The Independent Monitoring Board has failed to produce reports on HMP Manchester for each of the last three years, but insists it has been carrying out regular checks

16:53, 11 Dec 2025Updated 20:11, 11 Dec 2025

HMP Manchester, also known as Strangeways(Image: MEN Media)

A prisons watchdog has failed to produce required inspection reports into HMP Manchester for each of the last three years, the Manchester Evening News can reveal. It has led to a call for reform of Independent Monitoring Boards (IMB) – statutory bodies whose volunteer members are appointed by the government and given unrestricted access to jails so they can produce independent annual reports.

The IMB has blamed ‘fluctuating’ membership of its HMP Manchester board and insists that, while it has not produced any reports in the last three years, it has still been ‘monitoring’ Strangeways. It comes during a period in which the rat-infested Victorian prison has spiralled into a crisis characterised by squalid conditions and rampant drug abuse among inmates.

HM Inspectorate of Prisons is considered the main prisons watchdog, but its visits to individual jails can be years apart. Its last official inspection of Strangeways resulted in a shocking report detailing appalling conditions inside the 157-year-old jail published in January. Its previous full inspection was in 2021.

It means the work of volunteers of the IMB in carrying out annual inspections is crucial in keeping an eye on conditions inside Strangeways. The IMB says that, while it has not been able to produce reports, ‘monitoring’ of the prison continued throughout the three years.

A picture of Strangeways released by HM Inspectorate of Prisons(Image: HM Inspectorate of Prisons)

The absence of reports happened during a period when the serious decline inside HMP Manchester was not publicly recognised until Chief Inspector of Prisons, Charlie Taylor, took the unusual step of publishing an interim report in October last year which branded the jail ‘fundamentally not safe’.

An action plan was drawn up which included extra staff and inmates being moved to other prisons, as well as work to upgrade windows on all cells. The practice of prisoners sharing cells was ended and the operational capacity of the jail was reduced.

Mr Taylor’s full inspection report published in January outlined in detail the shocking conditions and rife drug abuse. Inmates faced ‘catastrophic levels’ of drugs, high rates of violence and a rat infestation, the damning inspection found.

There had been a ‘concerning decline’ since the last inspection in 2021 – and inspectors said organised crime gangs and the supply of drugs into Strangeways were ‘clearly undermining every aspect of prison life’.

A broken window at HMP Manchester(Image: HM Inspectorate of Prisons)

David Leech, editor of The Prisons Handbook, used Freedom of Information legislation to establish that the IMB had failed to produce reports as required for the last three years. The last time it published a report on HMP Manchester was in August 2022.

“How can statutory independent prison monitors, appointed by the Justice Secretary to monitor one of the largest prisons in the country – a prison that is part of the Long Term High Security Estate – fail to produce the statutory annual report they are required to produce by Rule 80 of the Prison Rules for three consecutive years?,” he asked.

Mr Leech added: “It is surely time to call it a day. We must either reform this valueless watchdog from top to bottom or scrap it completely.”

A statement from the IMB reads: “Independent Monitoring Boards (IMBs) are required to produce annual reports under Prison Rule 80, and we take this responsibility seriously. We acknowledge there have been challenges with publishing Manchester’s reports, caused by fluctuating board membership, which meant reports could not be completed for publication.

A picture of Strangeways released by HM Inspectorate of Prisons

“All non-publications need to be justified, and agreed by the minister’s delegate. However, monitoring at HMP Manchester has continued throughout those three years, and issues identified by IMB members have been raised with prison management.

“IMBs are made up of volunteers who play a vital role in monitoring conditions and treatment in the 124 prisons across the country, as well as places of immigration detention. Recruitment and retention have been challenging in recent years due to changes in the volunteer market, but we are actively and successfully working to address vacancies, with our next campaign opening on 7 January 2026.

“We remain committed to transparency and accountability. A report for HMP Manchester is in progress, and we are taking steps to ensure timely publication going forward.”

A HM Prisons and Probation Service spokesperson said: “Independent Monitoring Boards play an important scrutiny role and we are grateful for the dedication of IMB volunteers across the estate. Alongside the IMB’s ongoing monitoring, HM Inspectorate of Prisons remains the lead statutory inspectorate for prisons and published its full inspection of HMP Manchester earlier this year.”