The prison was given a full inspection in July 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 Verne is a category C training prison on the Isle of Portland in Dorset, run by HM Prison and Probation Service, holding 604 prisoners convicted of sexual offences against a certified normal capacity of 570. Inspectors rated safety Good, unchanged, while respect declined to reasonably good from Good, and purposeful activity and preparation for release both declined to not sufficiently good from reasonably good. Charlie Taylor said the prison was generally safe and respectful but that the report revealed worrying weaknesses in addressing prisoners’ offending behaviour.
Ninety-one per cent of prisoners said staff treated them with respect and 92% felt safe on their first night, both above comparator averages. Library access improved sharply, with 91% able to use it weekly or more, up from 74% previously, and staff retention had improved. The prison, which holds a significant ageing population with around a third of prisoners over 60, ran a well-regarded health and social care unit, a gym programme with six PE instructors offering sessions tailored to older prisoners, and enterprise activities including a café.
Inspectors nonetheless found no offending behaviour programmes running at all, meaning high-risk prisoners could wait years for any intervention addressing their risk of harm, undermining the prison’s core purpose as a category C training establishment. Only 11% of scheduled key-work sessions were completed over a three-month period, down sharply from previous levels, and only around 40% of prisoners with sentence plans received meaningful support from offender managers. Segregation use had roughly doubled to 58 placements in six months, including inappropriate use for prisoners at risk of self-harm, Ofsted rated education and vocational provision as requires improvement, and healthcare record-keeping and care-plan documentation showed clear deficiencies.
Charlie Taylor
HM Chief Inspector of Prisons
August 2024
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 Verne by HM Chief Inspector of Prisons (8–18 July 2024, published 14 October 2024) | 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 Verne | |