In August 2001 The Howard League for Penal Reform claimed that conditions at Lancaster Farms Prison failed to meet standards laid out in the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child.

However the report criticised the amount of time inmates spent in their cells, and urged improvement in the prison's anti-bullying procedures and education opportunities.

[4] Over the course of 2008 and 2009, all remaining juvenile inmates were transferred from Lancaster Farms to other prisons and the establishment was dedicated to holding young offenders aged 18 to 21.

Lancaster Farms holds only sentenced category C adult males from Northwest England, especially from the Greater Manchester area.

Activities for inmates at the prison include Learning & Skills, Workshops (including Painting and Decorating, Building Trades, Multi-skills, Art, Information Technology, Catering, Waste Management), Farms & Gardens, Industrial Cleaning and Physical Education.