Prison
Cat C training prison
Key Concerns Identified
Positive Findings
Littlehey
IMB Annual Report 2023 · Published 20 September 2023
HMP Littlehey is a Category C training prison for men convicted of sexual offenses, holding 1,171 prisoners. The Board commended the prison for its generally safe environment, compassionate end-of-life care, and excellent PE regime. Key concerns include persistent overcrowding due to shared cells, long waiting times for specialist healthcare, and significant issues with managing prisoner property transfers between prisons. The report also highlights the over-representation of Black and Muslim prisoners in adjudications and use of force incidents, and ongoing problems with heating infrastructure and the use of temporary freezers.
Positive Findings
The Board particularly commends staff for managing difficult reception situations including prisoners with serious health conditions, and for their robust and compassionate end-of-life care processes. HMP Littlehey remains a relatively safe and secure prison with low rates of prisoner-on-prisoner violence. The Board welcomed the re-introduction of prisoner forums and their engagement with the population, and efforts to develop diversity and inclusion support. The PE/exercise regime is excellent, and the Fine Cell Work charity and gardens team received commendation for their work. Significant improvements were seen in English and Maths provision, and a reduction in releases without accommodation was noted.
Key Concerns
Overcrowding
Repeated
Too many prisoners are forced to share cells, including those initially designed as single cells, and the number continues to increase.
Complaints/Property
The Board has noted its concerns with the performance of five London prisons in responding in a timely manner to property complaints from prisoners at HMP Littlehey.
Healthcare
Prisoners have been transferred to HMP Littlehey, which does not have a 24-hour healthcare facility, when they were already very unwell.
Estate/Conditions
There have been no funds available to enable the prison to replace the rusty and torn equipment within their gyms.
Estate/Conditions
Several cells on a wing did not have any internal heating in them during extreme weather conditions and have since been offline.
Education/Purposeful Activity
The waiting lists for attendance on offending behaviour programmes remain long.
Food/Catering
Repeated
The use of temporary freezers at HMP Littlehey has been ongoing for over three years, despite funding being made available.
Equality/Diversity
The diversity and inclusion data continues to show an over-representation of black and Muslim prisoners in adjudications and of Muslim prisoners being subject to use of force.
Complaints/Property
There has been a noticeable increase in the number of complaints at HMP Littlehey.
Complaints/Property
The DIRF (Discrimination Incident Report Form) process has not been operating effectively within the prison, with little faith in outcomes or timeliness of responses.
Healthcare
Repeated
The maintenance of wheelchairs, particularly those owned by the NHS trust, continued to be an issue.
Healthcare
Long waiting times persist for optician, physiotherapy, and ultrasound appointments.
Mental Health
The segregation environment is not conducive to helping prisoners with significant mental health issues improve their mental health.
Regime/Time Out of Cell
Food Forums are not yet taking place on a regular basis, and the Prison Council is viewed by some prisoners as a 'talking forum' rather than action-oriented.
Other
The Prison Service remains unable to properly manage prisoners’ property when transferring between prisons, with this problem increasing year-on-year.
Regime/Time Out of Cell
The lack of in-cell telephones continued to be an issue, particularly during the first half of the year, with ongoing faults with shared telephones.
Board Commentary
Staffing
Primary and mental health staffing levels presented ongoing recruitment challenges, impacting service provision and leading to below-optimal physiotherapy services and increased mental health assessment waiting times during holidays due to staff absence. The key worker scheme relaunched, but sessions are often sacrificed during staff shortages. Staffing issues also impacted food provision and workshop closures, and securing qualified psychology supervision for offending behaviour programmes remained a challenge.
Healthcare
Healthcare provision is generally good, with active involvement in ACCTs, Rule 45 reviews, and daily CSU visits. However, long waiting times persist for specialist healthcare appointments, including opticians, physiotherapy, and ultrasounds, impacting prisoner wellbeing. The mental health team's caseload was 66 at year-end, with average waiting times of six days, although this rose to two weeks during holidays due to lack of cover. The prison does not have a 24-hour healthcare facility, raising concerns about transfers of very unwell prisoners. High standards of social and palliative care continue, with new initiatives like dementia training for wing staff and mental health drop-in clinics.
Regime & Daily Life
Following the lifting of Covid-19 restrictions, the prison quickly resumed education, vocational activities, and offending behaviour programmes, though these were sometimes curtailed by staffing issues. The excellent PE/exercise regime provides approximately 3.5 hours of physical activity per prisoner weekly, exceeding the HMPPS benchmark. However, the lack of in-cell telephones caused frustration, particularly for new transfers. The absence of a replacement for the demolished G wing continued to limit opportunities for prisoners to develop independence and decision-making skills crucial for resettlement.
