The prison was given a full inspection in May 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 & YOI Thorn Cross is a category D open training and resettlement prison in Cheshire, run by HM Prison and Probation Service, holding 425 men against a certified normal capacity of 430. Inspectors rated safety, purposeful activity and preparation for release all Good, unchanged, while respect declined to reasonably good from Good. Violence remained rare, with just two assaults recorded in the year and only four absconds, both better than comparable open prisons.
Release on temporary licence was used extensively to support resettlement, with over 4,000 individual releases taken by 534 prisoners in the year, and 90 prisoners held paid jobs out in the community. Nearly half of those completing pre-release employment courses went on to secure jobs, 83% of prisoners could use the gym twice a week or more against a 60% comparator average, 94% held library membership, and Ofsted separately rated education, work and skills provision good. No prisoners waited for a Mental Health Act transfer in the year.
Inspectors’ priority concern was that almost all prisoners interviewed reported disrespectful, dismissive treatment by a small group of staff in the offender management unit, driving the fall in the respect rating. Food was rated poorly, with just 15% of prisoners saying it was good against a 54% comparator average, and only 26% saying portions were sufficient against a 60% comparator. There were 283 adjudications and 85 use-of-force incidents in the year, and inspectors also flagged insufficient equality monitoring and prisoner consultation, no coherent strategy for personal development and values education, and weaknesses in public protection oversight, including inconsistent monitoring of prisoners’ mail and telephone calls.
Charlie Taylor
HM Chief Inspector of Prisons
June 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 & YOI Thorn Cross by HM Chief Inspector of Prisons (2–19 May 2023, published August 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 & YOI Thorn Cross | |