Prison
Cat B local
Key Concerns Identified
Positive Findings
Liverpool
IMB Annual Report 2023 · Published 19 September 2024
HMP Liverpool has shown positive progress in some areas, including education and the key worker scheme, but faces significant challenges. The Board is concerned by increases in self-harm, violence, and deaths in custody, compounded by high staff absence leading to regime closures. Major issues include inhumane delays in mental health transfers for segregated prisoners and a critical lack of accessible accommodation for those with disabilities.
Positive Findings
The Board welcomes the new Governor and management team's positive progress in several areas. Security at the main gate and reception has improved, along with increased use of body-worn cameras. Educational and vocational training is satisfactory, with efforts towards accreditation. The catering team is responsive, and outside areas have seen improvements. The prison has also made good progress in recruiting key workers and ensuring all prisoners in the CSU now receive a daily regime.
Key Concerns
Safety
Increase in reported suicide attempts, self-harm incidents and deaths in custody.
Safety
Increase in violence on both prisoners and staff.
Mental Health
Repeated
The inhumane length of time prisoners experiencing mental health illness are kept segregated whilst waiting for transfer to an appropriate mental health establishment.
Staffing
Repeated
Staff absence is still an issue at HMP Liverpool, affecting daily staffing levels and resulting in frequent regime closures for prisoners.
Equality/Diversity
Repeated
There is a lack of accessible cells for prisoners with disabilities at HMP Liverpool.
Substance Misuse
Delays around cell searches and the lack of action on positive drug tests does not help in reducing the availability of illicit items and it impacts on safety.
Other
Repeated
Prisoners’ property during transfers is still going missing and is not managed effectively by the Prison Service, despite the updated Prisoners’ Property Policy Framework.
Segregation
HMP Liverpool does not routinely invite the Board to Rule 45 meetings (which review and authorise continuing segregation and temporary confinement) and data is not sent to the Board in line with the Memorandum of Understanding.
Mental Health
Repeated
Prisoners in segregation for mental health or self-isolation reasons do not consistently have access to activities that promote positive mental health.
Board Commentary
Staffing
High staff absence significantly impacted the prison, leading to restricted daily regimes and affecting staff-prisoner relationships. This also hindered the key worker scheme initially, but the prison has since worked hard to recruit and deploy key workers more effectively, now assigning them to specific wings. Despite these improvements in the key worker scheme, overall staff absence continues to cause frequent regime closures.
Healthcare
Overall, prisoners' health needs are met, supported by a multidisciplinary team approach and an improving healthcare leadership. However, the Board has major concerns regarding the inhumane length of time prisoners with serious mental illnesses spend in the CSU awaiting hospital transfers, often leading to deterioration in their mental health. The referral process for mental health establishments is chaotic, and staffing shortages, particularly a single nurse in reception, cause significant delays in prisoner processing.
Regime & Daily Life
Persistent high staff absences led to restricted daily regimes and frequent wing lockdowns, causing prisoners to be locked in their cells for excessive periods. These closures negatively impacted prisoner morale and mental health, contributing to an increase in self-harm incidents. Positively, all prisoners in the Care and Separation Unit (CSU) now receive a daily regime, addressing previous concerns about 24-hour in-cell confinement for some vulnerable prisoners.
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 | |
| Bullying, victimisation, intimidation | 1 | 5 | |
| Discrimination | 0 | 0 | |
| Food | 15 | 40 | |
| Healthcare | 171 | 139 | |
| Legal | 17 | 20 | |
| Lost Property | 105 | 100 | |
| Other | 15 | 19 | |
| Pay, private cash, benefits | 15 | 18 | |
| Regime, activities | 11 | 10 | |
| Security | 5 | 1 | |
| Segregation | 18 | 9 | |
| Staff conduct | 1 | 1 | — |
| Total Applications | 426 | 413 | |
| Visits | 7 | 12 |
Recommendations (15)
Other: 1
HMPPS: 8
Governor / Director: 6
11 repeated
Recommendation 1
Repeated
Prev. unaddressed
The Board has repeatedly raised concerns around the inhumane length of time prisoners experiencing mental health illness are kept segregated whilst waiting for transfer to an appropriate mental health establishment. A recent example is a prisoner who spent 377 days in the CSU waiting for a transfer, which the Board view as completely inhumane. What immediate action will the Minister take to address this inhumane practice?
Other
(minister)
Mental Health
Response
The segregation review board will ensure measures good are put in place to safeguard the mental health of segregated prisoners, including enhanced observations, dialogue and mental health team input.