Recommendations (10)
Ministry of Justice: 1
HMPPS: 5
Governor / Director: 4
2 repeated
Recommendation 1
Repeated
Prev. unaddressed
As stated in the reports of the last two years, there continue to be too many prisoners forced to share cells, including those initially designed as single cells. While the Board acknowledges the Minister’s response to this point in our last report, it remains concerned that the number of prisoners being forced to share a cell continues to increase. With the pressures on the prison population continuing to grow it asks what strategies are being deployed to ensure prisoners are safe and treated with respect.
Ministry of Justice
Overcrowding
Response
Minister acknowledged the delay in the rollout of reconfiguration and referenced the East of England Probation Service providing pre-release support. Minister referenced the HMPPS revised framework publication in April 2022 for the Certification of Prisoner Accommodation and stated maximum crowded capacity at prison was a local operational judgement. 74 cells designed for single cell are now allocated for sharing by two prisoners. An increase from 66 cells during this reporting year.
Recommendation 2
The Board has noted its concerns with the performance of five London prisons in responding in a timely manner to property complaints from prisoners at HMP Littlehey (see paragraph 5.8.2) and seeks reassurance that procedures are in place to ensure all prisons are to answer prisoner complaints with clarity and timeliness.
HMPPS
Complaints
Response
Prisoner Complaints Policy Framework addresses complaints relating to other prisons. Complaints relating to property remain high, and the prison has become more proactive in getting such complaints resolved.
Recommendation 3
The Board is concerned that prisoners have been transferred to HMP Littlehey, which does not have a 24-hour healthcare facility, when they were already very unwell. Although the Board recognises that HMP Littlehey provides excellent end of life care, it is concerned that such transfers could be detrimental to the transferring prisoner. The Board would like to understand the criteria used to decide on transferring prisoners with significant health concerns.
HMPPS
Healthcare
Recommendation 4
The PE and exercise regime at HMP Littlehey continues to be acknowledged as of an extremely high standard and the Board is disappointed that there have been no funds available to enable the prison to replace the rusty and torn equipment within their gyms. Are there any plans for providing some funding for this area in the foreseeable future?
HMPPS
Regime
Recommendation 5
Following the extreme weather conditions experienced in December 2022 it was discovered that several cells on a wing did not have any internal heating in them. Since this discovery the cells have been offline. Although there are only a few of these cells, with the current pressures on prisons to accommodate as many prisoners as they can, the Board would like to understand whether there are any plans for bringing these cells up to the standard required so that they can be brought back into use.
HMPPS
Estate
Recommendation 6
The waiting lists for attendance on offending behaviour programmes, which are often a requirement for consideration for parole, remain long. The Board would like to understand whether there are any plans to increase Programme provision to improve prisoner access to such programmes.
HMPPS
Education
Recommendation 7
Repeated
Prev. addressed
The Board continues to be concerned with the use of temporary freezers at HMP Littlehey (see 5.1.5) which has now been ongoing for over three years. Based on the response from HMPPS to these concerns last year, the Board understands that funding has been made available to resolve this issue. The Board therefore asks when will the new freezers be in place?
Governor / Director
Food
Response
Confirmation that funds had been allocated to replace the freezers and that this work expected to be completed by March 2023. Funds were made available but no plans for work to have started by end of March 2023.
Recommendation 8
The Board has been pleased to see the re-introduction of prisoner forums during this reporting year and the willingness of the prison to engage with the prisoner population to improve their lived experience. The Board has also heard the frustrations of prisoners who feel that these forums can be talking shops rather than action orientated. The Board would like to understand what the prison is planning for changing this perception.
Governor / Director
Regime
Recommendation 9
The diversity and inclusion data continues to show an over-representation of black and Muslim prisoners in adjudications and of Muslim prisoners being subject to use of force. The Board recognises the data is based on an underlying low level of incidents, however, it would like to know what plans are in place to ensure the adjudication and use of force processes are fair to everyone at HMP Littlehey.
Governor / Director
Equality
Recommendation 10
There has been a noticeable increase in the number of complaints at HMP Littlehey. The Board would like to be made aware of the processes in place to identify any trends in these complaints.
Governor / Director
Complaints
Other IMB Reports for Littlehey
2026
Published 13 May 2026
HMIP Inspections
Recent inspections by HM Inspectorate of Prisons for this establishment.
4 Sep 2023
Unannounced
Safety: 4
Respect: 3
Activity: 2
Release: 3
PPO Fatal Incidents
Prisons and Probation Ombudsman fatal incident investigations for this establishment.