From Jokewood to the best prison in the country – UK’s top prison inspector praises HMP Oakwood

His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Prisons Chief Inspector Charlie Taylor praised the jail’s high expectations of prisoners, and a culture of prisoner-led initiatives are at the heart of its achievements.

He said: “Soon after it opened in 2012, it deteriorated so badly that prisoners began to name it Jokewood, but by the time we inspected in 2013, a new director, John McLaughlin, had begun to turn things round. With a tight budget and an inexperienced staff team he set about creating incentives that offered prisoners a clear path to a safer and more productive time in jail.

“Despite running one of the largest prisons in the country, holding over 2,000 men, he was well known by staff and prisoners alike, spending much of his time on the wings and, as a former professional snooker player, thrashing them every so often at pool. John moved on in 2021, but under his successor, Sean Oliver, the jail has continued to thrive.

“At the heart of Oakwood’s success are the many prisoner-led initiatives – schemes generated and led by prisoners to help their fellow inmates to succeed. One prisoner, serving a life sentence, had set up a woodwork shop to support some of the most vulnerable prisoners.”

He added: “In other jails these men might have been bullied by their peers or even used as guinea pigs to test out new batches of Spice, but at Oakwood they were creating tables, bird boxes, benches and dog kennels that were bought by staff or sold to the public. What was most remarkable was that prisoners, using tools that could be easily have been seen as weapons, were working without the need for direct supervision from prison officers. Nearby, in an allotment and polytunnel, three prisoners proudly showed me the vegetables and herbs they were growing. Anywhere else, there would have been staff closely supervising them, but at Oakwood they worked alone.”

CI Taylor believes the trust given to prisoners is the key at Oakwood.

He said: “Trust is at the heart of Oakwood’s success, and prisoners are given opportunities and freedoms that might frighten staff in other jails. But this trust is not just given out, it has to be earned. There are many incentives for doing the right thing at the prison, but those who break the rules are robustly dealt with.

“Risk is carefully managed and there is no sense that the prison is ‘soft‘; the expectations for prisoners’ behaviour are universally high, but prisoners who get into difficulties are given a way out and all around them they see the benefits of doing the right thing. Of course, things go wrong from time to time, but leaders have the confidence to accept that occasional failures are an inevitable consequence of innovation – you cannot have one without the other.”