HM Prison Rye Hill is a Category B men's

private prison A private prison, or for-profit prison, is a place where people are imprisoned by a third party that is contracted by a government agency. Private prison companies typically enter into contractual agreements with governments that commit pris ...

, operated by G4S. Rye Hill has exclusively housed sex offenders since 2014. The prison is next to HMP Onley and Rainsbrook Secure Training Centre, south of Rugby, in the

parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christianity, Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest#Christianity, priest, often termed a parish pries ...

of Barby,

Northamptonshire Northamptonshire ( ; abbreviated Northants.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. It is bordered by Leicestershire, Rutland and Lincolnshire to the north, Cambridgeshire to the east, Bedfordshi ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

. However, the postal address of the prison is

Willoughby, Warwickshire Willoughby is a village and Civil parishes in England, civil parish about south of Rugby, Warwickshire, England. The village is about northwest of Daventry in neighbouring Northamptonshire and the eastern boundary of the parish forms part of ...

; therefore, most sources list the prison as in Willoughby, Warwickshire.

History

Rye Hill Prison, which was built by Carillion opened in early 2001, and has since been operated by G4S under the

Private Finance Initiative The private finance initiative (PFI) was a United Kingdom government procurement policy aimed at creating "public–private partnerships" (PPPs) where private firms are contracted to complete and manage public projects. Initially launched in 1992 ...

. In March 2002, two inmates serving 10-year sentences escaped from Rye Hill by hiding in the back of a delivery lorry. In April 2004, Member of Parliament Andrew Rosindell responded to the escape of a convicted murderer by calling for a review of security. At the time of his escape, the prisoner had been at University Hospital Coventry receiving a blood transfusion. In July 2005, an inspection report from Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Prisons demanded urgent action after finding that the prisoners were bullying the staff. According to the report, inexperienced officers were deliberately overlooking behavioral violations and contraband items for their own safety. Some inmates reported that knives, drugs and alcohol were readily available at the prison. In 2014 under the stewardship of David Thompson OBE the prison was re-roled as a Category B sex-offender prison and has delivered very good outcomes since then.

The prison today

Rye Hill is a Category B prison holding adult males convicted of sexual offences. Education at the prison is contracted to

The Manchester College The Manchester College is the largest further education college in the United Kingdom and the largest single provider of 16–19, adult and higher education in Greater Manchester, with more than 25% of Greater Manchester’s learning provision ...

. Courses and evening classes are offered 5 days a week, 50 weeks a year. Commercial contracts such as

welding Welding is a fabrication (metal), fabrication process that joins materials, usually metals or thermoplastics, primarily by using high temperature to melting, melt the parts together and allow them to cool, causing Fusion welding, fusion. Co ...

, electronic assembly and hairnet production are operated from within two workshops.

Notable former inmates

* Alun Kyte, before moving to HM Prison Onley

References

External links

Ministry of Justice pages on Rye Hill

G4S Rye Hill homepageGoogle Earth view
{{Authority control G4S 2001 establishments in England Rye Hill Rye Hill Private prisons in the United Kingdom Sex and the law