More than a third of inmates at HMP YOI Portland prison cannot shower daily, according to a survey.

Howard League, the oldest penal reform charity in the world, analysed the results from prisoner surveys undertaken by Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Prisons during each prison’s most recent inspection.

Inmates at Portland Prison were surveyed in 2017.

Out of those who responded, only 66 per cent said they could shower daily.

The figures from Guys Marsh Prison, where inmates were surveyed in 2016, show that 78 per cent of inmates said they could shower daily.

Across all prisons surveyed, an average of 83 per cent of inmates who responded said they could shower daily.

HMI Prisons expects that all prisoners can take a shower or bath daily, immediately following physical exercise or work, before court appearances and before visits.

Frances Crook, Chief Executive of the Howard League for Penal Reform, said: “The government has said that it wants prisons to be clean and decent, but is ignoring the fact that thousands of children and adult men are smelly and dirty because they cannot get a shower.

“It’s no good cleaning up prisons if prisoners are not able to keep clean.

“If we want people to be work ready, and ready to reintegrate to lead a good and useful life, people in prison must be at least able to have a shower every morning, eat breakfast and face the day with purpose. Squalor and idleness will not ready people to be law-abiding citizens on release.

“Bold action is needed to reduce the number of people behind bars and ease pressure on a prison system that is failing everyone.”

Survey results from official inspections reveal that, in some of the most troubled jails, less than half of prisoners said that they were able to shower daily. Through its legal work, the Howard League is aware that some children in custody are getting only two showers a week.

At least one prison has a policy stating that this is the minimum expectation for some of the children in its care.

The figures highlight poor hygiene in a failing prison system that remains beleaguered by problems caused by chronic overcrowding and staffing shortages.

The Howard League runs a free and confidential legal advice line for children and young people in custody.