Charlie Taylor

HM Chief Inspector of Prisons

[Charlie Taylor @charlie_taylor6]

Parc YOI has consistently outperformed the other YOI - the prison service has not done enough to understand why.
It is safer, better led with an experienced and capable staff team. Boys spend far more time in education and other purposeful activity than elsewhere.

[Danny Shaw @DannyShawNews]

NEW A rare peek inside Britain’s top
-rated prison for children.
I was given access to G4S-run Parc Young Offenders Institution in south Wales - where boys convicted of the most serious crimes, including murder & rape, are held.
My piece for @telegraph: https://t.co/Qv8tYwmzbI

[Charlie Taylor @charlie_taylor6]

Fascinating programme from @DannyShawNews https://t.co/PWDpeEKwsf

[Charlie Taylor @charlie_taylor6]

This is a great opportunity for an outstanding candidate to join our brilliant health care inspection team.

[HMI Prisons @HMIPrisonsnews]

🔎 We are looking for a Health Care Inspector for prisons and other forms of custody

🗓️ Apply by 15 September

Find out more: https://t.co/iXZppzV5xL

[Tim Leunig @timleunig]

It is not selective and lots of the kids come from families poor enough to get a free lunch. Kids get about 2 grades better, on average, in every GCSE they take. It is remarkable.

[Natasha Porter OBE @NPorter_]

The best predictor of future offending is previous offending. We need prison environments which reduce crime in prison.

This is what @unlockedgrads wings are showing, and this is why the model of investing in professionalising frontline staff as leaders needs replicating.

[Charlie Taylor @charlie_taylor6]

Really interesting and illuminating blog from @MentalHealthCop

[Michael Brown 🌍 @MentalHealthCop]

NEW BLOG - "The Red Route".

A quite extraordinary ticking off for @WMPolice yesterday with a letter from @Charlie_Taylor6 to three Secretaries of State.

There is a bigger background to it all than may be known.

https://t.co/6zMEAGK6cl

[Charlie Taylor @charlie_taylor6]

Quite shocking- West Midlands police failing to assess those coming into custody meaning that people with severe, untreated mental illness- schizophrenia, psychosis etc. are arriving in prisons -putting themselves, fellow inmates and prison officers at risk. Unacceptable

[HMI Prisons @HMIPrisonsnews]

People with severe mental illness who need urgent treatment are being remanded to prison and left waiting excessive periods for hospital places.

Last month, @charlie_taylor6 wrote to ministers calling for urgent action

Read the press release: https://t.co/0xuDDctT6Q

[Tom Bennett OBE @tombennett71]

The Bottle Problem: If a kid takes something they’re told not to take, then runs off despite an instruction not to do so, issuing a consequence eg a short detention in order to demonstrate the boundaries of acceptable conduct is perfectly reasonable.

Consider the alternative: kid does this with no consequence. What’s the impact? Inevitably a reinforcement of the acceptability of taking what you want and doing what you want, with no boundary. Communities just can’t cope with that kind of contradiction.

Those in charge of communities forget this at their- and our peril. The social contract seems invisible, but it is everywhere. It feels disposable, but it is indispensable. It appears cheap, but it is priceless. It is the foundation of civilisation. If rights are universal, then liberty cannot be endless, but circumscribed by our duties to one another.

[Charlie Taylor @charlie_taylor6]

Powerful arguments made by Adrian Usher @PPOmbudsman

[Prisons and Probation Ombudsman @PPOmbudsman]

Today @PPOmbudsman Adrian Usher calls for the creation of an independent body to scrutinise prison staff conduct. Click the link to read more in our latest Annual Report: https://t.co/H6ueK59489

[Charlie Taylor @charlie_taylor6]

Launch of our annual report with @russwebt this week.

[HMI Prisons @HMIPrisonsnews]

In our 2025-26 Annual Report launch @charlie_taylor6 spoke about his admiration for, and the dedication of, prison governors and the difficulties they face.

