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Prison in Birmingham, England

HM Prison Birmingham is a Category B men's prison in the Winson Green area of Birmingham, England, operated by HM Prison and Probation Service.

HM Prison Birmingham was formerly called Winson Green Prison. It is a Victorian prison, designed by DR Hill, who also designed All Saints' Hospital, which was completed in 1849. In 1995, Birmingham was criticised by its own Board of Visitors for being soft on prisoners. This arose after allegations that one inmate had gone on two weeks' holiday to Menorca, while being released for weekend leave. In January 1999 an inspection report by Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Prisons attacked conditions at Birmingham, describing the health centre in the jail as the "untidiest and dirtiest" inspectors had ever come across. The report also criticised the prison for its lack of a sex offender treatment programme, the lack of employment and education opportunities, and the inadequate bathing arrangements where some inmates were only being allowed a full wash three times a week. In 2002 the prison was expanded as a result of a multimillion pound investment programme by the Prison Service. 450 additional prisoner places were added together with new workshops, educational facilities, a new healthcare centre and gym as well as extensions and improvements to existing facilities. Two years later, a report from the Chief Inspector found that conditions at Birmingham had substantially improved, stating that the prison was a place where "positive attitudes are firmly embedded". In November 2007, the Independent Monitoring Board warned in a report that overcrowding at Birmingham was putting prisoners and staff at risk. The report stated that if overcrowding was not tackled, then there was a potential for unrest. Two years later, the Board issued another report that criticised levels of overcrowding at Birmingham Prison. The report also noted that inmates from the jail were being transferred to prisons further north, to accommodate increased prisoner levels from the South East of England. Birmingham became the first publicly built, owned and operated prison in the UK to be transferred to the private sector. G4S formally took over the day to day running of the prison in October 2011. Shortly after taking over the operation of the prison, G4S had to spend £500,000 replacing all the keys and locks in the prison after the master keys went missing.

Birmingham holds adult male prisoners, serving the Crown Court sitting in Birmingham, Stafford and Wolverhampton and the Magistrates' Courts of Birmingham, Wolverhampton and Cannock. Education and training at Birmingham Prison is provided by NOVUS, part of The Manchester College group. Learning programmes for inmates include basic and key skills, bricklaying, plumbing, painting and decorating, carpentry, joinery, forklift truck training, industrial cleaning, catering, textiles, barbering, information technology, business, creative arts and performing arts. All courses lead to qualifications such as NVQs, and there is the option for further study with the Open University. The Prison Library Service is provided by Birmingham City Council's Library Services, and all prisoners have access to the service. As well as facilities for independent learners, the library has special collections on law, employment, health, community information, English as a second or other language (ESOL), and basic skills materials. There is also a Learning Centre within the library to provide additional learning support to those with dyslexia and ESOL needs. Physical education at Birmingham is provided on a daily basis over a 7 day period, and evenings over 5 days. There are a number of sports delivered and also sports related subjects from basic skills to NVQ Level 2 in Sports and Recreation. Birmingham has a prison chaplaincy with full time chaplains from the Church of England, Roman Catholic, Free Church and Muslim faiths. There are also sessional staff from the Sikh, Buddhist and Hindu faiths. Assaults by prisoners have been rising with an average of three assaults a week on staff, some serious. There have also been assaults and serious assaults by prisoners on other prisoners. Drones were used to bring drugs into the prison which Petherick of G4S confirmed. In June 2016 inspectors said prison violence was increasing because of large amounts of illegal drugs in the prison. Jobs for prison officers at Birmingham Prison were advertised with a starting salary of just under £10 an hour.

