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Wealstun Prison Information

• Accommodation: The prison provides multiple residential units with individual cells or shared accommodation for inmates. The cells are equipped with basic amenities, including beds, personal storage, and sanitation facilities.
• Education and Vocational Training: Wealstun Prison places a strong emphasis on education and vocational training. Inmates have access to a range of educational programs, including basic education, literacy, numeracy, and accredited courses. Vocational training opportunities are also available to develop employable skills and enhance prospects for successful reintegration into society.
• Work Opportunities: Inmates at Wealstun Prison have access to various work activities within the prison, such as maintenance, cleaning, kitchen, and other designated roles. These work activities aim to develop skills, instill discipline, and promote a sense of responsibility.
• Healthcare: Wealstun Prison has an on-site healthcare unit staffed with medical professionals who provide primary healthcare services to prisoners. Mental health support, substance abuse programs, and specialized medical care are also available.
• Family Contact: The prison recognizes the importance of maintaining family relationships and facilitates visits and contact with family members, subject to specific guidelines and regulations.
• Resettlement Support: Wealstun Prison offers pre-release planning and support to help inmates prepare for their eventual release. This may include assistance with accommodation, employment, and access to community-based support services.

Contact Information

Booking a visit to wealstun prison.

• Monday: 2:15pm to 4pm
• Tuesday: 9:30am to 11am and 2:15pm to 4pm
• Wednesday: 2:15pm to 4pm
• Thursday: 9:30am to 11am and 2:15pm to 4pm
• Friday: no visits
• Saturday: 9:30am to 11:30am and 1:45pm to 3:45pm
• Sunday: 9:30am to 11:30am and 1:45pm to 3:45pm

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The Good Book of Prisons

What's good in prisons across England & Wales

The managers described relationships between prisoners and staff as ‘very good’ and praised the ‘highly committed’ staff, who had a ‘can do’ attitude, and said there were ‘excellent’ and ‘friendly’ relationships among staff at all levels. Wealstun was one of the pilot sites for PAVA (synthetic pepper spray), and the managers said it had had a ‘major’ and ‘positive’ impact on staff safety. They also highlighted the value of having two full time mentors for POELTS, which they thought had contributed to ‘very low’ levels of attrition. They praised the gym and its staff more generally (‘excellent all round’), which was also available to, and well used by, staff, and noted the links made with local sports teams, including Leeds Rhinos Rugby League team. They rated vocational training and work opportunities for prisoners as another positive, along with ‘strong’ community links ‘in general’, including with local employers. The managers also felt Wealstun to be a ‘nice environment’ in which to live and work, with ‘plenty of green space’ – while the ‘popular’ mess was also a positive for staff.

The prisoners described Wealstun’s staff as ‘excellent’ and said they had ‘very good’ relationships with them. They added particular praise for, and appreciation of, the ‘very good’ all day family visits. Like the managers, they also gave a positive rating to the gym and gym staff, including the links with local sports teams.

The Officers also praised staff-prisoner relationships. They said the staff were ‘very friendly’ and ‘supportive to one another’ across disciplines, and cited the value of a ‘strong camaraderie’ and regular ‘staff nights out’. They agreed with managers about the mess, which was ‘well used by staff of all grades and disciplines’, and helped with mixing among staff across disciplines. They called PAVA spray ‘awesome’ in making ‘a real difference’ to staff confidence and safety. The grounds were seen as another positive too.

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• Crime, justice and law
• Prisons and probation

Wealstun Prison: Action plan

HM Prison and Probation Service action plan for Wealstun Prison in response to HM Inspectorate of Prisons inspection.

Wealstun Prison: Action plan (April 2020)

PDF , 564 KB , 15 pages

This file may not be suitable for users of assistive technology.

This action plan is the HMPPS and MoJ response to the HM Inspectorate of Prisons inspection report for Wealstun Prison .

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Prisons · West Yorkshire

Overcrowding.

Certified Normal Accommodation (CNA): 849

Population: 886

Wealstun is a category C training prison for men. It was formed from the merger of two prisons, Rudgate and Thorp Arch in 1995.

Read Wealstun’s latest inspection report here. 

About this information

Certified Normal Accommodation (CNA) is the prison service’s own measure of how many prisoners can be held in decent and safe accommodation. Any occupancy above CNA means that the prison in question is overcrowded.

Prisons in England and Wales fall into four separate security categories. Some prisons can operate under more than one category.

Category A : Category A prisons are high security prisons, holding those individuals considered the most threatening to the public should they escape. Category A prisons should not be overcrowded, given the high levels of security required.

