These photos offer an insight into what life is like inside HMP Liverpool as a refurbishment continues.
Walton jail, officially known as HMP Liverpool, was once dubbed as Britain's worst prison following a damning inspection in 2017, which found it infested with rats and cockroaches, flooded with drugs and strewn with rubbish. It has since undergone a dramatic turnaround, with an inspection in 2019 finding "the squalor and filth" had been "replaced by clean and decent living conditions for the vast majority of prisoners."
A new report has now been published showing the conditions inspectors found when they visited the prison in an unannounced inspection this July. The report said the jail had undergone an "impressive transformation" from the "parlous state" it was in five years ago.
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Staff were praised for being caring and non-judgemental, with inspectors finding "a calm and well-ordered prison with a positive and caring culture." A long-term refurbishment to improve living conditions at the Victorian prison is ongoing including upgrading cells.
But the standard of some living accommodation was found to be inadequate by inspectors.
The report said: "The cells were much improved, although the toilets remained at the end of the bed. At the time of the inspection, I wing was closed for refurbishment and K wing, which was the worst accommodation, was due to be completed next."
Inspectors said too many prisoners were still sharing cells designed for one person and too many cells had broken windows. Prisoners were found to have broken cell windows for ventilation or to retrieve contraband from smugglers using drones.
£100 million has been spent on security measures at Walton jail including X-ray scanners and tracing equipment to help tackle the issue of contraband.
Recorded levels of self-harm were found to have fallen by 60% since the last inspection in 2019, but one person had taken their own life in this time. Violence levels were also falling at the jail - but access to purposeful activity was described as problematic.
The HM Inspectorate of Prisons report found four concerns which should be treated as priority. The availability of illicit drugs at the prison was too high, there were not enough activity places for the population, the management of medicines was inadequate and prisoners did not have enough time unlocked, the report found.
Inspectors said the food they saw being served was of good quality and 49% of prisoners said the food was good compared with 39% in similar prisons.
The report said: "Prisoners chose their meals from a four-week rolling menu which offered reasonable variety. Halal, kosher and medical diets were catered for.
"A machine had been purchased to seal food once it was cooked which alleviated the concerns of a small number of prisoners who worried that their food was tampered with. This was a considerate action for leaders to take."
HMIP also found:
- The prison was doing some good work to promote family ties and in general the approach to risk reduction and offender management was reasonably good
- The prison is now "even safer than it was in 2019 and outcomes were judged ‘reasonably good’"
There was an insufficient number of education, training and work places for the whole population and even available spaces weren’t always full
- Purposeful activity was still not good enough
- Staff vacancies and absences were hindering the delivery of rehabilitation and release planning
Charlie Taylor, Chief Inspector of Prisons, said: “At this inspection we found a well-led, safe and respectful prison. Leaders had a decent understanding of its strengths and weaknesses, although the prison could have improved further with slightly more robust oversight in some important areas of policy and practice. This could, perhaps, be encouraged by a better and more targeted use of data and more attention to the recommendations we had made, only a third of which were achieved following our last visit.
“Sustaining improvement in a challenging prison like Liverpool is a significant achievement, and this had created a platform from which to take the prison forward with confidence.”
A Prison Service spokesperson said: “This report highlights the significant improvements made at HMP Liverpool. As pandemic restrictions are lifted we are working hard to ensure prisoners can access the education and employment programmes that assist rehabilitation and our £100m investment in security is tackling the flow of contraband.”
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