The prison was given a full inspection in November 2023, 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 Peterborough (Female) is a reception and resettlement prison for women, run by Sodexo on behalf of HM Prison and Probation Service, holding 350 women against an operational capacity of 396. Inspectors rated safety Good, a significant improvement since the last inspection, and respect remained reasonably good, unchanged, while purposeful activity declined to Poor and preparation for release declined to reasonably good. The inspection came shortly after a change of leadership, with an interim director having taken over only three weeks earlier.
Ninety per cent of women said they had completed the induction programme, well above similar prisons, and 77% described peer support as very or quite good. Reception processes were dignified, with women greeted warmly and put at ease on arrival, and family contact provision was a particular strength, including a mother and baby unit and digital cameras letting mothers capture family milestones. Resettlement work was generally good despite high offender manager caseloads.
Inspectors nonetheless found Ofsted rated education provision inadequate, with around a quarter of women locked up during the working day and over a third allocated to menial domestic work rather than anything that would help them find employment on release. There were no strategies for self-harm, violence reduction or resettlement tailored specifically to women, these being shared with the men held on the same site, and too few cells were accessible for women with disabilities. Staff vacancies compromised mental health service delivery, and foreign national women were excluded from some progression opportunities.
Charlie Taylor
HM Chief Inspector of Prisons
January 2024
HMP & YOI Peterborough (Female)
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 & YOI Peterborough (Female) by HM Chief Inspector of Prisons (6–16 November 2023, published 26 February 2024) | Easy read summary of the 2023 inspection report |
| Action plan, HM Prison and Probation Service action plan in response to the 2023 inspection of HMP & YOI Peterborough (Female) | |