A prison in Oxfordshire has received a worst performance rating in a report which shows that its standards are falling.

Huntercombe Prison, near Nuffield, is performing worse than it did than before the pandemic the latest Ministry of Justice prison performance report has revealed.

The report gives ratings based on the following four main priority areas: security, training, drug and alcohol addictions and readjustment to society.

Oxford Mail: A new report has found that an Oxfordshire prison received a worst ratingA new report has found that an Oxfordshire prison received a worst rating (Image: Oxford Mail)

The report showed that Huntercombe prison received a score of 68 per cent for the year to March 2023 and this meant it had a “good performance” rating.

This represented a fall from 74 per cent in 2019-2020.

Pia Sinha, chief executive of the Prison Reform Trust, said the latest figures show the prison system is "chronically overburdened".

She said: "Prisons are experiencing a perfect storm of a rapidly rising prison population with nowhere to put them, and working conditions which are driving staff away in droves.

"Faced with escalating violence, self-harm, appalling living conditions and prisoners left with nothing to do all day – the human cost of this crisis is shameful."

Oxford Mail: HMP HuntercombeHMP Huntercombe

Across England and Wales, only 13 of the 119 prisons evaluated were awarded the "outstanding performance" rating, which is a significant drop compared with the performance in 2019-20, where 19 prisons had achieved the top-tier recognition.

A Prison Service spokesperson said: "The latest figures show that over half of all prisons are performing well and, where there are issues, we are providing intensive support for those jails to drive long-term improvements, recruit extra staff, bolster security and boost training and work opportunities for prisoners so we can better protect the public."