A quarter of the places at a top-ranked prison near York are not being used, despite it being a “scarce and valuable resource,” prison inspectors have said.

Earlier this year the prison in Askham Richard was rated as the best prison in England and Wales for men or women, according to Ministry of Justice performance figures.

Following their unannounced visit in June and July, prison inspectors highlighted concerns about the number of prisoners in it and its training and education opportunities including the lack of a director of training and education.

Askham Grange prepares women who have spent some time in prison for full release. It has housed female murderers and other high-profile women prisoners at the end of the custodial part of their sentences.

It has a capacity of 128 prisoners, but at the time of the inspection had about 90. In August there were 94.

The report states: “Askham Grange continues to be a very high performing prison through solid and clear leadership, supported by a community ethos and excellent joint working.

“It is a shame that too few women are transferred there and HMPPS (His Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service) should look at how more women can benefit from such a valuable opportunity in preparation for release.”

The report describes Askham Grange Prison, which was threatened with closure for almost a decade, as a “scarce and valuable resource” and states that nearly 200 women, who had been assessed as suitable for open prisons and could benefit from being at Askham Grange, were being held in closed prisons.

The Press understands that the prison service is trying to rectify the situation.

The report states: “Nearly half of the women had an education, skills or work placement in the community, much of which was paid employment. Leaders had not yet been able to recruit a head of learning and skills and some teaching and training positions were vacant which impacted on delivery. The poor recording of employment skills developed through work was disappointing.”

The Press understands that since the visit the post of head of education skills and work has been filled and recruitment for other vacant training and education posts is underway.

The report states that the percentage of women who had felt unsafe in the prison had risen since the last inspection in 2019 from 13 per cent to 35 per cent and the number of those who had experienced verbal abuse from staff had risen from 8 per cent 28 per cent.

Women prisoners who spoke to the inspectors said they were concerned about being returned to a closed prison rather than the risk of violence or threats and that a “very small number of officers had a more negative attitude towards them”.

The report said the prison “remained calm, relaxed and safe” and inspectors gave the prison top marks in all four of the assessment categories; safety, respect, purposeful activity, rehabilitation and release planning. It also praised the way new prisoners were welcomed into the prison.