An inspection report on HMP Lowdham Grange, published in August 2023, found uncertainty and anxiety after Sodexo took over from Serco, with 14 prisoner deaths since 2018 and work and education rated poor.
The Cheshire open prison kept good grades in three of four tests, but inspectors heard repeated complaints about rude offender management staff and poor food.
Inspectors judged the Buckinghamshire therapeutic community one of the safest prisons in the country, while warning that poor education, night sanitation and neglected grounds held it back.
The inspectorate's report on Tinsley House IRC at Gatwick, published in August 2023, rated the centre reasonably good on all four tests but found slow casework and weak checks on possible torture victims.
In July 2023 the Chief Inspector of Prisons used the Urgent Notification process at HMP Bristol for the second time in four years, citing violence, self-inflicted deaths and drugs.
The inspectorate's report on HMP Risley, published in July 2023, called the lack of programmes for men convicted of sexual offences an astonishing failure, and found unemployed prisoners locked up for 22 hours a day.
Inspectors found falling violence and self-harm at the South Yorkshire prison, and improved rehabilitation work, but said leaders had not done enough for some minority groups.
Inspectors praised a reinvigorated open prison in West Sussex, with strong links to employers and excellent health care. Boredom at evenings and weekends, dirty areas and unfair access to work still needed attention.
Inspectors found a reasonably safe prison with much better health care and a new governor driving change, though some staff behaved badly and family visits had become harder to book.
Inspectors found a settled, respectful prison at Jurby with good staff relationships, but weak oversight, disproportionate security and poor care for people at risk of self-harm.
