Prison
Cat C
Key Concerns Identified
Positive Findings
Lancaster Farms
IMB Annual Report 2025 · Published 9 July 2025
HMP Lancaster Farms, a Category C resettlement prison, continues to provide a largely safe environment for its 560 prisoners, with positive initiatives like the complex care unit and CrossFit program. However, significant concerns persist, particularly around healthcare provision, including long waiting times and issues with medication and data transparency. The Board also highlights problems with property management during transfers, a rise in prisoners on the restrictive basic regime, and continued challenges in placing prisoners with complex mental health needs in specialist facilities.
Positive Findings
The Board found that prison staff largely succeed in providing a safe environment, with effective risk management and collaboration across teams. Progress is being made on increasing time out of cell and purposeful activity, with a noted increase in education and training uptake. The establishment of the complex care unit on Grizedale and the CrossFit programme are welcomed initiatives. Education and library services, including arts and reading projects, are well-regarded and innovative. Relationships between staff and prisoners are generally positive, and the prison received a Koestler Arts Platinum award.
Key Concerns
Mental Health
Repeated
The continuing high levels of self-harm among a small handful of prisoners, many of whom have challenging and complex mental health needs, yet continue to be accommodated at the establishment rather than being transferred to more specialist secure mental health facilities.
Estate/Conditions
Repeated
A minority of prisoners continue to be accommodated, on occasion, in double cells, with limited toilet screening and/or no toilet seats.
Estate/Conditions
Outstanding estate issues, such as poor ventilation in some cells and the absence of some door screens, broken equipment on some exercise yards and some overflows and poor drainage in wet weather.
Regime/Time Out of Cell
A number of instances where prisoners (especially those on the induction wing) have not been provided with basic bedding and/or clothing due to shortages of prison stock.
Complaints/Property
Repeated
Responses to complaints are delayed (especially those related to previous prisons) and prisoners are sometimes not kept up to date on the progress of their complaints.
Other
Repeated
The treatment of prisoners’ property remains an issue of concern, especially when they transfer from other prisons, resulting in delays in receipt or loss of personal possessions, anxiety, distress, and financial cost.
Healthcare
Repeated
The number of applications to the Board regarding healthcare has increased substantially in 2024-2025, suggesting variable levels of primary healthcare, with long waiting times for non-urgent nurse/GP appointments (three weeks) and specialists (up to seven months for a dentist).
Healthcare
The administration of medication is a major concern; medication is not always delivered/collected from local pharmacies, leading to delays and men going without medication.
Healthcare
Wider concerns about how the contracting out of essential services such as healthcare affects the transparency of the level of care provided and the overall scrutiny of healthcare services, with data and complaints not included in internal performance statistics.
Healthcare
A discrepancy where Practice Plus Group has 30 days for stage 1 and 60 days for stage 2 to respond to healthcare complaints, compared with the prison's five working days for other complaints.
Healthcare
Several complaints about the attitude of some healthcare staff, including staff lacking in care and empathy and being dismissive.
Staffing
The chaplaincy team continues to provide a comprehensive support service but is under-resourced, with staffing gaps.
Regime/Time Out of Cell
Repeated
A significant rise in the number of prisoners on basic status compared with last year (10%), with the basic regime being very restrictive and men often struggling to cope mentally with its restrictions.
Safety
An increase in drone drops at HMP Lancaster Farms, leading to more cell searches and a review of protocols and policies.
Safety
Only 60% of use of force incidents are captured on body worn video cameras, which is a concern for staff safety and evidence.
Board Commentary
Staffing
The Board is concerned that emergency escorts for hospital visits reduce overall staffing, leading to potential regime changes. While the prison reports meeting key worker contact targets, the Board highlights a need for further development and training to improve the quality and consistency of key working sessions. Previous concerns about inadequate staffing leading to curtailed activities persisted in the reporting year, despite HMPPS claims.
Healthcare
Primary healthcare provision is variable, with a substantial increase in prisoner applications regarding healthcare (from 14% to 30%). Waiting times for non-urgent nurse/GP appointments can be three weeks, and significantly longer (4-7 months) for specialists like dentists, physiotherapists, and counsellors. Issues with medication administration, including delays and prisoners going without, are a major concern. Transparency of healthcare data and complaints is lacking, and the discrepancy in complaint response times (5 days for prison, 30-60 days for healthcare) is noted as unacceptable. Concerns about the attitude of some healthcare staff have also been raised.
Regime & Daily Life
There has been an increase in time out of cell and progress in purposeful activity, though a small number of men remain without activity. A minority of prisoners are still accommodated in double cells without adequate privacy (toilet screening/seats). Access to physical fitness activities has occasionally been limited due to staff shortages, and the gym remains underused at weekends. There has been a significant rise in prisoners on the basic regime, which the Board notes is very restrictive and challenging for prisoners' mental wellbeing.
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 transfers) | 45 | 38 | |
| Adjudications | 15 | 18 | |
| Chaplaincy | 4 | 2 | |
| Discipline/segregation | 12 | 10 | |
| Equality & diversity | 5 | 7 | |
| Family contact (including visits) | 7 | 8 | |
| Food | 20 | 12 | |
| Healthcare | 81 | 42 | |
| Legal | 2 | 3 | |
| Miscellaneous | 15 | 10 | |
| Money/earnings/canteen | 9 | 10 | |
| Property | 49 | 42 | |
| Safety (including ACCTs, self-harm) | 5 | 7 | |
| Staff conduct | 16 | 14 | |
| TOTAL APPLICATIONS | 338 | 265 | |
| Work/education/activity | 3 | 2 |
Recommendations (13)
Ministry of Justice: 2
NHS / Healthcare Provider: 1
HMPPS: 4
Governor / Director: 6
8 repeated
Recommendation 1
Repeated
Prev. unaddressed
When will the Minister increase the number of specialist secure prison settings for prisoners with complex and/or enduring mental health conditions?
