The prison was given an Independent Review of Progress in May 2026, the full report can be read on the HM Inspectorate of Prisons website, just follow the links below. In their latest report the inspectors said:
HMP Lowdham Grange is a category B training prison in Nottinghamshire, run by HM Prison and Probation Service after the government took over its running from private operators in 2023 and 2024, holding 836 prisoners against an operational capacity of 888. A full inspection in March 2025 rated safety and respect both Poor and purposeful activity and preparation for release both not sufficiently good, each a decline from the 2023 inspection, describing a prison that was unsafe, violent and failing to address longstanding concerns. This Independent Review of Progress, carried out in May 2026, checks progress against the concerns raised then rather than re-scoring the four healthy prison tests.
Inspectors found good progress on health services, after Northamptonshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust took over the contract and reinstated round-the-clock nursing, and on reception and first-night risk assessment, with safer custody staff now meeting all new arrivals within 24 hours. Reasonable progress had been made on middle manager leadership, with full staffing achieved and new mentoring for less experienced officers.
Even so, inspectors found insufficient progress on use of force, which had risen by 79% since the 2025 inspection, and on suicide and self-harm prevention, where self-harm had risen by 50% and serious incidents requiring hospital treatment had nearly doubled. The positive drug test rate had fallen from 41% to 25% since the last inspection, a rare improvement, but the 2025 inspection had found 40% of prisoners felt unsafe, assaults on staff had risen sharply, and five different heads of healthcare had been in post in two years before the takeover.
Charlie Taylor
HM Chief Inspector of Prisons
May 2026
To read the full reports, go to the HM Inspectorate of Prisons website or follow the links below:
- Independent Review of Progress report, HM Inspectorate of Prisons review of progress at HMP Lowdham Grange (11–13 May 2026, published 22 June 2026)
- Inspection report (PDF), Report on an unannounced inspection of HMP Lowdham Grange by HM Chief Inspector of Prisons (3–14 March 2025, published 17 June 2025)
- Easy read summary of the 2025 inspection report