Prison
Cat C training
Key Concerns Identified
Positive Findings
Littlehey
IMB Annual Report 2024 · Published 14 January 2025
HMP Littlehey, a Category C training prison for sex offenders, generally maintained a safe and humane environment with positive developments like a new wing and in-cell phones. Despite commendations for healthcare and resettlement efforts, the IMB remains critically understaffed, hindering its monitoring capacity. Key challenges include persistent cell sharing, poor property transfer management, healthcare resource deficits, and inadequate educational provision, many of which are repeated concerns.
Positive Findings
The Board generally found HMP Littlehey to be safe, secure, and humane, with commendations for end-of-life care and the mental health team. Notable improvements include the opening of the new G wing, the roll-out of in-cell phones, and excellent food provision. The prison shows strong efforts in supporting older and disabled prisoners, and has a robust PE/exercise regime. Significant progress has been made in addressing healthcare waiting times (excluding physiotherapy/podiatry), increasing mental health assessments, and improving offender behaviour programmes and resettlement planning.
Key Concerns
Staffing
The Minister should note that the IMB has been operating with just three active members against an establishment of 16; and that, with such low numbers, it is increasingly difficult to meaningfully carry out the statutory requirements.
Staffing
Repeated
The Board is disappointed that, despite repeated requests for change, the IMB recruitment process continues to be inadequate and inappropriate to support the timely recruitment of candidates with the necessary qualities and skills.
Overcrowding
Repeated
There continue to be too many prisoners forced to share cells, including those initially designed for single occupancy. ... the number of prisoners being forced to share a cell continues to increase.
Other
Repeated
The Board is disappointed that the estate-wide management of prisoner property on transfer continues to be extremely poor, and that staff are not adhering to the policy guidelines for transfer of legal papers.
Complaints/Property
The Board would like to know when IT systems that have been deployed in other prisons, to better manage internal complaints, are going to be deployed in HMP Littlehey.
Complaints/Property
Repeated
The Board notes the continued high level of internal complaints at HMP Littlehey... a significant number of complaints could be avoided by better communication between staff and prisoners
Estate/Conditions
Repeated
The continued inadequacy of the heating system on the Woodlands wings, which include the two wings for elderly prisoners.
Equality/Diversity
Repeated
The maintenance of wheelchairs continued to be an issue during this reporting year. The Board has highlighted this issue in numerous previous annual reports and progress in resolving the situation remains slow.
Healthcare
Repeated
The healthcare services lacked the resources to meet the needs of the population and that the governance and oversight of medicines’ management was weak. Indeed, the lack of 24-hour healthcare is often questioned by prisoners
Healthcare
Repeated
Physiotherapy services continued to operate at below optimal levels and the Board notes the upward trend in waiting times due to the reduction in physiotherapy clinics... Podiatry provision was reduced... and this has impacted waiting times
Healthcare
The Board is disappointed to see the continuing long waiting times for optician appointments.
Estate/Conditions
Repeated
The repair and replacement of gym equipment continues to be inadequate due to insufficient funding.
Estate/Conditions
the roof of the workshops’ building was leaking for the whole of the reporting period, without any clear plan to repair or replace it.
Education/Purposeful Activity
insufficient provision of English, maths and English for speakers of other languages to meet the need of the population.
Education/Purposeful Activity
the prison needed a reading strategy to support literacy, based on a meaningful assessment of need among the prison population.
Education/Purposeful Activity
the Lakeside library has sometimes been closed, due to inadequate staff resources.
Board Commentary
Staffing
The IMB is critically understaffed, operating with only three active members against an establishment of 16, and finds the recruitment process inadequate. Staffing levels in primary care, mental healthcare, pharmacy, administration, and the business hub are challenging service provision. Staff shortages have also impacted regime activities and the delivery of offender behaviour programmes. Despite this, the Board notes generally good relations between staff and prisoners.
Healthcare
While HMP Littlehey's healthcare is generally good, the lack of 24-hour on-site provision and resource limitations are concerns, leading to weak governance in medicines' management. Waiting times for physiotherapy, podiatry, and optician appointments remain problematic. Positively, the mental health team is fully staffed, handling 56 referrals monthly with quick assessments, and offers beneficial drop-in clinics and specialist groups. End-of-life and social care provision are highlighted as being of a high standard.
Regime & Daily Life
The prison's regime saw the positive development of the new G wing for selected prisoners and the introduction of in-cell phones, greatly improving communication. Significant effort has been made to reduce the number of prisoners without assigned activity. Prisoners engage in 3.5 hours of physical activity weekly, exceeding the HMPPS benchmark, and benefit from peer-led evening workshops and activity days that foster skill-sharing and personal development.
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 | 19 | 52 | |
| Canteen, facility list, catalogue(s) | 9 | 10 | |
| Confidential Access | 0 | 22 | |
| Discipline, including adjudications, incentives scheme, sanctions | 16 | 7 | |
| Equality | 1 | 9 | |
| Finance, including pay, private monies, spends | 9 | 6 | |
| Food and kitchens | 3 | 9 | |
| Health, including physical, mental, social care | 17 | 8 | |
| Letters, visits, telephones, public protection restrictions | 10 | 24 | |
| Miscellaneous, including complaints system | 31 | 31 | — |
| Property during transfer or in another establishment or location | 37 | 22 | |
| Property within this establishment | 26 | 13 | |
| Purposeful activity, including education, work, training, library, regime, time out of cell | 21 | 22 | |
| Sentence management, including HDC (home detention curfew), ROTL (release on temporary licence), parole, release dates, recategorisation | 9 | 7 | |
| Staff/prisoner concerns, including bullying | 28 | 21 | |
| Transfers | 10 | 5 |
Recommendations (1)
Governor / Director: 1
1 repeated
Recommendation 1
Repeated
this should be subject to continual monitoring by the Governor.
Governor / Director
Safety
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.