Prison
Cat C training
Key Concerns Identified
Positive Findings
Littlehey
IMB Annual Report 2020 · Published 5 May 2021
HMP Littlehey remains a safe, fair, and decent Category C training prison for men convicted of sexual offenses, despite facing significant challenges. Key issues include persistent overcrowding, ongoing structural and heating problems, and inadequate provision for older prisoners and those with mental health needs, often leading to inappropriate CSU placements. The Board notes improvements in social care and equality monitoring, but highlights concerns regarding regime curtailments for staff training, slow responses to property complaints, and a backlog in offender management.
Positive Findings
HMP Littlehey continues to be a safe, fair, and decent prison, performing well in education and purposeful activity. The IMB commends staff for managing heating and hot water issues and notes improvements in preparation for release, equality data monitoring, and social care provision, which is recognized as a model of good practice. Self-harm and assaults have decreased, and healthcare waiting times are improving. The renovation of the visits hall is also welcomed.
Key Concerns
Overcrowding
Repeated
Housing two prisoners in cells designed for one person is not decent treatment and should not be accepted as standard practice.
Equality/Diversity
Repeated
The prison is not meeting the needs of this protected characteristic group [older prisoners] as it has in the past, or as highlighted in the MOD for older prisoners.
Estate/Conditions
Much time and effort has been spent by the governor and senior management team in dealing with a range of structural and facilities issues that continue to undermine the morale of prisoners and staff alike.
Complaints/Property
Repeated
Property going missing when prisoners transfer from other establishments remains a major issue for those affected, takes up a disproportionate amount of time and effort, and is a cause of distress and frustration to both prisoners and reception staff.
Regime/Time Out of Cell
The demands of the Prison Service on staff make it necessary for the prison to hold fortnightly training days for large numbers of staff at a time... This leads to regular monthly restrictions on the regime giving prisoners fewer opportunities to complete education courses and reducing purposeful time out of cell.
Healthcare
HMP Littlehey is currently only resourced to provide four escorts each morning and afternoon for routine medical appointments. This leads to the healthcare department having to prioritise, on a daily basis, which prisoner can attend his appointment and who cannot.
Mental Health
The Board is concerned that the prison has no suitable accommodation for prisoners with mental health issues or developmental disorders, such as autism and Asperger’s syndrome, whose behaviour sometimes causes problems in normal accommodation. These prisoners are often moved to the CSU and held there under Rule 45.
Resettlement/Release
Despite a declared focus on OASys, there has been little impact on the backlog of OASys reports... The backlog of OASys reports has increased to 250 (from 125 last year) and Only one [prisoner] had any real knowledge of his plan.
Staffing
Many staff are insufficiently knowledgeable and trained to deal with this significant and vulnerable cohort [LDD prisoners], who feel that progression is hindered by their condition, and Without specific training [for working with men convicted of sexual offences], key workers are likely to have limited impact.
Equality/Diversity
Adjudication data show the number of BAME prisoners being adjudicated on in disproportionate numbers compared with the proportion of these prisoners in the establishment.
Education/Purposeful Activity
A good computer suite for OU and distance learning was developed on Lakeside but has remained unused for over two years.
Regime/Time Out of Cell
Senior managers have decided not to allocate uniformed officers to supervise the Lakeside library during the day. It is now open for only 45 minutes, on four evenings each week.
Education/Purposeful Activity
The sheet metal moulding and powder coating workshop is still not functional. ...this has been sitting idle for over 18 months because installation work has not been carried out.
Board Commentary
Staffing
Staff morale has been undermined by structural issues, though prison managers are commended for tactical actions. GFSL experiences high turnover of senior managers, and the mental health team faces staffing problems due to continual vacancies and sickness. Fortnightly staff training days lead to regime restrictions. Concerns exist about insufficient training for staff dealing with prisoners with learning difficulties and specific training for key workers managing sexual offenders.
Healthcare
Healthcare provision is generally good, with waiting times improving and comparable to the community for most services. However, it's hindered by regime curtailments for staff training and inadequate escorts for hospital appointments, meaning not all prisoners receive community-equivalent care. The mental health team faces staffing issues, impacting new initiatives. Social care, provided by Cambridgeshire County Council, is a strong positive, recognized as good practice, though cell design limits some adaptations for mobility.
Regime & Daily Life
The regime is frequently curtailed due to fortnightly staff training days, leading to reduced purposeful activity and time out of cell, a practice HMIP recommended ceasing. There are limited opportunities for older and less mobile prisoners to earn money or move around the prison. A significant portion of prisoners, especially those under retirement age without assigned activity, spend most of their day locked in cells, exacerbated by workshop cancellations due to heating failures.
