HMP Manchester

Gallery

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  Photo by Keith Williamson via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 2.0)

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Reports

• HMIP12 Jan 2026

  What should the prison do? We want the governor to read the report we wrote about Manchester and make a plan. The plan should tell us how they will fix the problems at Manchester and make things better for prisoners. You can find the report we wrote in the prison library. What do we want to happen? We want the prison to be safe for prisoners and officers. We want the prison to do more to stop drugs getting in. We want officers to only use force on prisoners when they really need to. We want body-worn cameras to be switched on when force is used. We want the prison to do more to help prisoners who might harm themselves. We want prisoners to spend more time in work and education. We want there to be more staff, so they have time to help prisoners. We want the food to be better. We want the prison to be clean and tidy. We want prisoners to get better health care. We want the prison to do more to help prisoners get a job before they are released. We want prisoners to be able to have social visits in the evenings. We want there to be more time for social video calls. What will we do? We will come back in a few years to check how well the prison is doing. We will write a report to tell people what we find. If you have any questions, please write to us: HM Inspectorate of Prisons 3rd floor 10 South Colonnade Canary Wharf London E14 4PU

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• HMIP14 Jan 2025

  HMP Manchester is a category B training prison, with space for up to 744 long- term prisoners. In addition, it has a specialist function in that it holds small number of category A prisoners, mainly those still going through the court process, and has a close supervision centre, part of a system that holds some of the most disruptive prisoners. At the time of this inspection the prison was holding more than 30 category A prisoners. Many of those held posed a very high risk of harm to others, with 36% serving indeterminate sentences, mainly life. We last inspected Manchester in 2021, when we found that outcomes against our healthy prison test of respect were reasonably good, but that they were not sufficiently good for safety, purposeful activity or preparation for release. At this inspection we found a significant deterioration, with outcomes in safety, respect and purposeful activity so poor that I invoked an Urgent Notification to the Secretary of State. We found organised criminal activity, serious violence, widespread drug use and an officer group that lacked confidence and capability, which had led to a very unstable environment. The number of weapons and other illicit items found in recent months was among the highest of all prisons holding adult men and the proportion of prisoners testing positive for drug use was very high at 39%. We found many examples of poor physical security, including, for example, a failing CCTV system; slow action by HMPPS to install more secure cell windows (which were themselves already being breached); and a failure to replace damaged netting over the exercise yards that might deter the frequent arrival of drones delivering illicit packages. In our survey of prisoners, more than half said they had felt unsafe at some point during their time there and the prison’s own data indicated that it was among the most violent in country. The rate of serious assaults was the highest of all prisons holding adult men and it was continuing to increase. Violence against staff, including serious assaults, was also higher than the average for similar prisons. Since the last inspection, there had been six self-inflicted deaths with a seventh taking place a few weeks after our visit. A further three deaths were suspected to be linked to drug misuse. There had been a steep rise in the rate of self-harm which was now among the highest of all prisons holding adult men. The triggers for self-harm included boredom, drug use, debt and frustration about basic needs not being dealt with by staff. There was too little help given to those in crisis and only 26% of prisoners who had experienced a self-harm crisis said they felt cared for. Hardly any prisoners (3%) thought the culture at the prison encouraged them to behave well and we witnessed a lack of order and control on some wings, with officers failing to challenge very poor, antisocial, or even criminal behaviour. Many officers were new to their role and struggled to manage prisoners effectively while also demonstrating appropriate care and compassion. Some very aggressive attitudes by prisoners were not dealt with robustly and there was little to reward those who tried to behave well. Outdoor areas around the prison were often heavily littered and many of the wings were filthy. Leaders at every level had allowed poor standards of cleanliness to endure, including in the gate lodge, many of the staff rooms and some showers on the wings. Chronic rodent infestation, including rats, persisted – particularly in and around the segregation unit – which was made worse by the amount of food thrown out of windows. Many cell windows were smashed, and prisoners were ripping up foam from mattresses and pillows to push into window frames to stop the cold from getting in. Time out of cell was poor and our survey results were significantly more negative than similar prisons. About a third of officers were routinely unavailable

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• HMIP13 Sept 2021

  In 2020, HMP Manchester made the transition from a local to a category B training prison, retaining a small category A function and separate close supervision centre. At the time of our visit it held 624 men, of whom a third were serving indeterminate sentences. The governor had taken on the challenge of transforming the culture of the prison and the mindset of the staff to focus on the rehabilitation of long- sentenced prisoners rather than the needs of a transient local prison population, but much of this work had been delayed or derailed by the COVID-19 pandemic. Some material changes had certainly supported this process – all but a few prisoners were held in single cells, showers had been improved and new kitchens on wings would soon mean prisoners could cook their own food. With COVID-19 restrictions still in place, many prisoners were still spending too long in their cells with few jobs available, very limited offending behaviour programmes and face-to-face education practically non-existent. Staff shortages restricted the number of prisoners who could get to the library, gym or workshops. One of the themes of this inspection was the lack of trust that prisoners had in prison staff. For example, they did not believe that complaints would be dealt with robustly, they could not get hold of their stored property, the booking line for visits rang unanswered, there was often no response to applications and the vulnerable prisoners on K wing reported high levels of victimisation from staff. The governor had taken some active steps to address this issue, moving his office and those of senior managers onto the wings to increase their visibility to prisoners and staff. He had put in a new system for managing complaints, brought in new quality assurance to respond to allegations of discrimination and he chaired the black prisoner consultation forum. He had also held a drug summit in which staff and prisoners were consulted on how to reduce the supply of drugs, from which leaders had developed a series of actions. At the last inspection we were very critical of the segregation unit and we were pleased to see improvements not only in the physical environment, but in the way men with often very complex needs were helped back into the main prison, with some impressive input from the psychology service in formulating support plans. The governor had also prioritised improving the staff culture in the prison and the often good and caring interactions we saw with prisoners were evidence that progress was being made. Inspectors who had also been on the previous inspection noticed an improvement in the atmosphere. The prison had recently adopted a new incentive scheme that aimed to improve prisoners’ behaviour, though it was too early to see the effects. Leaders had introduced targeted performance management for custodial managers to improve their confidence and competence in leading their teams; this was crucial to transforming the prison culture. There was, however, much to be done – in some wings, inspectors were struck by the lack of engagement and poor attitudes of some officers. This along with a reluctance to turn on body-worn cameras, the unnecessary use of an aggressive, barking dog to accompany prisoners who were being relocated to the segregation unit, the unwillingness of some staff to challenge disruptive behaviour, the extraordinary strip-searching of prisoners who were being released and the often poor treatment of those at risk of suicide or self-harm, pointed to the scale of the challenge. The board in the administrative block lists the 10 governors who have led the prison since the turn of the century, a turnover rate that explains why so many deep-set problems remain. If HMP Manchester is to make the transformation from a security-focused local prison to a category B training prison that

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