Life at Walton jail is getting better for prisoners, according to a new report.
Inspectors believe conditions inside the prison have improved following previous damning inspections.
But the Government has been warned money needs to keep flowing to the Hornby Road complex to prevent "a very real danger" of it slipping back into trouble.
While issues remain at the jail - where one inmate is thought to have died after swallowing a bag of drugs that then burst inside him - the findings of the prison's Independent Monitoring Board highlight vast changes within Walton.
Crucially, the IMB - volunteers tasked with carrying out regular prison inspections - found conditions to no longer be "inappropriate".
The report follows a 2017 prisons watchdog inspection that branded the jail the worst its inspectors had seen after finding problems with rats, cockroaches, drugs and bleak, broken cells.
The problems were so severe Dutch judges refused to extradite suspects back to the UK where there was a possibility they could be held there.
That is no longer the case after the courts in the Netherlands received reassurances that improvements had been made under Pia Sinha, the governor appointed to overhaul the prison.
The new IMB analysis is the first official report to confirm progress has been made since Ms Sinha entered the role.
Following more than 300 visits to the jail, formally known as HMP Liverpool, throughout 2018, the report stated: "Prisoners are treated fairly and with decency in HMP Liverpool and staff make every effort to accommodate even the most challenging prisoners... Prisoners are treated humanely at HMP Liverpool.
"IMB members have witnessed very skilled management of prisoners by staff. This is especially evident in the Care and Separation Unit (CSU).
"The overall condition of the prison is much-improved and prisoners are no longer housed in inappropriate conditions."
The IMB also found:
- Frequent family days and award ceremonies for the completion of courses are part of a "strong attempt" to promote family engagement and inmates being viewed in a positive light by loved ones
- The old torn and ripped seating within the visiting area has been replaced and new seats and children's toys have made it more family friendly
- The ability of staff to calm and defuse emotionally-charged situations "is a credit to HMP Liverpool"
- At the time of the last IMB inspection there were more than 2,000 outstanding repair jobs. There were 120 by the time the new report had been written
Issues remained at the jail throughout the reporting period - while staff within the CSU were praised for their work, the waiting times for prisoners with severe mental health issues to be transferred for specialist treatment was said to be too long.
Walton had the highest level of self-harm among comparable jails, though in some case the same inmates were responsible for dozens of incidents.
In October 2018, for instance, there were 53 cases of self-harm but three prisoners repeating were linked to almost 50% of them.
The number of first-time self-harmers and self-harm incidents fell through 2018.
In 2018 there were 207 prisoner-on-prisoner attacks, around 20 of which were regarded as serious.
There were a further 64 acts of violence towards staff, around eight of which were serious.
However, the IMB ruled "incidents of violence and subsequent analysis are properly recorded, considered and acted upon by the establishment".
Of the seven deaths in prison, four are believed to have been self-inflicted, two the result of natural causes and one is thought to have happened when "a parcel of drugs he had ingested" burst inside an inmate.
While few details were revealed about that death, the case will have sparked a Prisons and Probation Ombudsman investigation, the findings of which will be made public when inquiries have been completed.
In its recommendations, the IMB called on Ms Sinha to improve kitchen equipment, encourage the Samaritans to continue training listeners - prisoners who help others in distress - and to develop training opportunities.
The board also called on the Government to maintain levels of jail funding, writing: "The physical condition of the prison has improved greatly and the backlog of outstanding maintenance jobs has decreased markedly, but this is only as a result of significant additional financial investment.
"This level of investment needs to be maintained in this Victorian building or there could be a very real danger that conditions will again deteriorate to unacceptable levels."
Ms Sinha welcomed the findings of the report and accepted further improvements were also necessary.
She said: "I would like to thank the IMB for noticing the progress made at HMP Liverpool in 2018 and also accept that there are areas that require our continued attention.
"We share a positive relationship with the IMB and see them as our critical friends. Since this report was written we have made further progress on safety and drug supply within the prison, but remain committed to address all the recommendations made in their report."
