The prison was given a full inspection in August 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 & YOI Bronzefield is Europe’s largest women’s prison, a category A closed establishment in Ashford, Surrey, run for HM Prison and Probation Service by Sodexo. It held 507 women at the time of the inspection against an operational capacity of 527, with an average stay of 56 days. Inspectors described mixed progress since the previous inspection, rating safety, respect and preparation for release all Reasonably Good, unchanged, but downgrading purposeful activity to Not Sufficiently Good.
Care and support for vulnerable women were found to be a real strength, backed by robust safer-custody arrangements and an alert system that cross-references several internal systems to flag women at risk of self-harm early. Violence had risen slightly year-on-year but remained lower than at comparable prisons, and self-harm had fallen overall, though a small number of women accounted for a large share of incidents. Drug test positivity was lower than the average for reception prisons. Post-release employment support was praised, including personalised packs to help with job applications and a dedicated route for women to stay in contact after release, and a new director appointed in January 2025 was credited with a clear grip on priorities and a programme of reflective practice for staff.
Set against this, inspectors raised a number of concerns. Mentally unwell women were being held in prison for want of community mental health beds, with transfers under the Mental Health Act still delayed years after the same concern was raised previously. Substance-misuse withdrawal care was judged inadequate, with unpersonalised care plans and prescribing practices inspectors considered potentially risky. Many women were released without secure long-term accommodation, and some higher-risk women were being refused hostel places. Domestic abuse support, previously a strength, had been withdrawn despite continuing high need, and planned time out of cell was frequently cut short at little notice, disrupting access to work and education. Only 6% of women were in employment six weeks after release, and just over half felt safe on their first night, compared with over two-thirds at comparable women’s prisons.
Charlie Taylor
HM Chief Inspector of Prisons
November 2025
To read the full reports, go to the HM Inspectorate of Prisons website or follow the links below:
- Inspection report, HM Inspectorate of Prisons website, Report on an unannounced inspection of HMP & YOI Bronzefield by HM Chief Inspector of Prisons (4–14 August 2025)
- Easy read summary of the 2025 inspection report
- Action plan, HM Prison and Probation Service action plan in response to the 2025 inspection of HMP & YOI Bronzefield
- Inspection report (PDF), Report on an unannounced inspection of HMP & YOI Bronzefield (24, 31 January–4 February 2022, published 11 May 2022)
- HMP & YOI Bronzefield, Report on an unannounced inspection of HMP & YOI Bronzefield (26 November–6 December 2018)