Applications to the IMB
Prisoners can apply to their IMB about any aspect of their treatment. This table shows application counts by category.
| Category | Current | Previous | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Accommodation including laundry, clothing, ablutions | 13 | 22 | |
| Canteen, facility list, catalogue(s) | 26 | 28 | |
| Confidential Access | 28 | 51 | |
| Discipline including adjudications, IEP, sanctions | 3 | 3 | — |
| Equality | 10 | 18 | |
| Finance including pay, private monies, spends | 5 | 15 | |
| Food and kitchens | 2 | 5 | |
| Health including physical, mental, social care | 16 | 23 | |
| Letters, visits, phones, public protection restrictions | 31 | 25 | |
| Miscellaneous | 32 | 34 | |
| No Show | 5 | 16 | |
| Property during transfer or in another establishment or location | 29 | 65 | |
| Property within this establishment | 19 | 14 | |
| Purposeful Activity including education, work, training, library, regime, time out of cell | 24 | 23 | |
| Sentence management including HDC, ROTL, parole, release dates, re-categorisation | 28 | 54 | |
| Staff/prisoner concerns including bullying | 24 | 35 | |
| Transfers | 5 | 8 |
Recommendations (7)
Ministry of Justice: 1
HMPPS: 4
Governor / Director: 2
4 repeated
Recommendation 1
Repeated
Prev. unaddressed
how the minister will ensure that the prisoner population will remain within the uncrowded capacity of the prison system, so that establishments such as HMP Littlehey can operate at their certified normal accommodation levels. Housing two prisoners in cells designed for one person is not decent treatment and should not be accepted as standard practice.
Ministry of Justice
Overcrowding
Response
The Board acknowledges the minister’s response to our question last year about overcrowding. The minister outlined the plans to increase capacity as new prisons open in future and noted that the first step in that direction had been taken with the opening of 2,100 places at HMP/YOI Berwyn. Yet the Board is aware from the monthly population bulletin that the capacity of HMP/YOI Berwyn is still only 1,865 three years after opening (February 2017). As it takes such a long time for new prison places to become operational, and as the long-term trend in the population of sentenced prisoners is also increasing, the Board has little confidence that the current capacity plans will change the level of overcrowding.
Recommendation 2
Repeated
Prev. unaddressed
When will the Prison Service build or adapt buildings and cells to make them suitable for those with disabilities and/or those with complex health needs who require specialist equipment?
HMPPS
Estate
Response
Last year, in response to a question relating to older prisoners, the Prison Service cited the provisions of the model for operational delivery (MOD) for older prisoners as providing a guide for governors of establishments with older populations. This MOD acknowledges the needs of older prisoners but states that physical infrastructure will remain a challenge and outlines a number of ways to mitigate the impact of the current infrastructure.
Recommendation 3
When will the Prison Service publish the promised framework, providing detailed guidance for governors regarding the management of men convicted of sexual offences?
HMPPS
Offender Management
Response
After the thematic inspection of work with men convicted of sexual offences, the Prison Service published an action plan that promised to ‘produce a framework, articulating the priorities of the sexual offending management board; … identifying the priority issues for service implementation’. The action plan targeted July 2019 but this has not yet been published.
Recommendation 4
When will the Prison Service ensure that prison officers are given adequate training to deal with the different needs of these groups of prisoners?
HMPPS
Staffing
Response
According to the offender learning and skills service, in 2018 the proportion of prisoners with learning difficulties or development disorders was 34% of the population (and growing), and offender management statistics show that 17% are over 50, and 18% are convicted of a sexual offence. These are significant proportions of the prison population.
Recommendation 5
Repeated
Prev. unaddressed
When will the new policy framework for prisoners’ property be published? And, when issues do arise, how will the Prison Service ensure that complaints to other establishments are dealt with in a timely manner?
HMPPS
Complaints
Response
The transfer of property between prisons and the extremely slow response times for subsequent complaints continue to be a significant frustration for both prisoners and prison staff at HMP Littlehey. The Prisons and Probation Ombudsman also says, in their 2018/19 annual report, that: ‘Complaints about lost or damaged property continue to dominate our caseload, and the procedures for recording and managing prisoners’ property remain outdated and inefficient’.
Recommendation 6
When will the prison be able to provide enough escorts for all routine hospital and medical appointments based on medical need?
Governor / Director
Healthcare
Response
The Board is extremely concerned that HMP Littlehey is currently only resourced to provide four escorts each morning and afternoon for routine medical appointments. This leads to the healthcare department having to prioritise, on a daily basis, which prisoner can attend his appointment and who cannot. This prioritisation is happening because of prison resourcing issues and not because of medical need. This is not equivalent with healthcare in the community.
Recommendation 7
Repeated
Prev. unaddressed
when will a local strategy be written and implemented to cater for the 50 and over age group which includes some of the best practice identified in the MOD for older prisoners?
Governor / Director
Equality
Response
We ask, again, when will a local strategy be written and implemented to cater for the 50 and over age group which includes some of the best practice identified in the MOD for older prisoners?
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.