Recommendation 1
What concrete actions and timelines are in place to ensure that prisoners with very complex needs receive appropriate and consistent provision across the prison estate?
Source · IMB Annual Report
Lancaster Farms
AI-generated report summary HMP Lancaster Farms, a Category C resettlement prison, continues to provide a largely safe environment despite high self-harm incidents (418) and violence (182). Key concerns include significant reductions in education hours, persistent challenges in mental healthcare, and issues with prisoner property and complaints, often exacerbated by national system pressures and high prisoner churn. The Board notes improvements in healthcare communication under new management but highlights ongoing issues with staffing provision and non-compliance with Body Worn Video Camera use.
Year: 2026
Published: 9 Jul 2026
Type: Prison · Cat C resettlement
Population: 560
Recommendations: 11
Key concerns
Positive findings
Safety statistics
| Indicator | This year | Previous |
|---|---|---|
| Deaths in custody | 0 | — |
| Self-harm incidents | 418 | — |
| Prisoner assaults | 182 | — |
| Assaults on staff | 21 | — |
| Use of force | 362 | 489 |
Positive findings
AI-generated summaryThe Board found that the Governor and prison staff provide a largely safe environment and manage risks effectively. Prisoners are treated fairly and humanely, with in-cell telephony working well. The Board was impressed by the support on the complex care unit and the Project 180 workout programme. Positive developments include cell refurbishment, improved cell inventory checks, and an innovative breakfast approach. New healthcare management has improved communication, medication supply, and staff relationships. The chaplaincy team plays a vital role in pastoral support, family contact, and community engagement.
Key concerns
High levels of self-harm among prisoners with challenging and complex mental health needs, who continue to be accommodated at the establishment rather than being transferred to more specialist secure mental health facilities.
Spikes in the levels of violence, prisoner debt, and substance misuse.
As in previous reports, and due to pressure on prison accommodation nationally, the Board notes that a minority of prisoners continue to be accommodated in cramped double cells. Not only are there privacy issues, but there have been instances of prisoner-on-prisoner violence in such cells.
Outstanding estate issues, including poor ventilation in cells, absence of door screens, broken washing machines, and overflows and poor drainage in wet weather.
The Board continues to encounter evidence relating to the handling of complaints from prisoners. While the number of overdue complaints is still relatively low, some responses to complaints related to previous prisons have been very late, despite prompting by business hub staff. We remain concerned about prisoners sometimes not being kept up to date on the progress of their complaints.
The treatment of prisoners’ property remains an issue of concern, especially when prisoners transfer from other prisons.
Monitoring by the Board during the reporting year suggests that the prison, again, offers variable levels of primary healthcare to prisoners. The number of applications (prisoners’ written representations) to the Board regarding healthcare has continued to be high (as in 2024-2025). However, from our observations, new management of healthcare mid-year to have improved issues of communication (both with prisoners and the Board).
Challenges in the provision of mental healthcare, including difficulties in finding suitable alternative specialist accommodation for prisoners with serious mental health difficulties.
A 41% reduction in education and training hours, leading to truncated courses, a narrower offer for prisoners, and many unoccupied spaces in the education centre.
Source wording under review
We remain impressed by the support for social visits. With an increasing number of prisoners living at a distance from families, we are concerned by the time/cost of visits to Lancaster Farms. Social video calls between prisoners and families are available.
Whilst we continued to be informed that the prison is ‘well staffed’ by the Governor, we remain concerned by instances when there are multiple officers on ‘detached duties’ or emergency escorts are required to attend outside hospital, which reduces overall staffing provision for the rest of the prison.
Body-worn video camera (BWVC) coverage was available for 67.7% of incidents and is subject to weekly scrutiny through a formal review process, with non-compliance addressed decisively. The Board has raised significant concerns regarding incomplete coverage, given that these recordings provide impartial and verifiable evidence essential for operational accountability and the mitigation of potential legal risk. Notably, five serious incidents later in the reporting period required activation of the command suite (the prison’s operational control centre, where incidents are monitored and managed in real time), all of which were resolved without escalation to national tactical intervention (a specialist, centrally coordinated response to serious incidents). This underscores the critical role of timely and accurate BWVC evidence in ensuring both staff safety and effective operational governance.
