HMP Liverpool: Challenging prison 'making positive progress'

The chief inspector of prisons said sustaining improvement in such a "challenging" jail was "a significant achievement"

A prison where inmates faced the worst conditions ever seen by inspectors has made "promising progress" towards better standards, a report has found.

Inspectors found overcrowded, squalid conditions at HMP Liverpool in 2017.

A visit by HM Inspectorate of Prisons (HMIP) in July found improvements to the prisoners' living conditions.

However, inspectors also found prisoner access to "purposeful activity was problematic" and the availability of illicit drugs was too high.

The HMIP report said the jail, which was built in the mid-19th Century, held about 800 men and was in "a process of transition", which will see it become a category C resettlement prison.

It said the visit followed a similar one in 2019, which had found there had been a "commendable improvement" at the jail.

However, it also stated that only a third of the recommendations that were made in previous visits had been achieved.

'Work hard'

The report said the July visit had been "a very encouraging inspection" and found "a positive and caring culture at the jail, where work had been carried out since 2019 to make it "even safer" for inmates.

It said relationships between staff and prisoners at the jail were a real strength and inspectors saw many good examples of "positive interactions from caring and non-judgmental staff", which had underpinned the work on reducing incidents of self-harm and seen them reduce by 60% since 2019.

In 2017, inspectors found filthy, leaking toilets and some areas so hazardous they could not be cleaned

It also said there had been a sustained refurbishment programme to improve living conditions, which was a priority given the old Victorian infrastructure, and prisoners were positive about the facilities.

However, it also said too many prisoners were sharing single occupancy cells and the amount of time inmates were given away from their cells was "poor".

Inspectors also found that the prison's education provision was rated as requiring improvement by Ofsted and "more needed to be done to better promote equality", while access to "purposeful activity was problematic", with only sufficient activity places for "about two-thirds" of the population.

They also highlighted the availability of illicit drugs, which "was too high", and said the "management of medicines was inadequate".

Charlie Taylor, chief inspector of prisons, said the prison needed to "continue to work hard to keep drugs out of the jail, but also to make sure the prisoners have got something productive to do during the day".

However, he said sustaining improvement in such a "challenging" prison was "a significant achievement" and it had "created a platform from which to take the prison forward with confidence".

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