Seven former employees of HMP Millsike, the UK's newest prison, told the BBC the facility experienced staffing shortages, inadequate training, and a 'chaotic atmosphere' in the period since it opened in East Yorkshire in March 2025. The prison, which cost about £400m and holds approximately 1,100 inmates, is run by Mitie under contract with the Ministry of Justice.
Former workers describe staffing shortages and unsafe conditions at HMP Millsike
Seven former employees of HMP Millsike, the UK's newest prison, told the BBC the facility experienced staffing shortages, inadequate training, and a 'chaotic atmosphere' in the period since it opened in East Yorkshire in March 2025. The prison, which cost about £400m and holds approximately 1,100 inmates, is run by Mitie under contract with the Ministry of Justice.
HMP Millsike was described by the government as setting 'the standard for the future' when it opened with 1,500 places. It is the first of four new jails planned under a government pledge to create 14,000 prison places by 2031, and was built with a focus on rehabilitation and education.
Of the seven former workers the BBC spoke to — including a prison officer and other staff members — six described staffing shortages and four said they felt unsafe working there. All but one requested anonymity. Several raised concerns about colleagues' backgrounds, claiming some had previously worked in supermarkets and fast-food chains.
The BBC understands that at a public meeting in June, interim prison director Paul Newton told local residents that recruitment was difficult and that 90% of employees had never worked in the prison sector. The Ministry of Justice said Millsike would employ about 600 people, but private prisons, unlike public ones, are not required to publish staffing data. Mitie declined to state the number of current vacancies.
Three former workers in non-prison officer roles said a shortage of officers had led them to carry out tasks outside their job descriptions, including 'bed-watching' vulnerable prisoners at risk of self-harm, for which they said they had not been trained. Former maintenance worker Steve Richardson, who worked at the prison for 10 months, said he was not given control and restraint training — known as DoJo training — and described having 'faeces and urine' thrown at him by inmates.
The Operational Response and Resilience Unit (ORRU), an elite prison squad, was deployed to Millsike seven times in nine months in 2025, according to data provided by the Ministry of Justice under a Freedom of Information request. For comparison, among other privately run category C prisons in England for which data was received, units were called eight times to Oakwood and three times each to Fosse Way and Northumberland.
The Independent Monitoring Board for the prison raised concerns about safety and security in January 2025, with a report stating its members visited in pairs due to 'feeling unsafe on the wings' and had noted doors and gates left open. The following month, prison director Samantha Pariser was replaced; Mitie said she had moved to a 'new strategic role.'
On 9 July, residents near the prison reported seeing a bomb squad vehicle enter the site, followed by a loud bang. Messages sent by inmates that evening and seen by the BBC described alarms and the sound of an explosion. Humberside Police and Humberside Fire and Rescue Service confirmed they attended alongside an explosive ordnance disposal team. In November 2025, a sewage pumping station broke down amid reports that inmates had flushed clothes down toilets, and a prisoner reportedly threw pool balls and cues, smashing six windows before an ORRU team intervened. In June 2026, a female prison officer received an eight-month suspended sentence after admitting to a relationship with an inmate.
- The source does not state the current total number of staff employed at HMP Millsike or how many positions remain unfilled.
- The source does not state the proportion of staff who have received DoJo training.
- The source does not establish what specifically caused the sewage pumping station failure in November 2025.
- The source does not detail the findings or outcome of the explosive ordnance disposal team's attendance on 9 July.
- The source does not state what specific safety concerns the forthcoming annual IMB report is expected to address beyond a general reference to safety.
- The source does not state how ORRU deployment figures for Millsike compare to those of newly opened public-sector prisons of comparable size.
- The source does not state whether any formal investigation or regulatory action has been initiated by the MoJ or the Prison and Probation Service in response to the concerns raised.