There was reportedly a buildup of frustration by prisoners over prison conditions prior to the riot. Low staff numbers, poor healthcare and nutrition were cited as factors. Also, prisoners being on 'lockdown' in their cells all day was cited as a major contributing factor to the disturbance. On 16 December 2016, a prison officer was reportedly "rushed" by inmates leading to a rapid escalation of what prison officials described as "trouble". An injured prisoner was used as 'bait' to encourage officers to unlock doors. Shadow justice secretary, Richard Burgon said, "This is only the latest in a number of disturbances across the prison estate. The justice secretary is failing to get this crisis under control". Michael Spurr of National Offender Management Service Agency claimed drugs, overcrowding, and reduced staffing had put prisons under pressure. One inmate in the prison's G wing, which was reserved for sex offenders during the riots, reportedly informed his solicitor that, during the disturbance, rioting inmates had attempted to gain access to that section of the facility and that prisoners were "terrified" they would be attacked. On Friday evening, specialist riot squads from His Majesty's Prison Service were dispatched to assume control of the situation due to the scale of the disturbance, which had grown to involve more than 600 inmates. By late that day, prison officials were reportedly back in control of the facility. The Birmingham riot was described by one source as the worst prison disturbance in a B category prison in the United Kingdom since the 1990 Strangeways Prison riot. This is the third serious incident within under two months. Riots previously happened at Bedford Prison and Lewes Prison Prison wings damaged during the riot were not reopened until April 2017. There was a further disturbance in September 2017 Prisoners refused to return to their cells and 28 were subsequently moved. One prisoner death was self inflicted. The Howard League for Penal Reform maintains the figure for deaths is the joint highest in England and Wales in 2018, together with HMP Durham, and considers it "extremely concerning". Roger Swindells, of the Independent Monitoring Board for Birmingham Prison described problems including overcrowding, with prisoners facing cramped conditions in Victorian cells, also cockroach and rat infestations. There is a high rate of sickness among prison officers and the prison has trouble retaining staff. In August 2018 the government announced they were taking Birmingham prison over because it is in a state of crisis. Peter Clarke maintained some prisoners are afraid to leave their cells and described Birmingham Prison as, "the worst prison he had ever been to." Clarke maintained there was a "dramatic deterioration" in conditions after the 2016 riot and reported there was a lack of order, where violent people could act with "near impunity". Some staff locked themselves in their offices, and parts of the prison were filthy, with blood, vomit and rat droppings on the floor. Clarke described an, "abject failure" to manage and deliver the contract at Birmingham. Clarke wrote, "The inertia that seems to have gripped both those monitoring the contract and delivering it on the ground has led to one of Britain's leading jails slipping into a state of crisis that is remarkable even by the low standards we have seen all too frequently in recent years." In 2017 1,147 assaults including fights were recorded at the prison. This was higher than for any other prison in England or Wales that year and five times higher than 2012, the first complete year that G4S ran the prison. Clarke refers to the "disturbing case" of a troubled prisoner with personal hygiene problems who was "soaked" with water from a fire hose by other prisoners. Clarke said, "We struggle to understand how staff could have allowed this appalling bullying to take place." Inspectors found a further "distressed" prisoner who sat on "scruffy material on the springs of his bed" since the mattress was stolen three days before. Clarke maintains this indicates the, "day to day vulnerability" of some prisoners. Clarke maintained further, "It was often difficult to find officers, although we did find some asleep during prisoner lock up periods," and added that "ineffective frontline management and leadership" were basic to the prison's problems. Paul Newton, previously governor at Swaleside Prison will be the new governor, there will be 30 more staff, also the prison population will drop from 1,200 to 900. The Independent Monitoring Board wrote in May 2018, "put simply, the prison fails to provide a safe and decent environment on an almost daily basis". Notable concerns included violence, large scale prohibited drugs, also "regularly overcrowded and unfit living conditions", The board noted further, "toilets in cells with no screen, a generally dirty, poor environment, litter, objects in stairwells, broken windows, heating broken or excessive, broken showers, lack of kettles and even, on occasion, lack of kit and bedding and cockroaches ever present". Frances Crook of the Howard League for Penal Reform, was pleased about the news but feared prisoners would probably "be shipped out in the middle of the night" causing "even more overcrowding in other prisons".

The prison was featured in an episode of EastEnders in 2000 which shows the character Nick Cotton being released from the prison. The prison is mentioned in the book The Third World War: The Untold Story in which it and the city of Birmingham are destroyed by a Soviet nuclear warhead. The prison is featured in the 2009 grime film 1 Day.