Category B: Category B prisons, or local prisons, are the largest category of prison. They tend to hold un-sentenced prisoners, prisoners on remand awaiting trial, short-sentenced prisoners or those newly sentenced and awaiting transfer to another prison category. Category B prisons tend to be the most overcrowded, with a constantly churning population.

Category C: Category C prisons are sometimes called ‘training prisons’. They are meant to offer education and training to prisoners and the vast majority of prisoners on longer sentences will spend time in Category C accommodation. Historically not overcrowded, we now see more and more Category C prisons running overcrowded regimes.

Category D: Category D prisons offer open conditions and house those who can be reasonably trusted not to try to escape. Prisoners in Category D prisons will be given Release On Temporary Licence (ROTL) to work in the community or go on home leave, usually returning to the prison in the early evening. The majority of Category D prisoners will be towards the end of their sentence, and their period in open conditions is preparing them for their eventual release. Category D prisons tend not to be overcrowded.

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• overcrowding
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General Details, HMP Wealstun

Prison Details

On 1 April 1995, HM Prisons Thorp Arch and Rudgate amalgamated to form HMP Wealstun. This was an historic development for the Prison Service, and had the effect of creating a category C (closed) side and category D (open) side within one establishment.. In 2008, the open prison closed and the prison underwent a conversion to provide additional category C places; the full prison commenced operation in May 2010.

 Accommodation

There are 10 residential units, and an assessment and separation unit (segregation unit).

• Anderson (A) and Bell (B) units between them house 230 prisoners in a combination of single and double cells.
• Curie (C) unit houses 180 prisoners in single cells. It includes the first night centre, induction, safer cells and prisoners on the IDTS programme. It also includes the care suite..
• Darwin (D) unit is a single-cell accommodation unit, holding 120 prisoners.
• Eddison (E), Fry (F), Herschel (H), Ibsen (I) and Jenner (J) units hold just over 50 each in single cells. Ibsen house the induction unit for new prisoners
• A–D units all have their own exercise yards, accessed from within the units.

Return to Wealstun

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Wealstun Prison

Tel: 01937 444 400  –  Church causeway, Thopr arch Wetherby, West Yorkshire LS23 7AZ

On 1 April 1995, HM Prisons Thorp Arch and Rudgate amalgamated to form HMP Wealstun. This was an historic development for the Prison Service, and had the effect of creating a Category C (closed) and Category D (open) prison as one establishment on a single site.

In 2008 the open prison closed and the prison underwent a conversion to provide additional category C places, the full prison commenced operation in May 2010 and can now accommodate 832 prisoners.

Tel: 01937 444 400

Operational capacity: 832

Church causeway, Thopr arch Wetherby, West Yorkshire LS23 7AZ

Prison Phone have been saving inmates at HMP Wealstun money on their calls from the prison to any UK mobile phone since 2013.

We do this by allocating a dedicated and secure local number to your mobile phone, this means when the inmate at Wealstunprison calls the new local number we have provided they will be charged at just the local landline rate (around 10p per minute) rather than the standard mobile rate (which is around 40p per minute).

This in turn helps to stretch the inmates PINS phone credit further and reduces the amount you need to send in for them to top up!

Send me Wealstun prison details via FREE SMS

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Here’s some facts about Wealstun Prison

HMP Wealstun is a category C prison in Thorp Arch, West Yorkshire. Opened in 1995, as an amalgamation between HMP Thorp Arch and HMP Rudgate, the prison has capacity to hold 832 male inmates.

There are 10 residential units: A-J. A and B wings are the original 196- remand buildings, housing 230 prisoners in both single and double cells. C wing holds 180 prisoners all in single cells, including two safer cells, holding the majority of prisoners on the integrated drug treatment system (IDTS) programme. D wing is a single cell accommodation unit. E, F, G, H, I & J wings were converted from a category D establishment in 2008, and hold a total of 300 inmates. H wing is mainly for prison kitchen workers.

Owen Oyston , former owner of Blackpool FC, was sentenced to 6 years in prison for the rape of a 16-year-old girl in 1996. In 1999, he was denied parole, with at least 12 months until a further application could be made (after his automatic release date).

To view the latest HMIP inspection report, click here .

Visiting hours are 09:30 – 11:30 & 13:30 – 15:30 Monday-Thursday, and 09.30 – 11.30 & 13.45 – 16.00 Saturday-Sunday.

A 2004 inspection found that the building was mouldy and infested with rats.

An investigation was launched in July 2015 after the death of Stephen Davidson, pronounced dead at the scene he was found unresponsive.

In 2003, inmates were involved in a rooftop protest. Some inmates managed to stay on the roof for 30 hours.

Prison Phone offers phone tariffs that reduce the costs of calls from this prison by up to 75%! This enables prisoners to get the support and love that they are missing from home, while reducing costs for the inmate. Find out more below.

