The prison was given an inspection in December 2023, the full report can be read at the Ministry of Justice web site, just follow the links below. In their latest report the inspectors said:
HMP Wymott in Lancashire is a category C training prison with a large mixed population of 1,182 prisoners, of whom over half were convicted of a sexual offence. There had been a failure by senior leaders to invest in the prison. The kitchen was in a terrible state and the accommodation in house blocks A and B, which we criticised in our last two inspections, was now beyond repair. Some of the single cells that were holding two prisoners were unacceptably cramped, with an unscreened toilet in the corner and room for only one chair. Storm damage to the roof of one of the workshops meant that it was out of use, leaving too many prisoners without purposeful activity and subsequently high levels of boredom.
Wymott was failing to fulfil its remit as a training prison, with many prisoners on the main site limited to a part-time regime. Those who were unemployed were locked up for 21 hours a day and the regime at the weekend was poor for all. Ofsted colleagues assessed the quality of education as requiring improvement and there had not been enough direct oversite from senior leaders or a strong enough focus on the education and training function of the jail.
The strong staff-prisoner relationships, which we noted in previous inspections, continued to be a strength of this prison, where many prisoners reported more positive experiences than in other jails. Levels of staff sickness were far too high, leading to the cancellation or curtailment of activities; this needed to be addressed by leaders if the prison was to make progress. Health care was not good enough, particularly the provision of mental health support for the many vulnerable prisoners at Wymott. With excessive waits of up to 39 weeks for psychological therapies and over a year to get counselling, neither the health trust nor commissioners were addressing the level of need within the jail at the time of inspection. This may have also explained why, in our survey, 20% of prisoners with mental health difficulties told us they had developed a problem with drugs since they had arrived at Wymott.
The influx of drugs remained a serious problem. It was a cause of debt that resulted in prisoners self-isolating and self-harming because of their fears of violence. There were limited resources available to keep drugs out of the prison with no scanners, systematic checks on staff or adequate technology to reduce the frequent arrival of contraband-laden drones over the large perimeter fence.
The provision of visits was good and there a number of family days were held over the year. Leaders had also put thought into supporting the many prisoners who did not get social visits. Despite staffing shortages there was some good work to support sentence progression and there was a wide range of accredited programmes available. Although not a resettlement prison, Wymott was releasing around 20 prisoners a month because of population pressures elsewhere. Despite not having the funding, staff worked hard to support those who were leaving the jail through some good liaison with external services.
Staff were rightly proud of much that went on at Wymott and leaders encouraged innovation – for example, the Haven Unit specialised in looking after some of the elderly and unwell prisoners who were a growing population within the jail. The new governor, supported by his experienced deputy, has the opportunity to build on the positives we highlight in this report. He particularly needs to focus on addressing the number of officers not available for duty and improving the provision of education, work and training which is not good enough for this type of prison. It will be a challenge however, if HMPPS does not fund the much-needed refurbishments that are now very much overdue.
Charlie Taylor
HM Chief Inspector of Prisons
January 2024
The inspectors provided a brief list of their major findings
What needs to improve at HMP Wymott
During this inspection we identified 11 key concerns, of which six should be treated as priorities. Priority concerns are those that are most important to improving outcomes for prisoners. They require immediate attention by leaders and managers.
Leaders should make sure that all concerns identified here are addressed and that progress is tracked through a plan which sets out how and when the concerns will be resolved. The plan should be provided to HMI Prisons.
Priority concerns
- A significant number of officers were not available for operational duty on the wings. As a result, the regime was restricted, activities and appointments were cancelled or curtailed, and specialist work was adversely affected.
- Drugs were too easily available. Not enough searching or suspicion drug testing took place, the body scanner was not always used, there was no enhanced gate security, and the prison lacked the technology often used elsewhere.
- Some parts of the infrastructure were in very poor condition and in need of significant investment.
- The provision offered by the integrated mental health and substance misuse teams did not meet prisoners’ needs. Staff shortages meant that the range of psychological interventions was limited and waiting times were excessive.
- The prison was not fulfilling its role as a training prison. There were insufficient education, skills and work opportunities for the number of men, particularly those living on the main wings.
- Prisoners did not always attend their education, skills and work activities and punctuality was poor.
Key concerns
- Little action was taken to deter poor behaviour or promote good behaviour. Staff often failed to challenge rule breaking, too many adjudications were either dismissed or waiting to be dealt with and prisoners did not feel motivated by the incentives available.
- Prisoners were dissatisfied with the food. The lack of self-catering facilities alongside rising canteen prices made it difficult for prisoners to supplement their meals.
- There was a lack of governance in some key areas of health care. For example, complaints were poorly managed, and staff training and supervision were inadequate.
- The education, skills and work curriculum did not meet all needs. Leaders had not planned effectively to meet all knowledge and skills gaps or qualification needs, nor did they provide consistent support for those with special educational needs and disabilities.
- In education, skills and work, leaders and managers did not monitor the impact of their quality improvement actions effectively. As a result, senior prison leaders did not have sufficient oversight of the quality of the provision
To read the full reports, go to the Ministry of Justice site or follow the links below:
- Inspection report (4 MB), Report on an unannounced inspection of HMP Wymott by HM Chief Inspector of Prisons (11–21 December 2023)
- HMP Wymott report (PDF) (490 kB), Report on a scrutiny visit to HMP Wymott by HM Chief Inspector of Prisons (18 and 25–26 August 2020)
- HMP Wymott (590.30 kB), Report on an unannounced inspection of HMP Wymott (10-21 October 2016)
- HMP Wymott, Report on an unannounced inspection of HMP Wymott (23 June – 4 July 2014)
- HMP Wymott, Unannounced short follow-up inspection of HMP Wymott (15 – 17 November 2011)
- HMP Wymott, Announced inspection of HMP Wymott (20-24 October 2008)