'Unsafe and understaffed' Yorkshire super prison warned against expansion as Labour eyes empty wings to ease overcrowding

A former prison officer has warned against the expansion of a £400million 'super prison' in East Yorkshire which has been plagued with problems and was "unready, understaffed and unsafe upon opening".

It comes as a report this month into Britain's newest prison, HMP Millsike, outlined the chaos and dangerous conditions for staff inside the prison. The Independent Monitoring Board (IMB) report says the prison is struggling to retain control of prisoners and blames a lack of staff, recruitment challenges and the inexperience of some prison officers there.

The Category C jail, run by private company Mitie, opened last March and was hailed as a state-of-the-art facility capable of housing up to 1,500 prisoners.

The report evidenced a catalogue of errors from even before the prison was opened, with HMP Millsike staff being given insufficient training in prison environments and the opening of the prison feeling rushed. It found that staff were inexperienced, which meant "the prison seemed to be being run by the prisoners".

The IMB report said the remote location of the prison made hiring workers difficult. It also highlighted "design faults" in the prison, including "blind spots for officers on landings, no gym, no air conditioning in workshops or houseblocks, and inadequate reception space".

In response to the report, Mitie said it valued IMB oversight but "we do not believe its description of the prison at the time it opened is a fair or accurate reflection of the conditions at HMP Millsike".

The Ministry of Justice estimates only 80 per cent of HMP Millsike’s cells are in use, and with prison overcrowding prompting the controversial early release scheme, there are calls for prisons with space to be better utilised.

But former prison officer Joe Chapman, who is the organiser of HMP Millsike Prison Community Forum - a Facebook group made up of prisoners’ families and friends, staff, ex-staff, and former prisoners who served time in Millsike - has urged for issued to be combated at the prison before its population is expanded.

He has 24 years of experience in prisons and told GB News: "There is still a lot of concern about the way HMP Millsike operates, in particular the safety, security and humane treatment of prisoners and also the safety of staff.

"It's meant to be a rehabilitation prison, but there have been drug overdoses as well as fires, fighting, violence and staff and prisoners getting hurt. A viable device was even found there as part of a bomb scare.

"I support prisoners' families all over the country and got involved with a support group in November last year after a mini riot at the prison, and the number of people joining the group due to issues in the prison just keeps growing.

"It's the worst prison I've heard about in terms of problems in the first six months of opening, starting with staff recruitment and retention issues, with some staff being young and inexperienced and letting the prisoners take over.

"I think it will always struggle over the next four or five years to recruit, and I'm calling for Government to look at Millsike and not push to have it filled, as at the moment House Block D is empty, with 252 spaces available, but I'm pushing for the issues at the prison to be fixed first before more prisoners are brought in to ease overcrowding elsewhere, as this one is not able to run proper regimes with what they have got.

"I also want the Government to look when they are building new prisons to see how they can decamp prisoners [into new prisons] and phase out Victorian prisons."

"The courts should also stop using prison for short sentences - as a country we should stop using imprisonment as much as we can. Look at the trouble in Portsmouth with the protests there over the small boats and 30 odd people being thrown in prison cells as a deterrent, but it doesn't work that way, and just takes up valuable prison space.

"They should look at better ways of punishing white-collar crimes as well, other than prison, as that's costing more to keep them in prison than the actual offence they committed cost."

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GB News also spoke to a whistleblower and former staff member at HMP Millsike in November last year, who said that the prison is a "ticking time bomb".

Mohammed Esa worked at HMP Millsike as a skills coach from People Plus and joined when it opened in March and left in September due to the stresses of the job and concern for his safety.

Esa said he witnessed drugs and weapons being brought into the prison from the start, and says he felt threatened working there.

He told GB News: "I watched the prisoners go in on day one, and from day one, there was a rampant amount of drugs on the wings.

"It was meant to be a brand new prison, but drugs were being brought in, or the prisoners were making their own spice and one vulnerable prisoner cried to me and said that there were more drugs in the prison than there are outside.

"Many of the prison staff weren't experienced and had only just been trained up as prison officers and didn't always know how to handle things, and the prisoners took advantage of that.

"As well as the drugs, there were weapons that the prisoners call 'chefs' and phones as well.

"The worst situation that happened to me was when a female colleague and I were surrounded by prisoners, and if it wasn't for other prisoners intervening and saying we were support staff, I dread to think what would have happened, it was terrifying.

"All the time I was working there, I kept getting a gut feeling that 'it's going to blow, this is a ticking time bomb'.

"There were loads of white, brown, black guys forming gangs two months into the prison opening - a new prison shouldn't be forming gangs.

"I know how prisoners think and behave, and the amount of drugs, the amount of phones, the amount of weapons, it was so scary and the place was ready to explode."

But despite the issues the recent IMB report, which overs the period from April 1, 2025 to April 30, 2026, makes clear some improvements have been made in more recent months. It states a new and highly experienced interim director was appointed in February 2026 and he made an immediate impact taking the prison ‘back to basics’ and pausing the intake of new prisoners to allow this work to take place.

The investment into HMP Millsike's state-of-the-art facilities was welcomed by prisoners, who praised the en-suite shower facilities, with the report stating: “They appreciate the ‘best prison facilities’ they have ever experienced."

It was found that staff morale is slowly starting to improve too. But the report warns against policymakers using HMP Millsike’s empty cells too quickly stating: "We are concerned that, as more prisoners are transferred to HMP Millsike, there remains a shortfall of officers, with staff recruitment made difficult by the prison’s rural location and lack of public transport links. The limited regime restricts prisoners’ access to work and education, and the Board is concerned that this restricted regime may need to remain in place given the recruitment challenges.

"There is also the risk, in the Board’s view, that HM Prisons and Probation Service may place pressure on Mitie Care & Custody to extend the regime as included in the contract, potentially jeopardising the prison’s stability. The Board hopes that any future changes will be introduced carefully and managed effectively."

A Mitie spokesman said: "While we value the Independent Monitoring Board's oversight, we do not believe its description of the prison at the time it opened, as being a fair or accurate reflection of the conditions at HMP Millsike. Since the prison opened, the overriding objective of our colleagues, working in challenging circumstances, has been to ensure that those within our care are treated with decency and respect, whilst creating a safe and secure environment that supports rehabilitation.

"We welcome the recognition of the improvements made since opening. The report highlights progress in operational stability, safety, healthcare provision, reception processes and complaint handling, as well as examples of "excellent work" by our prison officers. We continue to work closely with HM Prison and Probation Service, the Ministry of Justice and the Independent Monitoring Board as the prison works towards full capacity."

In August, the Government introduced changes to prison release arrangements through the Sentencing Act 2026. The changes are intended to help ensure there is enough space in prisons, while making sure there is tough supervision of offenders when they are released to keep victims and the wider public safe.

A Ministry of Justice spokesman said: "We inherited a justice system in crisis with prisons days from running out of space. That’s why we’re building 14,000 new places with 3,300 already delivered, imposing the toughest-ever controls on offenders, and investing in probation services at record levels.

"Mitie was appointed to run HMP Millsike following a robust competition process. The Prison and Probation Service will continue to closely monitor the prison’s performance throughout the duration of the contract and will not hesitate to take action if needed."