Campaigners have said HMP Wandsworth remains “grim and dysfunctional” after a new monitoring report found prisoners were still being held in “unsafe, overcrowded, unsanitary and squalid conditions” at the south London jail.
The criticism comes after the prison’s Independent Monitoring Board published its latest findings, which said a number of initiatives had been introduced to improve daily life and the way the prison operates. But the report said major problems remained inside the Victorian buildings.
Wandsworth Prison Improvement Campaign is continuing to press for changes at the category B men’s prison, including better cells and showers, more time out of cells, support for foreign nationals, improved mail delivery and access to family phone numbers.
Report details ongoing problems
The Independent Monitoring Board report, published in October, said persistent heating and hot water problems led to a “loss of service” in November last year. As a result, the prison had to order an extra 1,500 coats, 1,000 blankets and 2,000 instant noodles for inmates.
According to the report, those issues will continue until the prison’s plumbing and heating systems are fully replaced. It also found that, on average, one third of staff were absent or unavailable each day, affecting how many prisoners could take part in activities and education.
Staffing levels were described as often “dangerously inadequate”. The report also found men at the prison were often locked in their cells for up to 22 hours a day, while nearly 40 per cent were allocated to no activity.
Campaign group points to wider failures
Wandsworth Prison Improvement Campaign said any progress in the report had to be seen against continuing overcrowding, ageing infrastructure, poor management of repairs and refurbishment, and high levels of sickness and unauthorised staff absence.
The group said the latest findings exposed continued failures at the prison. Among the examples it highlighted were a six-month delay in replacing a dishwasher, the Nightingale healthcare unit being unable to offer dentistry because the door could not fit a dentist’s chair, and a wing being closed for refurbishment for 20 months with little sign of progress.
It also said families had reported difficulties getting information about relatives in the prison and raised concerns about conditions during visits, including dirty lavatories in the visits hall.
Scandals and signs of improvement
The latest criticism follows a series of high-profile incidents at HMP Wandsworth. In September 2023, Daniel Khalife escaped by clinging to the underside of a food delivery van. A 2024 inspection later found the prison in chaos, and in January 2025 former prison officer Linda De Sousa Abreu was jailed for 15 months after being filmed having sex with an inmate in a cell.
At the same time, the monitoring board said some measures had improved over the year. Incidents of self-harm fell from 726 in 2024/25 to 530, prisoner-on-staff assaults dropped from 354 to 222, and use of force fell from 1,705 incidents to 1,286.
Matthew Andrews, chair of the Independent Monitoring Board, said: “The commitment of a strong senior management team and a core of dedicated staff was commendable and meant the prison had a relatively good year. This was achieved despite the ongoing and chronic staff shortages.”
He added: “However, in a remand prison where almost half the prisoners were foreign nationals and also many men had mental health problems, this ensured that significant management challenges remained.”
A Ministry of Justice spokesperson said the Government was working to restore order across the prison system and said there was more to do at HMP Wandsworth despite signs of progress identified in the report.
