Inmates at a Nottinghamshire prison are living in ‘dilapidated’ conditions, and a quarter have developed a drug problem after going inside.
The damning findings are in an HM Inspectorate of Prisons report on the conditions at HMP Ranby.
The report, released yesterday (19 May), follows the watchdog’s inspections at the site, near Retford, between 10 and 20 February 2025.
HMP Ranby is a Category C training and resettlement prison for adult men. It had a population of 1,087 at the time of inspection.
The results highlight 14 key concerns, with six noted as priorities.
Among the six is the fact that almost a quarter (24 per cent) of men said they had developed a drug or alcohol problem while in the prison – rising to 38 per cent across three specific blocks – with 61 per cent of surveyed prisoners saying it was easy to get drugs.
The report also details “dilapidated and dirty” buildings, with damaged facilities, graffiti, and mould.
Some prisoners were “struggling” to get basic necessities such as bedding, cleaning items, and prison clothing, it adds.
Key concerns at the facility also include the lack of promotion of positive behaviour, persistent rule-breaking going unchallenged by officers, and medicine administration taking too long.
A lack of support for prisoners developing their employability skills and poor communication about their resettlement arrangements was also observed.
The 700 prisoners who live in houseblocks one to three and five “had a pretty bleak existence”, according to inspectors.
The report says: “[They are] living in accommodation that was now badly dilapidated, with many cells lacking basic furniture and almost no self-cook facilities.
“By every measure, things were worse for these men: the regime was much more limited, cell bells took longer to be answered, and there were more drugs available.”
However, the conditions in houseblocks four, six, seven, and eight had cleaner facilities, with more activities for prisoners to do and better workshops and training on offer.
Around one-third of men in the prison (300) were found not to be in purposeful activity and “were lucky if they got out of their cells for two hours a day”.
The report does note positive practice within the prison, such as the use of drones for insight into prisoner movement and illicit packages, good mental health support, and leaders investing in a “proactive resettlement officer”.
It states that since this role has been in place, “[the officer] had made over 340 telephone or video calls to local authorities and community housing” since May 2024, leading to a reduction in the number of prisoners leaving the prison without any accommodation.
A Ministry of Justice spokesperson said: “The Government inherited a prison system in crisis – overcrowded, with drugs and violence rife – and this report once again demonstrates that.
“We are investing £220 million in prison and probation service maintenance in 2024–2025 and up to £300 million in 2025–26 to improve conditions and keep prisons safe and secure.”
Andrew Neilson, Director of Campaigns at the Howard League for Penal Reform, said in a statement the report was a “stark reminder of some of the worst aspects of our prison system”.
He continued: “That almost a quarter of men surveyed for the report have developed a drug problem since coming to Ranby is a damning indictment of our prison system’s ability to rehabilitate.
“Not only does drug abuse impact people living and working in prisons and put added strain on already under-resourced and understaffed jails, its effects spill over into the community, where problems in prisons can add stress to other public services such as ambulance trusts and hospitals.
“The best way to stop the supply of drugs into jails is to reduce the demand for them in the first place. Drug abuse will remain a problem while people in prison continue to be warehoused in unsafe conditions with nothing to do.
“Rather than warehousing people in unsafe, overcrowded prisons and locking them up for hours on end, prisons must commit to ensuring that people get out of their cells and are occupied with positive work, education, training and exercise.”
