Prison
Cat D open
Key Concerns Identified
Positive Findings
Kirkham
IMB Annual Report 2025 · Published 13 January 2026
HMP Kirkham, a Category D open prison, faced significant challenges during the reporting period (Jan 2024 - Jul 2025) due to high prisoner churn from temporary release schemes, which disrupted its resettlement function and exhausted staff. Despite this, the Board found the prison to be a safe environment, with improvements in healthcare, purposeful activity, and complaints management. Key concerns remain around illicit substances, staffing, budget cuts impacting education, and the aging estate.
Positive Findings
The Board considers Kirkham to be a safe environment, despite high prisoner churn, and commend staff for coping well with these pressures. Healthcare, particularly mental health services, has improved due to increased staffing. The new gym facilities are well-utilised, and a range of enrichment activities has enhanced prisoner-staff engagement. The Offender Management Unit (OMU) is now functioning cohesively, and significant improvements have been made to the complaints tracking system. The Board also commends the chaplaincy, the positive approach to the equality advisor role, and the success of the recent jobs fair.
Key Concerns
Substance Misuse
There continued to be a growing issue with illicit substances in the prison, despite enhanced security measures.
Resettlement/Release
Repeated
TPRS and early release schemes had a huge impact on HMP Kirkham having difficulty to fulfil its purpose as a resettlement prison, receiving the highest proportion of these prisoners.
Staffing
The IMB feels that to assist with the additional challenges prison staffing level should better reflect the current cohort of prisoners.
Education/Purposeful Activity
Recent budget reductions effecting education and vocational work are not supportive to the mission of a rehabilitation and resettlement prison.
Regime/Time Out of Cell
The IMB believes that having additional processes that would differentiate between short, and long-term prisoners within a resettlement prison would be significantly beneficial.
Regime/Time Out of Cell
The absence of in-cell telephony.
Regime/Time Out of Cell
The IMB believes that the prison should have more choice in deciding if prisoners are suitable to come to Kirkham.
Estate/Conditions
Lack of heating and hot water for long durations during winter continued to be a significant issue, creating damp living and working conditions for prisoners and staff awaiting protracted repair by AMEY maintenance contractors, despite being under the focus of special measures.
Mental Health
In the Board’s opinion, wait times for referrals to psychological wellbeing practitioners are too long.
Resettlement/Release
Opportunities for outside work had been seriously hindered by ROTL processes arising from the increased workload on the offender management unit (OMU) through TPRS.
Resettlement/Release
Concerns have arisen around the issues of accommodation on release. Previously the prison had its own accommodation officer. This had been removed and although the prison made every effort to ensure that no prisoner was released with no fixed abode (NFA), this was not always guaranteed.
Board Commentary
Staffing
The prison has a committed and hard-working staff who coped well with significant pressures from prisoner churn and new schemes, though staff exhaustion was noted. Ineffective staff-prisoner relationships are gradually improving. However, the prison is not adequately staffed for its current diverse cohort, and staff resources limit essential security measures like searching. There are also concerns about potential staff redundancies in education due to budget cuts, which would be a retrograde step for rehabilitation.
Healthcare
Healthcare services, now provided by Practice Plus Group, have generally improved, particularly mental health services due to enhanced staffing. Waiting times for general healthcare appointments have also improved, and there have been no cancelled hospital visits recently. However, waiting times for referrals to psychological wellbeing practitioners remain too long. External medical appointments are prioritised but limited, impacting internal prisoner activities.
Regime & Daily Life
The prison's regime has been significantly disrupted by the influx of short-term prisoners with diverse needs, for which it is not adequately staffed. Despite this, significant improvements have been made in purposeful activity, with an excellent new gym and an enlarged programme of activities now widely available. However, a persistent issue is the lack of heating and hot water during winter, caused by maintenance contractor failures, leading to damp living conditions.
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 | 4 | 1 | |
| Canteen, facility list, catalogues | 0 | 0 | |
| Discipline, including adjudications, incentives scheme, sanctions | 3 | 2 | |
| Equality | 0 | 0 | |
| Finance, including pay, private monies, spends | 2 | 0 | |
| Food and kitchens | 4 | 0 | |
| Health, including physical, mental, social care | 12 | 8 | |
| Letters, visits, telephones, public protection, restrictions | 0 | 0 | |
| Miscellaneous | 1 | 3 | |
| Property during transfer or in another facility | 5 | 0 | |
| Property within the establishment | 1 | 0 | |
| Purposeful activity, including education, work, training, time out of cell | 3 | 2 | |
| Sentence management, including HDC (home detention curfew), ROTL (release on temporary licence), parole, release dates, recategorisation | 36 | 1 | |
| Staff/prisoner concerns, including bullying | 0 | 1 | |
| Transfers | 1 | 0 |
Recommendations (9)
Ministry of Justice: 5
HMPPS: 2
Governor / Director: 2
1 repeated
Recommendation 1
Repeated
Prev. unaddressed
TPRS and early release schemes had a huge impact on HMP Kirkham having difficulty to fulfil its purpose as a resettlement prison, receiving the highest proportion of these prisoners. What additional support is planned to support the prison in managing the continued repercussions of an influx of prisoners?
Ministry of Justice
Resettlement
Recommendation 2
The IMB feels that to assist with the additional challenges prison staffing level should better reflect the current cohort of prisoners. Will the Minister commit to ensuring appropriate staffing levels at HMP Kirkham?
Ministry of Justice
Staffing
Recommendation 3
Recent budget reductions effecting education and vocational work are not supportive to the mission of a rehabilitation and resettlement prison. Will the Minister reconsider his plans to reduce the education budget, in light of the need for rehabilitation support across the prison estate?
Ministry of Justice
Education
Recommendation 4
The IMB believes that having additional processes that would differentiate between short, and long-term prisoners within a resettlement prison would be significantly beneficial. How does the Minister plan to address this issue?
Ministry of Justice
Regime
Recommendation 5
The IMB and the prison would welcome a Ministerial visit. Will the Minister schedule a visit in 2026?
Ministry of Justice
Other
Recommendation 6
The IMB and the prison would welcome investment in in-cell technology, as recommended by the recent inspectorate report. When will the recommendation be carried out?
HMPPS
Regime
Recommendation 7
The IMB believes that the prison should have more choice in deciding if prisoners are suitable to come to Kirkham. How does the Prison Service propose to work in partnership with HMP Kirkham regarding prisoner transfers?
HMPPS
Regime
Recommendation 8
The IMB would like to see a firmer approach to those taking drugs.
Governor / Director
Substance Misuse
Recommendation 9
The IMB would like to see effective action taken to prevent availability of drugs.
Governor / Director
Substance Misuse
Other IMB Reports for Kirkham
HMIP Inspections
Recent inspections by HM Inspectorate of Prisons for this establishment.
9 Sep 2024
Unannounced
Safety: 3
Respect: 2
Activity: 2
Release: 2
PPO Fatal Incidents
Prisons and Probation Ombudsman fatal incident investigations for this establishment.