HMP Onley

History and role

In shortOnley is a publicly run category C training and resettlement prison, built as a borstal in 1968, that still largely holds a London population.

• MoJ bulletin, 24 August 2026717 / 742Prisoners against operational capacity

GOV.UK describes it as a men's prison in Rugby, Warwickshire, and the HMPPS careers page places it five miles from the market town of Rugby, as a category C training prison.

Practice Plus Group

Physical and mental health.

The Forward Trust

Substance misuse treatment.

PeoplePlus

Education. HMIP lists these as the main service providers.

Who is held and the wings

In shortOnley held 729 men on a range of sentences, many long-serving men frustrated at limited sentence progression.

• Held (2025)729 men
• New prisoners received986In the previous 12 months; 542 releases (about 45 a month)
• Foreign national prisoners40

Inspectors noted that many men serving long or indeterminate sentences were frustrated at limited sentence progression and the lack of access to accredited programmes needed for parole or recategorisation.

Wings A to E

General accommodation for 60 prisoners each (older original wings).

F

The 15-cell segregation unit.

G and H

G is the resettlement wing and H the first night and induction unit, each for 60 men.

I

Holds 100 in all double-occupancy cells.

J

The integrated drug treatment system wing (75).

K and L

K is general accommodation (75); L (72 places) has a shower in every cell.

• Education in numeracy, literacy and IT (HMPPS careers page)
• Training in catering, fork-lift truck driving, gardening, industrial cleaning and recycling
• A Halfords Academy for bicycles, a Halfords Auto Centre and a contact centre

What inspectors found in May 2025

In shortHMIP judged safety, respect and release preparation not sufficiently good and purposeful activity poor, with drones and drugs a major problem.

• SafetyNot sufficiently goodDown from reasonably good in 2022
• RespectNot sufficiently goodDown from reasonably good in 2022
• Release preparationNot sufficiently good
• Purposeful activityPoor
• Random drug tests positive34%

HMIP's unannounced inspection (published 4 August 2025) found, in the Chief Inspector's words, drones carrying drugs and other contraband having a hugely destabilising effect on this rural prison. Violence had risen significantly, much of it linked to debt.

Wings, particularly older ones, were not good enough, with ingrained dirt and overdue showers, and there were too few work and education places.

The January 2026 review of progress

In shortHMIP found good progress on one of six concerns, reasonable progress on one and insufficient progress on four, with drugs the biggest problem.

• Good progress1 of 6
• Reasonable progress1 of 6
• Insufficient progress4 of 6Ofsted judged reasonable progress on all four of its themes
• Random drug tests positive36.4%Year to date, up from 34%

HMIP returned on 6 to 8 January 2026 (report published in February 2026) to follow up six concerns. The prison recorded one of the worst drone incursion rates nationally; funding had been agreed for window replacement, CCTV and netting, but little work had been done.

• Oversight of use of force had improved significantly, and there had been a slight overall reduction in violent incidents
• Leadership within the offender management unit had improved, giving most prisoners better contact and more effective sentence planning
• The Chief Inspector concluded that, under a dedicated governor, the prison had a clear understanding of the issues and was investing in staff to address them

A fully recruited but inexperienced workforce

In shortOnley recruited a full complement of officers in 2025, but many lacked experience, and the shortfall had reopened by mid-2026 on HMPPS figures.

• Band 3 to 5 officers (FTE)177 / 199Band 3 to 5 officers (FTE) against target, HMPPS workforce statistics at 30 June 2026

In 2025 the experienced governor had, for the first time in many years, been able to recruit the full complement of officers, and leaders had worked to support staff welfare and improve retention.

The consequence, HMIP said, was that many staff lacked experience and had not developed sufficient capability, so prisoners were frustrated that basic needs went unmet and the applications and complaints systems were overused. In January 2026 prisoners still reported frustration with staff unable to meet their needs.

Working at Onley

In shortOnley has an HMPPS careers page, is on the national pay zone with no market supplement as at 3 October 2026, and the standard Band 3 starting range applies.

• Starting range£34,928 to £39,334HMPPS; 37-hour contract, with 39 or 41 optional
• Market supplementNoneNot on the HMPPS tables as at 3 October 2026

No Onley-specific pay is published on the careers page. Given the HMIP finding that the prison had recruited a full complement of officers, supervising officer posts and mentoring may be relevant to career progression.