Leeds prison still has ongoing issues of self-harm and overcrowding despite improvements, inspection finds

The unannounced inspection in June from HM Inspectorate of Prisons of the “forbidding” 19th century prison found that there had been eight self-inflicted deaths since 2019 and that there had been some “very serious” incidents of self-harm.

The prison, which is in Armley, is also “significantly overcrowded”, with 80% of prisoners sharing a cell designed for one and the number of prisoners at the time of the inspection – 1,092 – being far greater than the “certified normal capacity” of 641.

The report was praiseworthy of the prison though, with Charlie Taylor, Chief Inspector of Prisons, saying: “Our findings confirmed to us that Leeds is a well-led prison and that leaders and managers were visible about the wings and had a realistic understanding about the challenges and opportunities, and that priorities were communicated successfully to staff and prisoners.”

He also pointed to the cleanliness of the prison and the art work and murals that had been added as positives.

HMP Leeds is a reception and resettlement prison that receives into custody about 388 new prisoners every month and releases back into the community approximately 172.

There had been 18 deaths at the prison from natural causes in the last two years, which was “very high”, and the inspection found that time out of cell was “poor” in some cases, with some only spending an hour a day unlocked.

Mr Taylor said that “prisoners at Leeds were still not safe enough” and that “more work was needed to address this for the future”.

In its list of concerns, the report said: “Leaders had not yet made sure that there were enough activity spaces, and the education curriculum was too narrow to meet the needs of a substantial proportion of prisoners.”

A lack of work activities being allocated and little support provided for those preparing to be reallocated were also highlighted as key concerns.

There was praise of the improvement of the “forbidding” appearance of the prison, which has been decorated with wall murals and artwork to “create a positive atmosphere".

The prison cells were also generally clean, though first night cells were found to be “grubby and unwelcoming”.

Mr Taylor said: “We were impressed by the excellent environmental standards, cleanliness, and positive feel of both the external grounds and the built environment, all of which were indicative of energy, confidence, and potential.”

He added: “Overall, this was a decent inspection of HMP Leeds.

"The prison had a capable and settled leadership as well as an experienced officer group. In most areas, outcomes were either reasonable or improving.

"Going forward, leaders must focus on efforts to reduce the number of self-inflicted deaths and be more ambitious in delivering a meaningful regime.”

The full report can be found on the Justice Inspectorate’s website.

It shows improvement from a previous inspection in 2018 that found it was one of the country’s most troubled prisons.

Mr Taylor said: “At this inspection our assessments as reflected in our healthy prison tests remained the same, not an insignificant achievement in the context of the pressures experienced by prisons emerging from the recent pandemic.”

The Ministry of Justice, which operates the prison, has been approached for a comment.