The prison was given a full inspection in October 2022, 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 Wealstun is a category C training and resettlement prison in West Yorkshire, run by HM Prison and Probation Service, holding 810 men against an operational capacity of 832. Inspectors rated safety improved to reasonably good from not sufficiently good, purposeful activity not sufficiently good and rehabilitation and release planning reasonably good, both unchanged, while respect declined to reasonably good from Good.
Assaults on prisoners fell by around 50% and assaults on staff by around 37% against the previous 12 months. Seventy-nine per cent of prisoners said they were treated well in reception, 86% could attend religious services when they wished, 59% could use the gym at least twice weekly against a 32% comparator average, and 88% had accommodation arranged ahead of release. Inspectors credited the governor, seven years in post, with bringing energy and stability to a calmer, more competent establishment than at the previous inspection.
Inspectors nonetheless raised 15 concerns, six of them priorities. Self-harm and use-of-force levels remained high with no clear reduction strategy in place, and only around half of staff had completed refresher training on incapacitant spray. Time out of cell was poor, with prisoners locked up for almost 23 hours a day at weekends, and purposeful activity spaces were insufficient, with sessions frequently cancelled due to staff shortages. Officers were often inexperienced and under-supported in building meaningful relationships with prisoners, and the prison’s response to discrimination complaints was judged poor quality.
Charlie Taylor
HM Chief Inspector of Prisons
November 2022
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 Wealstun by HM Chief Inspector of Prisons (3–14 October 2022, published 23 January 2023) | Action plan, HM Prison and Probation Service action plan in response to the 2022 inspection of HMP Wealstun |