Last inspectedFebruary 2024Full inspection, unannounced
Source: HM Inspectorate of Prisons report published 20 May 2024; visiting details from GOV.UK · last checked 29 October 2026
Latest inspection
At its last full inspection (February 2024; report published May 2024), inspectors found outcomes for prisoners were not sufficiently good for purposeful activity; reasonably good for safety and respect; good for preparation for release. It held 465 people at the time, against an operational capacity of 469.
Two women officers at HMP Buckley Hall admitted misconduct in a public office after forming romantic relationships with two brothers held at the prison. They received sentences of 16 and 13 months.
Inspectors found the Rochdale training prison still had excellent staff-prisoner relationships and good release work, but self-harm, drugs and too few education and work places showed a slow decline.
Prison News staff
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