Recommendation 1
Whilst HMP Liverpool is a cluster death site, with an increase in suicide attempts and self-harm incidents, there does not appear to have been any substantial additional resources for a meaningful period to reduce risks of additional deaths. What resources will the Prison Service provide to HMP Liverpool to ensure that safety for prisoners is improved over the long term?
HMPPS
Safety
Recommendation 1
The Board has raised concerns about resources within safety custody and how this affects prisoner outcomes, such as delays with violence reduction officers visiting prisoners, for example. What action will be taken to ensure sufficient resources within safety custody are available to ensure safety and positive outcomes for prisoners?
Governor / Director
Safety
Recommendation 2
Repeated
Prev. unaddressed
Staff absence is still an issue at HMP Liverpool, affecting daily staffing levels and resulting in frequent regime closures for prisoners. What action will the Prison Service take to directly reduce staff absence at HMP Liverpool and eliminate regime closures due to low staffing levels?
HMPPS
Staffing
Response
Recognised as a major concern by present governance.
Recommendation 2
Repeated
The Board is not notified of all applicable incidents/events in line with the Memorandum of Understanding. In addition, the Board does not always receive the data or meeting invites as it should. What action will be taken to improve this area so the Board can monitor effectively?
Governor / Director
Other
Recommendation 3
Repeated
The Prison Service is aware of the inhumane length of time some prisoners have been in the CSU at HMP Liverpool whilst waiting for transfer to an appropriate mental health establishment. What will the Prison Service do to ensure that prisoners at HMP Liverpool are not waiting for inhumane periods of time for such transfers?
HMPPS
Mental Health
Recommendation 3
Repeated
The Board has raised several concerns about monitoring and oversight of UoF incidents. What further action will be taken to improve this area?
Governor / Director
Safety
Recommendation 4
Despite recent reductions in the number entering the prison grounds, HMP Liverpool is known as a ‘hot spot prison’ for drone activity, which results in illicit items becoming accessible to prisoners. What additional support will the Prison Service provide to explicitly target drone activity at HMP Liverpool?
HMPPS
Substance Misuse
Recommendation 4
Repeated
The Board has raised repeated concerns over the lack of access to activities for prisoners in the CSU for mental health or self-isolation reasons to promote positive health. What action will be taken to ensure that such segregated prisoners have appropriate access to activities?
Governor / Director
Mental Health
Recommendation 5
Repeated
There is a lack of accessible cells for prisoners with disabilities at HMP Liverpool. What action will the Prison Service take to ensure that prisoners with disabilities and accessibility needs have appropriate accommodation?
HMPPS
Equality
Recommendation 5
The Board has raised concerns about prisoners’ property going missing between cell moves, particularly when prisoners are relocated to the CSU. What action will be taken to improve this area?
Governor / Director
Other
Recommendation 6
Repeated
Prisoners are not receiving responses to complaints from other establishments within the timeframes specified in Prison Service policies. Some prisoners have been waiting for more than two years. What will the Prison Service do to ensure that this inadequacy is addressed and prevented?
HMPPS
Complaints
Recommendation 6
Repeated
The Board has been pleased to see the recent improvement in the range and quality of educational, vocational and industrial workshop training provision being provided for prisoners. What plans are in place to further enhance these programmes, e.g. accreditation of more courses, ensuring all courses are full?
Governor / Director
Education
Recommendation 7
Repeated
Prev. unaddressed
Prisoners’ property during transfers is still going missing and is not managed effectively by the Prison Service, despite the updated Prisoners’ Property Policy Framework. The Board has raised this issue with the Prison Service for several years through our annual reports. What action will the Prison Service take to eliminate prisoners’ property being lost or mislaid between transfers?
HMPPS
Other
Response
This is a ‘northwest’ issue, which has been recognised as needing urgent improvement.
Recommendation 8
Repeated
Prev. unaddressed
Prisoners would particularly benefit from access to a wider range of accredited skills and services. This would enable them to have a greater chance of succeeding once they leave the prison. What plans does the Prison Service have for ensuring that as many suitable courses and training opportunities are formally accredited to enable a sense of achievement for the prisoners during their time at HMP Liverpool and to enhance their chances of not returning to prison?
HMPPS
Education
Response
New governance at HMP Liverpool need to invest and fund facilities to enhance the job prospects and rehabilitation of prisoners.
Other IMB Reports for Liverpool
HMIP Inspections
Recent inspections by HM Inspectorate of Prisons for this establishment.
11 Aug 2025
Unannounced
PPO Fatal Incidents
Prisons and Probation Ombudsman fatal incident investigations for this establishment.
Prevention of Future Deaths Reports
Coroner PFD reports issued to this establishment.