Leicester inspection report 2023
Report for Leicester Prison
Summary
Dating from the 19th century, and located in the city centre, HMP Leicester is a small reception prison, the main purpose of which is to serve the courts of Leicester and elsewhere in the East Midlands. Holding up to 348 adult men, almost all on a single wing, the prison experiences many of the operational pressures inherent in its function. For example, it receives almost 1,500 new prisoners directly from the community each year, some 40% of whom are held on remand or awaiting sentence, and the daily movement of prisoners in and out of the establishment is considerable. The prison also holds a significant number of prisoners who are foreign nationals. We last inspected Leicester in 2018, when we observed reasonable outcomes against three of our four healthy prison tests, although we reported at the time that the prison needed to be safer. At this inspection it was pleasing to find that outcomes in safety were much better, and that outcomes remained reasonably good in respect, and rehabilitation and release planning.