and purposeful activity Poor, also unchanged, while respect improved to reasonably good, up from not sufficiently good, and preparation for release also improved to reasonably good, up from not sufficiently good. Inspectors found that six of the ten recommendations from the previous inspection had been achieved and two partly achieved, under a governor credited with stabilising the prison since taking post in December 2022.
Eighty per cent of prisoners said staff treated them with respect, up from 65% previously, and self-harm was down slightly on the last inspection. Only 14% of prisoners were found locked up during roll checks in the working day, down sharply from 38%, and assaults on staff had fallen by 31%. The substance-free living wing was praised as among the best inspectors had seen, and reception processing was efficient, with the majority of new arrivals dealt with in under two hours.
Inspectors nonetheless raised serious concern that the prison could not stop drones delivering contraband, including packages of cannabis weighing up to two kilograms, describing it as linked to organised crime and the single most serious issue found. Violence had risen, with prisoner-on-prisoner assaults up 64%, and drug testing showed a 36% positive rate on random tests, rising to 88% where testing was intelligence-led. There had been five self-inflicted and five drug-related deaths since the last inspection, segregation use had risen sharply, and only around a quarter of the education budget’s work seemed to be translating into outcomes, with achievement rates in functional skills described as too low.
Charlie Taylor
HM Chief Inspector of Prisons
January 2025
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 The Mount by HM Chief Inspector of Prisons (11–22 November 2024, published 24 February 2025) | Easy read summary of the 2024 inspection report |
| Action plan, HM Prison and Probation Service action plan in response to the 2024 inspection of HMP The Mount | |