1 The introduction of illicit items, particularly drugs, remains a significant and evolving risk at HMP Lancaster Farms. Drones are one method of concern, facilitated by the prison’s open landscape and proximity to the M6 and surrounding high ground. Recent incidents include a drone crash within the perimeter and a landing within one metre of a residential wing. Drones also present the potential to deliver other illicit items, including weapons, significantly increasing the risk to staff and prisoners. 4.5.2 Delivery methods have evolved. But illicit substances also enter via visits and allegedly through staff.
The prison has recently implemented restrictions on unescorted movement, and enhanced night patrols. While appropriate, these measures do not, in the Board’s view, fully mitigate risks arising from the prison’s geography, evolving supply methods and multiple ingress routes. Higher drug use has been noted in prison data during lockdowns, emphasising the importance of meaningful activity, education, and engagement.
We received complaints from some men that they were not allowed some books that had been sent in by friends and family over the Christmas period. When we raised this with the Governor, they acknowledged that this was not in line with national policies, but necessary for the security of the prison to control the influx of illicit substances into the establishment. This is even though it states on the prison website that ‘family and Friends of prisoners are permitted to send books directly to their loved ones, or can order books from approved retailers’. The Governor did offer to buy any books requested by prisoners for the prison library, but the Board is not convinced that this will work in practice, and it does not alter our position that the prison should be adhering to the national policy.
5 We also received separate complaints about the handling of Rule 39 mail at Lancaster Farms, where men are expected to open the mail in front of prison staff. Prisoners are not allowed to keep the mail, and if they would like a copy, they can either give written consent for the staff to take the mail to be photocopied or they can be escorted to reception for the mail to be copied in front of them. The original mail is then placed in an evidence bag and put into their stored property.
Recommendations
Recommendation 2
What immediate steps will the Minister take to reinstate education and training funding to pre-October 2025 levels and ensure a wider offer for prisoners?
Recommendation 3
What specific action will the Minister take, and within what timeframe, to ensure that prison healthcare improvements are treated as a priority?
Recommendation 4
What immediate steps will the Prison Service take to address deficiencies and establish more effective property transfer arrangements between prisons?
Recommendation 5
Can the Prison Service clarify the status of Lancaster Farms, including whether it is designated as a resettlement prison?
Recommendation 6
Following the issues raised in 3.3.5, what immediate steps will the Prison Service take to increase education and training funding at Lancaster Farms?
Recommendation 7
How are arrangements for the purchase of books and clothing by prisoners managed, and what safeguards are in place to ensure proper handling of Rule 39 legal mail?
Recommendation 8
How will the Governor ensure timely and consistent communication with the Lancaster Farms IMB in key situations such as segregation reviews, serious incidents, and instances where Pava is used?
Recommendation 9
What steps will the Governor take - and by when - to ensure that the Board has effective working arrangements for it to be able to fulfil its duties, including appropriate equipment and clerk support?
Recommendation 10
How will the Governor ensure that prisoners are kept informed in a timely and consistent manner about the progress of their complaints, and what is the timeframe for implementing improvements?
Recommendation 11
What steps will the Governor take to ensure that all prison officers wear and switch on their body worn video cameras?
Applications to the IMB
| Category | Current | Previous |
|---|---|---|
| Activities/Education | 20 | 22 |
| Complaints procedure | 49 | 45 |
| Discipline/adjudication | 10 | 10 |
| Diversity | 5 | 5 |
| Family/visits | 12 | 10 |
| Food | 22 | 28 |
| Healthcare | 93 | 100 |
| Legal | 6 | 8 |
| Money/Canteen | 14 | 16 |
| Property | 124 | 110 |
| Regime | 39 | 30 |
| Religion | 3 | 3 |
| Safety | 68 | 50 |
| Staff Conduct | 4 | 6 |
| Total | 532 | 519 |
| Transfer | 55 | 58 |
| Work | 15 | 18 |
Related inspections & investigations
Gerard Doyle · Other non-natural
Nathan Walters · Natural causes
Martin Brown · State Custody related deaths
Other reports for Lancaster Farms
Population 560
· Self-harm 357
· Concerns
Population 560
· Concerns
Population 540
· Concerns
Population 560
· Self-harm 220
· Concerns
Population 460
· Self-harm 399
· Concerns
Population 560
· Concerns