The 'dirty' Lancashire prison with an unused £10m gym which constantly smells of cannabis

Bathroom facilities at HMP Kirkham
-Credit:HMIP


Prison inspectors have spoken of their "deeply depressing" visit to a Lancashire prison where they frequently smelled cannabis.

His Majesty's Inspectorate of Prisons visited HMP Kirkham in October last year. The facility is an open prison, holding up to 699 inmates, which offers opportunities to spend time in the community.

The inspectors spoke of being able to frequently smell cannabis around the prison and voiced their surprise that prisoners were not searched when returning to the Category D prison from working in the community.

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The inspectors wrote in their report, published last month: "At 25 per cent the rate of prisoners testing positive for drug use was by far the highest in the open estate. Kirkham was, in fact, in the top third of all adult male prisons in the country and inspectors frequently smelt cannabis around the jail.

"Although leaders had worked hard to reduce the supply and had found large quantities of illicit items in searches, they had not done enough to reduce the demand. We were surprised that prisoners returning from work in the community were not routinely searched when they entered the prison."

The visit also revealed that the recently-completed brand-new £10m gym facilities were "virtually unused". Inspectors noted: "It was deeply depressing to find the brand new, £10 million gym was rarely full and that sessions were frequently cancelled. Similarly, the outdoor football pitch was virtually unused.

"Above the gym there was further space with empty classrooms and more equipment that prisoners were not allowed to use. A risk aversion among staff meant that prisoners could not use any of the facilities unsupervised; this meant that opportunities were wasted to provide physical activity that would help prisoners to stay off drugs, get them fit, and improve their health and well-being."

The under-used gym at Kirkham Prison
The under-used gym at HMP Kirkham -Credit:HMIP

Relationships between prisoners and staff were described as "poor" with the inspectors noting this had been raised during the previous inspection in 2016 and added: "It was disappointing to find that, if anything, things had got worse."

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In total the inspectors highlighted 11 concerns including illicit drug use, staff-prisoner relationships, poor living conditions, too few enrichment activities, not enough good quality employment opportunities, strategies to manage overcrowding had undermined the purpose of an open prison, the lack of phones in cells, and a lack of external escorts for medical appointments.

Cleanliness was also raised during the inspectors' visit. They noted: "In our survey, only 67 per cent of respondents said that their showers were normally clean. During the inspection, we found many of these in an unacceptable or unusable state, with extensive mould and rust.

"Several showers and toilets were out of order, and we were told that two billets had been without hot water or heating for several weeks."

The inspectors did praise several areas of the prison including the well-used library, stocked by Lancashire County Council. The inspectors noted: "The facility was popular, with around 2,500 visitors each month, and 87 per cent of prisoners were members.

"There was a wide range of books, audio books and DVDs, and computers were available for prisoners to access distance learning and take driving theory tests. The library was also responsible for publishing the monthly ‘Kirkham Chronicle’, which provided information on events, activities and news for prisoners."

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