Listen below and watch the full launch here: https://t.co/rIiGEttJ4X

[Russell Webster ✍️ @russwebt]

Chief Inspector calls for an increase in the "woeful levels of activity in prison" - Russell Webster https://t.co/ayPbi0P4me

[Charlie Taylor @charlie_taylor6]

Delighted to launch my sixth and final annual report with the brilliant @russwebt

[HMI Prisons @HMIPrisonsnews]

Earlier today we hosted our 2025-26 Annual Report launch, where Chief Inspector @charlie_taylor6 discussed the report's findings with @russwebt!

Watch on YouTube: https://t.co/W90OrP0kL6

Read the report: https://t.co/mDrVgNnIvv

[Charlie Taylor @charlie_taylor6]

On @SkyNews with @WilfredFrost talking about our annual report that we launched today. https://t.co/bCIqTrUizE

[Ridge & Frost @RidgeandFrost]

'We're seeing lifestyle-type drugs, Ozempic and steroids'

HM Chief Inspector of Prisons Charlie Taylor tells @WilfredFrost that drones are an "enormous problem" in prisons because of the amount they can carry, giving prisoners access to a much wider range of drugs.

[Charlie Taylor @charlie_taylor6]

@thetimes on today’s annual report. Inmates pick from drug menu then gangs send drone delivery to cells

https://t.co/EwRpdqonY6

[Charlie Taylor @charlie_taylor6]

My 6th and final annual report out today

[HMI Prisons @HMIPrisonsnews]

Today we publish our 2025-26 Annual Report.

Chief Inspector @charlie_taylor6 says act now to improve woeful levels of activity in prisons and reduce demand for drugs.

Read the report: https://t.co/mDrVgNnIvv

And the press release: https://t.co/IG7coeLYtb

[Charles Hymas @charleshymas]

Drone gangs are offering prisoners a “menu” of “lifestyle drugs” such as Ozempic, bales of cannabis and knives because of security flaws, the prisons watchdog has warned @DavidLammy @JamesTCobbler @sarahsackman @HMIPrisonsnews @charlie_taylor6 @POAnatchair @POAUnion @PGA_Prisons @PoliceInspForum @PRTuk @NotThatBigIan @DannyShawNews https://t.co/kIbk2zSGcc

[HMI Prisons @HMIPrisonsnews]

Points to note:
- Strong staff-prisoner relationships
- Better support for men in crisis
- Rate of positive drug tests still third highest in reception jails
- Unemployed men only unlocked for 2hrs a day
- Mentally ill patients waited too long for secure hospital bed.

[Charlie Taylor @charlie_taylor6]

It is impossible to underestimate the importance of teaching prisoners to read.

[Thinking Reading @ThinkReadHQ]

In Episode 2 of "Inside the Reading Gap" we explore the correlation between imprisonment and poor literacy.  You'll hear expert @charlie_taylor6 explore this link & the challenges of improving literacy in the prison environment. Find where you get your podcasts.

[Charlie Taylor @charlie_taylor6]

Delighted to visit this Scandie wing @HMP_Wandsworth brilliant collaboration between the prison and @unlockedgrads -
👉relationships transformed,
👉regime unrecognisably good 👉behaviour far better - congratulations to governor Andy Davy and his team.

[Charlie Taylor @charlie_taylor6]

We see it in prisons too - like Peter Pan trying to revive Tinkerbell, if you say “trauma informed” often enough, you can somehow magic it into existence.

[Tom Bennett OBE @tombennett71]

Trauma Informed Practice is extremely common in school discourse, particularly around behaviour. But it’s another area where extreme caution is advised, because the evidence for its effectiveness is still very thin. It *sounds* right (who wouldn’t want to be ‘trauma informed’?) but that doesn’t mean it works.

A recent study funded by the @YouthEndowFund and the Home Office looked at the connection between TIP and children's behaviour and involvement in crime.