The prison was given a full inspection in December 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 Wymott is a category C training prison in Lancashire, run by HM Prison and Probation Service, holding 1,182 men against an operational capacity of 1,192. Inspectors rated safety reasonably good, unchanged, respect declined to not sufficiently good from Good, purposeful activity not sufficiently good, unchanged, and preparation for release improved to Good from reasonably good.
Strong staff-prisoner relationships had endured across successive inspections, with 74% of prisoners saying staff treated them with respect and 84% saying they were treated well on arrival. Family engagement was a particular strength, with regular family days, and peer support was well embedded, with over 150 prisoners with disabilities supported by prisoner “buddies” and 56% able to easily access Listeners against a 36% comparator average. Sentence progression was good, with 90% of prisoners knowing their sentence-plan objectives and almost 200 a year completing accredited offending behaviour programmes; force was used 309 times in the year, but batons and incapacitant spray were never deployed, which inspectors described as good practice.
Inspectors nonetheless raised 11 concerns, six of them priorities needing immediate leadership attention. Chronic staff shortages meant many prisoners were locked up for 21 hours a day with a poor weekend regime, and workshops were closed partly due to roof damage, leaving the prison failing to fulfil its remit as a category C training establishment. Drugs were rife, with 45% of prisoners saying it was easy to get drugs against a 32% comparator average, and mental health care was badly delayed, with waits of up to 39 weeks for psychological therapy and over a year for counselling. There were 462 self-harm incidents among 140 prisoners in the year, 110 assaults on prisoners and 42 on staff, only 30% rated food as good, and just 18% said cell bells were answered within five minutes against 36% elsewhere.
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 (PDF), Report on an unannounced inspection of HMP Wymott by HM Chief Inspector of Prisons (11–21 December 2023, published 3 April 2024) | 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 Wymott | |