Risley inspection report 2026
Report for Risley Prison
Summary
HMP Risley is a category C resettlement prison in Cheshire, tasked with accommodating only men convicted of sexual offences. Despite recent changes that included a clarification of the prison’s role and purpose, but also some important senior leadership changes, we found a generally stable and optimistic prison that was making progress. Outcomes for prisoners in our healthy prison tests were found to be good in safety and reasonably good in respect, although not sufficiently good in purposeful activity or preparation for release. This however, represented progress in three tests, with only preparation for release yet to realise any improvement. The prison was calm, and levels of violence had reduced over time, with incidents now lower than many comparable category C prisons. Staff assaults and serious incidents were rare, and prisoners generally experienced good time out of cell.