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HMP Wealstun prisoner died after broken gate delayed ambulance

• Published 12 December 2022

A prisoner found hanging in his cell died after jail staff delayed starting CPR and an ambulance got stuck outside a broken gate, a watchdog has said.

Lewis Johnson, who had psychoactive substance spice in his system, had told family he was scared over drug debts at HMP Wealstun.

The 34-year-old died on December 12, 2019 at the jail near Wetherby.

The prison was criticised by inspectors who said its emergency response was "very poorly managed".

Mr Johnson had called family in the days before his death asking them to settle drug debts, a Prisons and Probation Ombudsman's report detailed .

He had also stopped going to classes, telling prison staff he was scared for his safety.

Mr Johnson had been found under the influence of psychoactive substances four times in the months before his death, and prison officers admitted they suspected he had drug debts.

The ombudsman's investigation after Mr Johnson's death found he had been on a basic level of privileges, leaving him locked in his cell for long periods and unable to earn rewards.

'Critical delays'

He had admitted making a noose nearly two months before his death but was not on suicide watch when he died.

The ombudsman's report said he didn't get as good mental health care inside prison as he would have outside, and officers didn't call an ambulance until five minutes after he had been found.

The ambulance then got stuck outside a broken gate, and had to wait until prison officers hand cranked an automatic gate open, meaning it was more than half an hour before Mr Johnson got medical help.

Their independent report said: "It is not possible to say whether these delays affected the eventual outcome for Mr Johnson, but we know that in an emergency situation, a delay of a few minutes could be critical."

Prison staff had also delayed starting potentially life-saving CPR, with a manager sending officers out of Mr Johnson's cell in the minutes after he was found in the early hours, before they were called back in.

The report also says prison staff should have dealt with his suicide risk better and didn't try hard enough to resolve his safety fears.

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HM Prison Service

More on this story

Drugs prison had 200 ambulance visits in 6 months

• Published 13 February 2020

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Government Minister Visits Novel Rehabilitation Programme at HM Prison Wealstun

The Rt Hon Damian Hinds MP, Minister of State (Minister of State for Schools) at the UK Department for Education, has visited Wealstun Prison in Wetherby, Yorkshire to learn about the ‘Evolve’ rehabilitation programme introduced by soft services provider, SBFM.

During his visit, the Minister spoke with several prisoners and joined an Evolve workshop which was attended by offenders. There, he learned how Evolve works with prisons like Wealstun and rehabilitation charities including the  Timpson Foundation  and  Shaw Trust  to identify and recruit talent, and who work to change the difficult path that ex-offenders face when leaving prison by making supported employment opportunities available.

The government has recently  lifted the disclosure barrier  for many ex-offenders further supporting reintegration into society and securing paid employment, when many face additional barriers.

SBFM works with multiple clients including PureGym and DPD to offer cleaning operatives progression pathways that can lead to direct employment into clients’ organisations, giving them the opportunity to upskill and have greater earning potential.

The facility services provider supports a range of disadvantaged groups including ex-offenders, care leavers, veterans, people with disabilities or long-term unemployed. In July 2023, SBFM was also invited onto the government’s  Employment Advisory Board (EAB ), as part of a programme that connects prison leavers with local employers. SBFM chairman and founder Colin Shute chairs the board, and SBFM people and culture director Kelly Dolphin is also board member.

Shute comments: “We are delighted Damian joined our team at Wealstun as he was keen to learn more about the work Evolve does. Hinds was incredibly impressed with our Evolve scheme to support ex-offenders facing barriers to employment.

“More needs to be done to break the stigma surrounding ex-offenders. Everybody deserves the chance to create a new life for themselves, the opportunity to secure work and upskill themselves. Ex-offenders need support and there should be more schemes in place to provide this – we’re proud to be leading the way in our industry.

“We hope that having a member of the Government understand the work we do will help raise the profile of supporting ex-offenders and inspire and encourage more companies to develop their own career programmes for disadvantaged groups.”

More needs to be done to break the stigma surrounding ex-offenders. Everybody deserves the chance to create a new life for themselves, the opportunity to secure work and upskill themselves.

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HMP Wealstun

Report on an unannounced inspection of HMP Wealstun by HM Chief Inspector of Prisons (3 – 14 October 2022)

Inspection report ( 1 MB )

Further resources

Population statistics ( 147 kB )

Prisoner survey methodology and results ( 381 kB )

Prisoner survey analysis – Excel workbook ( 330 kB )

Staff survey methodology and results ( 196 kB )

Action plans

HM Prison and Probation Service action plan ( 373 kB )

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