SparkInsiderespondstoHMChiefInspectorofPrisons’AnnualReportfor2025 – 26

The Chief Inspector’s final annual report (published yesterday, 7^th July 2026) reiterates the persistence of chronic issues across the prison estate: unsafe living conditions, unacceptably high rates of drug use, violence and self-harm, and a lack of purposeful activity or access to education. 

Of particular concern for us at Spark Inside: 

• 80% of adult men’s prisons are failing to provide adequate purposeful activity, with ​‘frustration, boredom and despair’ in turn driving demand for drugs and violence. 
• 12 out of 16 category B & C training prisons – which should be supporting prisoners to prepare for resettlement – are poor or not sufficiently good in this area. 
• In many jails too little interaction with staff adds to frustration and contributed to poor behaviour, with prisoners struggling to get help from busy or inexperienced officers.  

Crucially, the Chief Inspector asserts that these challenges combined destabilises the delivery of effective rehabilitative work, such as supporting people to recover from addiction, train for and secure work, and maintain meaningful relationships.  

His urgent reminder is not only is this essential to stop reoffending and make communities safer, but is also critical to preventing our prisons from simply filling back up, at an average cost to the taxpayer of £56k per year per person.  

The Chief Inspector emphasizes that ​‘relationships remain central to the success of the best prisons’. He highlights good practice, and we were heartened to see one of our coaching programmes, Black Hero’s Journey, specifically highlighted in this report as a positive initiative towards fair treatment and inclusion. 

He reports that institutions with strong leadership, where staff spend time talking to prisoners on the wing, are able to maintain clear boundaries, properly incentivise good behaviour, and provide effective support, will see reoffending rates and victims of crime will fall.  

This is why we are so deeply committed to supporting institutional change across our prison system with coaching for prison leaders, leaving prison staff at all levels feeling more capable of managing their workload and the challenges they face. The Conversation, our programme utilising Deep Democracy techniques to facilitate dialogue between groups of prison staff and inmates, has shown increases of as much as 81% in positive behaviour. 

However, for charities like ours operating within this environment, the consequences of the issues highlighted in this report are monumental. 

Mr Taylor emphasizes the serious impact of cuts to education and other support, with services ​‘brutally cut’, attendance in education, training and work ​‘often appalling’ and working days ​‘ludicrously short’. Too many people, especially women, are released homeless or unable to read, which Mr Taylor identifies as ​‘a shocking waste of an opportunity to help prisoners turn their lives around’.  

Our coaches and staff face huge logistical challenges which limits access to our transformational programmes.  

Yet, we know our coaching supports young people’s wellbeing, helps them set and work towards goals, manage the significant challenges of the prison environment, and take concrete action to prepare for release. Our coaches create space for consistent, trusted, support both inside and through the gate fostering self-esteem, confidence, and commitment to change. 

Crucially, coaching massively increases people’s capacity for hope, which research shows is key to desistance. 

This report demonstrates that, with limited resource and capacity, it is important to think innovatively about where staff can make positive and sustainable interventions within existing regime structure. It’s notable that it highlights how many prisoners identify access to the gym as a key priority, and that prisons able to offer gym sessions see high levels of attendance. This affirms our work to pilot training prison gym staff in coaching skills, enabling staff with positive and routine contact with prisoners to offer individual support whilst fostering a more positive, rehabilitative culture. 

Vicki Cardwell, Spark Inside CEO, says: 
 
​“The Chief Inspector’s report once more makes for difficult reading, but also powerfully asserts that a better prison system is within our grasp. 

We echo its sentiments that, with increased capacity, our prisons must get back to their inherent purpose: effective rehabilitation so individuals can move away from crime and our communities can be safer. 

Coaching cannot solve issues with infrastructure or act as a replacement for proper healthcare, education or training. Yet, coaching’s flexibility, and its emphasis on what can be done rather than what can’t, means it offers powerful support for both transformative individual change and prison leadership’s ability to tackle systemic challenges. 

HMPPS’s own Rehabilitative Culture model promotes the use of coaching to help build positive relationships and support people in prison to make good decisions. With a new Prime Minister soon to be in post, we urge him to invest in programmes and interventions, like the Hero’s Journey and coaching for prison staff, that can ensure those leaving prison are supported to never return.”