Norwich prison has recruited more than 60 additional officers as it bids to address high levels of violence.
The jail, which houses 750 inmates across three adjacent sites, could be fully staffed by the end of the year, a report by HM Inspectorate of Prison said.
It comes after its previous report, following two unannounced inspections last year, raised serious concerns about levels of violence and use of force incidents.
Staffing levels were cited as the “principal cause” of the prison’s difficulties.
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The latest report, based on a visit by inspectors on May 30 and June 1, said 62 new prison officers had been recruited since September 2022; while the number leaving the role has halved.
The prison was said to now have a “healthy pipeline of potential new recruits” and anticipated being fully staffed by the end of the year.
Charlie Taylor, chief inspector of prisons, said levels of violence had fallen as a result with inmates spending less time locked in cells.
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“The recorded number of assaults on both staff and prisoners had decreased by 21pc since the last inspection and this downward trend was continuing,” he said.
“The level of violence, however, was still higher than the rate for similar prisons.”
His report said efforts to prevent suicide and self-harm had improved and that measures had been put in place.
Work has also been undertaken to address concerns about risk to members of the public outside the prison from inmates.
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The previous inspection had found prisoners’ telephone calls were not being listened to when they should have been, posing a potential risk.
Eight staff have since been assigned to the monitoring of prisoners considered a public protection risk and given additional training, said the report.
“We considered that the prison had made reasonable progress to improve public protection arrangements,” said Mr Taylor.
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