A follow-up review of HMP Parc has found continuing failings, with drugs ‘far too easily available’ and improvements constrained by ‘significant restrictions’ on prisoners’ daily regimes. A death in the prison in 2025, suspected to be caused by illegal drugs, remains under investigation.
The review, based on a visit by inspectors last month, followed up on 11 concerns from the full inspection in January 2025. Inspectors judged good progress in one area, reasonable progress in three, and insufficient progress in seven. They identified no examples of notable positive practice.
Chief Inspector Charlie Taylor said improvements remained constrained by ‘significant restrictions’ on the daily regime, driven by staff shortages, vetting delays, and demands for external hospital escorts. Prisoners were still spending extended periods confined to their cells, missing education, work and other purposeful activity.
The report identified that there had been some good progress with the decline of drug use with positive random drug tests decreased from 31% to 24% over the past six months. But drugs remained ‘far too easily available’ overall. Inspectors highlighted investment to counter drone incursions, including secure window installation, alongside intensified searching supported by detection technology.
HMP Parc have previously attracted national scrutiny over in-mate deaths linked to drug use. The findings reflect a wider concerns about deaths in prison with statistics released last week showing the that 2025 had the highest number of people dying in prison on record.
There have been no self-inflicted deaths since 2025 but overall rates were the second-highest among category C prisons. Inspectors noted leaders had yet to develop effective responses to known drivers, including stress and curtailed routines, and identified ongoing weaknesses in assessment, care in custody and teamwork case management
Violent incidents had risen by 25% in the second half of 2025, although there has been a recent downward trend in the last three months of the year. Leaders had strengthened data oversight, but inspectors said their understanding of the underlying causes remained limited and support plans were frequently generic. The judgment was insufficient progress.
Inspectors also recorded insufficient progress on healthcare access, education attendance, offender management and public protection.
Parc remains under intense scrutiny. Charlie Taylor highlighted that ‘without sufficient resources and an adequate regime, the prison will continue to struggle to achieve the necessary improvements in outcomes for prisoners’.
