Last inspectedAugust 2022Full inspection, unannounced
Source: HM Inspectorate of Prisons report published 2 December 2022; visiting details from GOV.UK · last checked 29 October 2026
Latest inspection
At its last full inspection (August 2022; report published December 2022), inspectors found outcomes for prisoners were not sufficiently good for purposeful activity; reasonably good for safety, respect and rehabilitation and release planning. It held 544 people at the time, against an operational capacity of 560.
Healthy prison tests: inspectors grade four areas from 1 (poor) to 4 (good).
Inspection history
Safety: reasonably good · Respect: reasonably good · Purposeful activity: not sufficiently good · Rehabilitation and release planning: reasonably good Read our story
Safety: reasonably good · Respect: reasonably good · Purposeful activity: not sufficiently good · Rehabilitation and release planning: not sufficiently good Read our story
HMP Lancaster Farms will grow from 584 to 824 places with drone-resistant cells, while 152 places in prefabricated units are going up at HMP Kirklevington Grange.
Inspectors described an encouraging picture at the Lancashire resettlement prison, with a positive culture and falling violence, but found activity places for only about a third of the men it held.
The inspectorate's report on the North West resettlement prison, published in March 2019, found a reasonably safe and respectful jail, but education and release planning remained not sufficiently good.
Prison News staff
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