| Prison Name: | HMP Leyhill |
| Location: | Cromhall, Gloucestershire |
| Coordinates: | 51.6283°N -2.4388°W |
| Classification: | Adult male/category D |
| Population: | 532 |
| Populationdate: | June 2009 |
| Managed By: | HM Prison Services |
| Governor: | Steve Hodson [1] |
HM Prison Leyhill is a category D men's prison located in the parish of Cromhall in Gloucestershire, England. His Majesty's Prison Service operates Leyhill Prison.
Leyhill Prison was originally a United States military hospital built for the Second World War. The site was converted into a prison in 1946, with inmates originally housed in hutted accommodation. The prison was rebuilt in the late 1970s to early 1980s, and in 1986, prisoners were re-housed in new living accommodation. In 2002, new accommodation units were added to increase the prison's capacity.
In a March 2002 report, Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Prisons criticised Leyhill for failing to prepare inmates for release, stating that too little was being done to help inmates get ready for the pressures of life outside. The report also claimed that staff needed a clearer idea of their role at the prison.[2]
In May 2006, it was revealed that more than one inmate a week was absconding from Leyhill. Statistics showed that 66 prisoners had left Leyhill in the 2005/06 financial year. The Prison Service claimed the number of escapes was down to population pressures in the UK prison estate, with less trustworthy prisoners being transferred to open prisons like Leyhill.[3]
Leyhill is a prison for adult male prisoners of category D status, meaning that either a parole board or the Prison Service has deemed them suitable for open conditions.[4]
Leyhill was strongly criticised for failing to manage the risks posed by this population properly and not assisting enough with effective resettlement.
Leyhill runs a variety of courses designed to help prisoners prepare for release. These include a general joinery woodwork shop (offering City & Guilds qualifications in woodwork), a printing shop, a commercial laundry; industrial cleaning and car-valeting training, waste management and recycling training, and forklift truck and tractor training.
The prison's farms and gardens also provide work and training for prisoners on a 55-hectare estate, including extensive ornamental grounds. There is a nationally important arboretum run in conjunction with the Forestry Commission; it is often open to the public.
As an open prison, several prisoners at Leyhill are placed in the community to complete work and training placements. These placements are designed to improve a prisoner's chance of successful resettlement in the community on release.
In November 2016, three potentially violent prisoners absconded.[5]