Standards at HMP Liverpool have made ‘promising progress’ since a series of independent inspections identified a litany of problems within the prison, according to a newly released report. In 2019, HM Inspectorate of Prisons declared HMP Liverpool as one of the worst prisons they had seen. In 2017, Inspectors had found the prison in sordid conditions, with rampant overcrowding and squalid conditions.

The Inspectorate made note of the ‘commendable improvement’ of the jail facilities. Notably, only 13% of prisoners felt unsafe, which was a significant improvement compared to similar prisons; inspectors also found that the prison was calm and well-ordered. There was a sense of positive community that motivated prisoners to behave well, and prison staff were found to have provided a good level of care to prisoners.

The higher standard of care that was being provided played a vital role in violence decreasing by 46% from the last inspection. Additionally, there was also increased focus by prison staff on de-escalating force and a drive to improve the use of body worn video cameras. These results were a ‘very encouraging’ findings and highlight a positive trend towards ‘a positive and caring culture at the jail’, resulting in safer prisons for inmates.

However, the latest inspection also found that there were still issues with too many prisoners sharing single occupancy cells, and the amount of time inmates were given away from their cells was described as ‘poor’. There is still ‘too high’ a presence of available illicit drugs, indicating an inadequate system of medicine management, and purposeful activity ‘remained not sufficiently good’. Nonetheless, it was noted that these shortcomings should not detract from the main findings of the report. Sustained improvement in such a ‘challenging’ prison was found to be nothing less than a ‘significant achievement’, and a platform ‘from which to take the prison forward with confidence.’