Ministry of Justice
Mental Health
Response
Minister focusing on Mental Health Bill to speed access to specialist in-patient treatment for those with severe mental illness. Also, NHS England seeking to improve pathways for treatment. No discernible impact to date (bill introduced in November 2024; not yet completed passage through parliament).
Recommendation 2
When will the Minister review the NHS contract with healthcare providers in order to ensure that there is a high quality of service and higher levels of satisfaction?
NHS / Healthcare Provider
Healthcare
Recommendation 3
Repeated
What steps will the Minister take to ensure adequate resources for the day-to-day running of prisons and maintenance of a prison now over 30 years old?
Ministry of Justice
Estate
Response
Minister working on priorities within available funding. Lancaster Farms approved for ongoing projects: segregation unit cell doors; fire safety project; extra accommodation for 240 men (small secure house blocks). Board to monitor identified projects in 2025-2026. Also, many Lancaster Farms issues are ongoing: maintenance issues such as dampness, updating bathrooms, etc, as well as vital fire safety measures.
Recommendation 4
Repeated
Prev. unaddressed
How and when will the Prison Service ensure better tracking of prisoners’ personal property transferring between prison?
HMPPS
Other
Response
According to HMPPS, emphasis on prisoners complying with volumetric control limits. Under the Prisoners’ Property Policy Framework, excess items required to be transferred within four weeks. At Lancaster Farms, the issue is not just related to ‘excess items’.
Recommendation 5
Repeated
Prev. unaddressed
When will the Prison Service increase overall prison staffing across England and Wales to ensure there are no gaps in prison staffing, which leads to regime changes where association time and purposeful activity are curtailed?
HMPPS
Staffing
Response
According to HMPPS, any supply of staff on detached duty is approved locally. Apparently, evidence is supplied that just one person on such duty on 2024. HMPPS states that no curtailments of prison regime in 2024 caused by staffing recruitment and retention. HMPPS provides information for 2024 rather than the 2023-2024 year (ending 31/01/2024). Many examples identified by the Board in 2023-2024 of the regime being curtailed due to no staff being available for relevant shifts.
Recommendation 6
Repeated
Prev. unaddressed
When will the Prison Service review healthcare contracts to monitor the delivery of services and ensure that prisoners transferring between prisons are not disadvantaged in their healthcare status?
HMPPS
Healthcare
Response
HMPPS responded to this issue through an overview of criminal justice pressures that caused prisoner allocation issues across the region. No mention of healthcare contracts. Issue of prisoners transferring to Lancaster Farms being disadvantaged in their treatment has been evidenced further in 2024-2025.
Recommendation 7
When will the Prison Service work with service providers to ensure anomalies in provision of medication are addressed?
HMPPS
Healthcare
Recommendation 8
Repeated
When will the Governor increase the amount of purposeful activity (so that 90% of men are in regular education/training/employment)?
Governor / Director
Purposeful Activity
Response
Attendance at education by January 2025 is the highest it has ever been (82%) and ‘the new normal’ is 80%. Attendance in the industries unit is routinely over 80%. The prison is constantly working on ways to improve this figure. New pathways introduced for English and maths, supported by a revised induction process for new prisoners. Men who choose not to attend or engage with the regime are managed through the IEP [incentives scheme] process, but we will always work with them to get them back into work on a pathway that works for them. Improvements also to the core day, with association on Monday -Thursday and at weekends, especially for prisoners engaging in the regime. Board would support ambition to achieve 90%. New regime supported, but Board remains concerned when some activities are curtailed because inadequate number of staff available.
Recommendation 9
Repeated
When will the Governor increase the effective use of key working at the prison, with demonstrable targets and outcomes?
Governor / Director
Staffing
Response
Key work at Lancaster Farms has increased in volume through 2024 by 34% compared with 2023 figures. New key work rooms on each unit enable staff to complete more effective sessions. Quality and improvement of sessions are being addressed. Board will monitor prisoner experience of key work sessions in 2025-2026.
Recommendation 10
Repeated
When will the Governor increase the use of existing facilities (e.g. classrooms, the gym and Railtrack facilities)?
Governor / Director
Regime
Response
Managers review the use of existing facilities and work to ensure that all areas of education and training are being used fully and that the activities area is appropriate to the length of sentence and the local labour market employment opportunity. Board to monitor anticipated changes to the education and training offer.
Recommendation 11
How will the Governor improve contact with the Lancaster Farms IMB when relevant situations arise? These include segregation reviews, serious incidents and when Pava is drawn.
Governor / Director
Other
Recommendation 12
When will the Governor improve the communication with prisoners on progress with their complaints?
Governor / Director
Complaints
Recommendation 13
What steps will the Governor take to ensure that all prison officers wear and switch on their body worn video cameras?
Governor / Director
Safety
Other IMB Reports for Lancaster Farms
PPO Fatal Incidents
Prisons and Probation Ombudsman fatal incident investigations for this establishment.