Prisoners were given access to air fryers as a reward for good behaviour, only for the appliances to be withdrawn because they were a health and safety risk. Bosses at HMP Northumberland, home to more than 1,200 men, introduced the cooking appliances to standard residential wings as part of a trial to encourage prisoners to behave and keep their communal spaces clean.
Inspectors who visited the jail said the air fryers were intended to act as a "simple, immediate incentive in a jail where meaningful rewards are in short supply". According to their report, the devices were offered “for a short period as a reward for keeping the units clean”, but were quickly removed after staff raised concerns about safety and the difficulty of keeping them hygienic.
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HMP Northumberland confirmed that the air fryers have now been removed from the prison to enable it to "review and enhance food safety in self-cook areas with a new cleaning regime and assurance framework".
The scrapped air fryer scheme forms part of a broader report by His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Prisons, which said HMP Northumberland lacked a strong incentives framework to encourage good behaviour or help prisoners feel they were progressing.
The jail said that it welcomed the review and would take the feedback on board from the inspector.
One of the inspection’s priority concerns was that the jail offered “not enough incentives to motivate prisoners to behave well or opportunities for them to develop a sense of progression.”
Many men told inspectors they saw little advantage in reaching enhanced status, with some wings offering minimal additional privileges.
Despite these shortcomings, the overall inspection was broadly positive, according to the report which judged it “reasonably good” across all four healthy prison tests: safety, respect, purposeful activity and preparation for release.
It was also praised for “excellent provision” in education and workshops, with Ofsted scoring the prison “Good” across all categories.
But they also raised serious concerns around prisoner well-being with self-harm support deemed “too limited”, with repeated failures in case management.
Drug use also continued to drive violence, and although assaults were low compared to similar prisons, violence had risen by more than 80% since the last inspection.
Public protection monitoring, including checks on phone calls and mail, was still not robust enough.
In response to the report, a HMP Northumberland spokesperson said: “We welcome the Chief Inspector’s review of our progress and take on board fully his feedback and recommendations for improvement.”