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HM Inspectorate of Prisons has said that overcrowding, poor sanitation, deteriorating infrastructure and long delays to essential maintenance are causing persistent problems across the prison estate, “rendering much of it inadequate”.
The findings are set out in “Fit for purpose or falling apart? A review of living conditions in prison”, published by the inspectorate on 3 November 2026. The inspectorate describes it as a key findings paper by HM Chief Inspector of Prisons, dated October 2026.
Key points
- The review drew on inspections of 40 prisons and more than 6,400 prisoner surveys.
- Around half of the prisoners surveyed were living in accommodation built before the 1980s that had never been significantly refurbished.
- The inspectorate said conditions were often particularly poor in older Victorian reception prisons, where population pressures and high turnover made repairs and improvements hard to carry out.
- Mould, broken windows, inadequate ventilation, damaged flooring and a lack of basic furniture and storage were common.
- Poor ventilation contributed to overheating in summer, while unreliable heating systems left many prisoners cold in winter.
- A chart in the review, based on inspections of 40 adult prisons in England and Wales and survey data for 2025-26, shows that over half of prisoners in reception and high secure prisons were held in legacy or historic buildings.
Lawyer’s comment
Nicola Maynard, a prisons lawyer and partner at Reeds Solicitors LLP, said in comment sent to Law Week: “The findings in this report are deeply concerning, but unfortunately they will not come as a surprise to many practitioners working with those people in the prison system.”
She said: “We regularly see the impact that inadequate prison conditions can have on individuals. Overcrowding, poor sanitation, a lack of privacy and inadequate living facilities are not simply issues of comfort; they have a real impact on prisoners’ dignity, wellbeing and ability to engage meaningfully with rehabilitation.”
She added: “There is an expectation that individuals leaving prison should be better equipped to reintegrate into society and avoid further offending. However, it is difficult to see how that can be achieved when people are being held in environments where even the most basic standards of decency are not consistently met.”
On complaints, she said: “Where prisoners are living in unacceptable conditions, there needs to be a meaningful way for those concerns to be raised, investigated and addressed. These issues should not be allowed to become an accepted feature of prison life simply because the system is under pressure.”
“Ultimately, a prison system should be judged not only by its ability to accommodate those sentenced to custody, but by the conditions in which people are held and whether it is genuinely preparing them for release and a positive return to society.”
Context
The key findings paper and a PDF of the full review are on the HM Inspectorate of Prisons website. For background on publicly funded legal help, see our guide to how legal aid works in England and Wales. Law Week has also reported on the latest duty solicitor numbers.