PRISON inspectors say HMP Forest Bank is improving but there are still “safety concerns” for a small minority of prisoners.

Forest Bank serves the Greater Manchester area and houses a large number of offenders from Bolton.

Overall, inspectors were pleased with improvements at the prison but the report by Nick Hardwick, Chief Inspector of Prisons, said there was a “passive attitude” to the serious bullying of a small minority of young adult prisoners.

The report also said there was too much evidence of “unofficial” punishments; that closed visits were imposed too often; and the segregation unit needed better governance.

Mr Hardwick, who carried an unannounced inspection of the Salford jail, said: “Forest Bank is a good local prison and a number of improvements were evident since our last inspection.

“It is important to stress that for most prisoners, Forest Bank is a safe prison and the findings of our survey were that most prisoners felt safer than in similar establishments.

“But we were concerned that for a small minority of prisoners, it was not at all safe and in some cases, prison officers on the wings had a passive attitude to bullying and unexplained injuries — however good the policies.”

Inspectors said for a local prison, prisoners spent a good amount of time out of their cells, and the quality of education, training, employment and other activities was generally good.

Health care had improved, there was excellent integration of drug services and work was developing to support veterans with post-traumatic stress.

However, the report adds: “Despite good quality purposeful activity, there was simply not enough available, with half the prison population locked in their cells during the working day.”