Cells in some English prisons still have no toilets, leaving prisoners to defecate in buckets overnight and sleep in “inhumane” conditions.
The practice – known as “slopping out” – was supposed to be banned from 1996. But at least five prisons still have cells with no toilet facilities, causing particular problems for elderly or disabled prisoners.
At HMP Bristol, the Chief Inspector of Prisons recently spoke to prisoners who said they had to resort to using buckets and throwing waste out of the window, which then splashed into the cells below. The smell of urine on the landing was ‘overpowering’, Charlie Taylor reported this week.
Although prisons without cell toilets are supposed to have ‘night sanitation’ systems that allow prisoners to be unlocked if necessary, many do not work properly.
Prisoners who need to use the toilet join an electronic queue to be unlocked – usually for eight minutes – and many report long waits.
At Grendon, a so-called ‘therapeutic’ prison in Buckinghamshire, most prisoners do not have in-cell sanitation and so rely on an electronic keypad system when locked up.
“For some prisoners this was not a problem, but many others told us of delays in using the toilets, particularly in the morning and on landings where larger numbers of prisoners were housed. Although prisoners were provided with plastic pots to use in their cells for this purpose, this was not hygienic and they were unable to wash their hands,” the inspectors reported.
Long Lartin, a high-security prison in Worcestershire for about 600 men, also issues buckets to prisoners without in-cell sanitation to limit the number of prisoners who have to be unlocked. About half the cells there have no toilets.
Sue Harrop, chair of the Independent Monitoring Board (IMB) at Long Lartin, said: “The cells in the four wings, which have no running water or toilet facilities, house some elderly and infirm prisoners. The use of buckets is problematic when men are confined for long periods due to regime restrictions. There is not even a sink to wash their hands after using the bucket. They are required to ‘slop out’ into an open sluice with no splash guard or privacy for the men emptying their pots. The committee considers this practice to be inhumane”.
There are also no toilets in the original 1960s residential block at HMP Coldingley, a medium-security men’s prison in Surrey.
Coldingley IMB’s annual report, published in October 2023, said: “Much-needed refurbishment of the original old housing units is underway, but some of the existing call bell sanitary facilities will remain in use for years and … appalling and inhumane conditions have recently been observed.”
The age-old practice of ‘slopping out’ – described at the time by prison reform groups as ‘the most degrading element of imprisonment in this century’ – was officially ended on 12 April 1996, according to the National Council for Independent Monitoring Boards. On that day, the last plastic pot was ceremoniously discarded at HMP Armley in Leeds, West Yorkshire.
Andrew Neilson, director of campaigns at the Howard League for Penal Reform, said: “In our overstretched and under-resourced prison system – where it is commonplace to see dirt, vermin, broken furniture, faulty equipment and the poor hygiene that comes from people being forced to share cramped, poorly ventilated cells designed for one – slopping out is one of the most appalling practices you will find.
“It should have stopped many years ago, but chronic overcrowding means that old prisons that should have been closed remain open, and thousands of people are forced to endure appalling conditions that will never help them to live healthy lives and turn away from crime.”
The Ministry of Justice said it was unable to find out how many prisons in England and Wales had cells without toilets.
Instead, a spokesman for the Prison Service said: “All prisoners have access to adequate sanitation and the vast majority have access to in-cell toilets.
“We are also improving conditions across the estate – refurbishing cells and delivering six new, modern prisons, including HMP Fosse Way, which opened in May.”