HMP Lancaster Farms

Key Contact Details

The prison is run by HMPS as part of the North West Region. The capacity at the prison is 560 and the #1 governor is Peter Francis, who has been in charge since January 2019

HMP Lancaster Farms opened in 1993 as a purpose-built young offender institution and has since been reclassified more than once, most recently in 2014 to hold Category C adult men, and it now operates as a resettlement prison with a capacity of around 560. The site is organised into several residential units — including Grizedale, Coniston, Derwent, Windermere, Buttermere, and Ullswater — and the prison has typically run close to, or slightly above, its official capacity in recent years.

The Independent Monitoring Board’s 2024–25 annual report found that Lancaster Farms was generally safe and that prisoners were treated fairly, with positive staff-prisoner relationships and a strong record on education, with attendance reaching historic highs. However, the Board raised serious concerns about healthcare: applications relating to health more than doubled during the year, and waiting times became unacceptable in places, with dental appointments taking up to seven months and counselling up to six. The Board also flagged a lack of specialist facilities for prisoners with complex or long-term mental health needs, and some ongoing staffing shortages that led to regime curtailments. On a positive note, the prison opened a new complex care unit for neurodiverse prisoners and increased contact between prisoners and their key workers by around a third.

Given the pressure on healthcare services described above, families may want to factor in some patience if a loved one at Lancaster Farms raises concerns about medical appointments — the visiting and contact details set out above remain the best way to stay in touch and check on wellbeing directly.