The prison was given a full inspection in October/November 2023, its first since reopening as a men’s prison; the full report can be read on the HM Inspectorate of Prisons website, just follow the links below. In their report the inspectors said:
HMP Morton Hall is a category C resettlement prison in Lincolnshire for adult male foreign national offenders, run by HM Prison and Probation Service on the site of a former RAF base. It reopened in this role in December 2021, having previously operated as a women’s prison and, more recently, as an Immigration Removal Centre.
Inspectors described an encouraging and respectful culture, with clean and decent accommodation in welcoming grounds. Violence between prisoners was low compared with similar prisons, staff showed good skills in de-escalating conflict, and 84% of prisoners said they were treated with respect by most staff, well above the average for comparable prisons.
However, purposeful activity and preparation for release were both rated not sufficiently good. Time out of cell varied significantly between residential units, with only around half of prisoners engaged in purposeful activity during core working hours, and the education curriculum was judged to lack ambition, offering too few accredited vocational qualifications. As a resettlement prison, inspectors were particularly concerned that there were no offending behaviour programmes running, only two Home Detention Curfew releases in the previous year, and no releases at all on temporary licence, leaving many prisoners frustrated at their lack of progress and limited contact with offender managers. Delays in the Home Office confirming prisoners’ immigration status, and weak safeguarding training among staff, were also flagged as concerns.
Charlie Taylor
HM Chief Inspector of Prisons
February 2024
To read the full reports, go to the HM Inspectorate of Prisons website or follow the links below:
- Inspection report, HM Inspectorate of Prisons website, Report on an unannounced inspection of HMP Morton Hall by HM Chief Inspector of Prisons (30 October–9 November 2023)
- Inspection report (PDF), full report of the October/November 2023 inspection of HMP Morton Hall
- Action plan, HM Prison and Probation Service action plan in response to the 2023 inspection of HMP Morton Hall
Before its reopening as a men’s prison, the site was inspected several times as Morton Hall Immigration Removal Centre; the most recent of those reports, from 2019/20, is also available: Morton Hall IRC inspection report (2019).