HMP Birmingham

Role and history

In shortHMP Birmingham is a publicly run category B local prison in Winson Green, and three of its Victorian wings were still closed for refurbishment in June 2026.

HM Inspectorate of Prisons (HMIP) describes HMP Birmingham as a category B prison for adult men that primarily serves the local courts, in the Winson Green area of the city. It is run today by His Majesty's Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS) and sits in the HMPPS West Midlands prison group.

The Victorian site is also one of the more visible examples of a delayed building programme.

Who is held and how the prison is organised

In shortBirmingham is a high-turnover local prison holding mostly remand, unsentenced and recalled men, with several specialist units.

• Held (Oct 2025)976 men88% remanded, unsentenced or on recall
• Unsentenced (Jun 2026)About 70%HMIP follow-up review
• ReceptionsAround 5,000New receptions in the previous year; 222 men released a month on average
• MoJ bulletin, 24 Aug 2026994 / 1,003Prisoners against operational capacity

HMIP recorded that 16% were foreign national prisoners, 30% were from Black and minority ethnic backgrounds and 21% had declared a disability. There are two health care units, including a mental health inpatient unit.

Providers named in the report include Birmingham Community Healthcare Trust for physical health, Birmingham and Solihull Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust for mental health, and Novus for education.

D wing

Drug rehabilitation unit.

G wing

Incentivised substance-free living unit.

J wing

Older prisoners unit.

L wing

Early days centre.

M wing

Detoxification unit.

N wing

Vulnerable prisoners unit. K and P wings hold the general population.

What inspectors found in October 2025

In shortHMIP's January 2026 report rated safety, respect and release preparation not sufficiently good and purposeful activity poor.

• SafetyNot sufficiently goodDown from good in 2023
• RespectNot sufficiently goodDown from good in 2023
• Purposeful activityPoor
• Preparation for releaseNot sufficiently good
• Random drug tests34% positiveAverage over the previous year

HMIP's unannounced inspection (report published 19 January 2026) found the prison stable despite changes to the population. The Chief Inspector wrote that organised crime groups were using drones and other methods to bring in drugs.

Violence and self-harm were high, and he described the prison as dirty and less well cared for than in 2023. The inspectors raised 14 concerns, six of them priorities.

The June 2026 follow-up review

In shortHMIP found reasonable progress on two of eight concerns, with drugs and mental health transfers still unresolved.

• Reasonable progress2 of 8Violence and self-harm, and decency
• Insufficient progress3 of 8
• No meaningful progress3 of 8
• Random drug tests35% positiveUnchanged

Because of those findings HMIP returned for an independent review of progress on 22 to 24 June 2026 (published 3 August 2026). Such reviews follow up selected concerns and do not re-score the four healthy prison tests.

Violence had fallen but remained high, and self-harm had reduced to a rate lower than similar prisons, with no self-inflicted deaths since the inspection.

• Mental health: an average of nine acutely unwell men a month were still arriving without a prior assessment
• The longest wait for a hospital transfer in recent months was 311 days
• Ofsted found reasonable progress on outreach education and the reading strategy, but insufficient progress on education induction
• A new governor had arrived just after the inspection and further investment was needed on drugs and living conditions, the Chief Inspector noted

Staff-prisoner relationships and the officer experience

In shortRelationships were of variable quality and frontline staff were under pressure, with 311 officers against a target of 333.

• Treated with respect59%Of surveyed prisoners, 2025
• Officers unavailableAbout 20%In the week inspected, June 2026
• Band 3 to 5 officers (FTE)311 / 333Band 3 to 5 officers (FTE) against target, HMPPS workforce statistics 30 June 2026; a shortfall of 22

Inspectors found staff-prisoner relationships respectful and caring in health care, segregation and education, but too often dismissive elsewhere. They also said the national key worker model fitted poorly with a mostly short-stay population.

The governor was reintroducing the supervising officer role, which the report says was intended to give officers a more achievable progression route.

• The October 2025 report said safer custody and security officers were persistently redeployed to wing duties
• The June 2026 review described officers acting as 'decency champions' for specific cells
• It also noted the effect on staff of caring for acutely unwell men who had not been diverted to hospital

Working at HMP Birmingham

In shortBirmingham pays on the national (non-London) zone with no market supplement, and vacancies appear through the national jobs search.

• Pay zoneNationalNon-London
• Market supplementNoneNot on the HMPPS tables as at 3 October 2026
• Starting pay£34,928 to £39,334Quoted by HMPPS jobs pages for comparable prisons, depending on hours

Band 3 officers start on a 37-hour contract and can later choose 39 or 41 hours. See prison officer pay and the pay band breakdown for the full 2026/27 figures.