The prison was given a full inspection in March 2023, the full report can be read on the HM Inspectorate of Prisons website, just follow the links below. In their latest report the inspectors said:
HMP Preston is a category B local and reception prison, run by HM Prison and Probation Service, holding 680 prisoners against an operational capacity of 680, well above its certified normal accommodation of 426. Inspectors rated safety, respect and purposeful activity all reasonably good, each a decline from Good, while rehabilitation and release planning declined to not sufficiently good, also down from Good. Despite the declines, inspectors described positive momentum under newer leadership, with governor Daniel Cooper having taken over the previous year as the prison shifted toward more of a reception and resettlement role.
Violence levels were reasonably safe and comparable to similar prisons, with serious incidents rare, and health services were assessed as outstanding, markedly improved since the last inspection. Around 74% of prisoners rated the library’s range of material as adequate, officer staffing was only around 12% below full complement, better than many other prisons at the time, and a newly refurbished social visits hall included a children’s play area.
Inspectors nonetheless found only 35% of prisoners felt induction had covered what they needed to know, and 36% said drugs were easy to get. A booking-system failure caused family visits to fall sharply in a single month, from 592 to 331, and a small number of officers were found behaving in a heavy-handed and disrespectful manner, including inappropriate use of force. Persistent staffing vacancies in offender management undermined release preparation, a particular concern for those convicted of sexual offences, and over half of officers had less than two years in post.
Charlie Taylor
HM Chief Inspector of Prisons
May 2023
To read the full reports, go to the HM Inspectorate of Prisons website or follow the links below:
| Inspection report (PDF), Report on an unannounced inspection of HMP Preston by HM Chief Inspector of Prisons (7–23 March 2023, published 26 June 2023) | Easy read summary of the 2023 inspection report |
| Action plan, HM Prison and Probation Service action plan in response to the 2023 inspection of HMP Preston | |