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Reports published 9 November

Published:

HMP Gartree

Type of inspection: Full inspection

Dates of inspection: 3–13 August 2026

Summary of findings: Despite staffing pressures, leaders had prioritised maintaining a full regime and many prisoners were able to spend a reasonable amount of time out of their cells. However, violence had increased, drugs were destabilising the prison and self-harm had doubled since our last inspection. Living conditions were not good enough; many areas were unclean and not well maintained, and the segregation unit was in poor condition. Support for prisoners with longstanding trauma and distress was limited, prisoners could not always reliably get their medication, and there were long delays transferring seriously mentally ill men to hospital.

Points to note: Education, skills and work provision needed improvement; the curriculum did not align to prisoners’ interests or aspirations, the quality of the activities was not consistently good enough, and attendance at sessions was low.

Read the report: HMP Gartree