| General Information | Inspections |
| Visits and getting there | Regimes |
| Work and Education | Local News |
Key data and contact details
| Name or Prison | HMP Dovegate |
| Address: | Uttoxeter, Staffordshire, ST14 8XR |
| Other contact details: | |
| Web Site: | Hmpdovegate.co.uk |
| Email: | |
| Main switchboard: | 01283 829400 |
| At Risk hotline: | via main switchboard |
| Fax: | 01283 820066 |
| Visits booking number: | 0800 877 8951 |
| Visits booking email: | visits.dovegate@serco.com. |
| Visits booking txt number: | Not available |
| Type of Prison: | Male Cat B, although the Therapeutic wing will also house Cat C |
Dovegate, near Uttoxeter in Staffordshire, is a Category B training prison run under contract by Serco, with capacity for around 1,160 men. Alongside the main prison it houses a large therapeutic community of around 180 places — one of the biggest in the prison estate — where men volunteer to work intensively on the causes of their offending in a group-therapy setting.
The Independent Monitoring Board’s most recent annual report found self-harm had risen sharply, to over 1,000 recorded incidents, which the board linked largely to overcrowding, and violence had also increased amid a more challenging mix of prisoners and some gang-related activity. The board flagged a shortage of specialist support for prisoners with personality disorders and long waits for transfer to specialist mental health units. On the positive side, Dovegate was rated the highest-performing privately run prison for education, with prisoners completing 23 Open University degrees and hundreds of vocational qualifications in the year, alongside 50 job offers secured for men in the run-up to release; staff were praised for exceptional compassion and professionalism. The board also noted that recent changes to sentencing rules had led some men to leave the therapeutic community early to take advantage of earlier release, undermining its group cohesion.
Given the therapeutic community’s distinct approach, anyone with a family member in that part of Dovegate may find it helpful to ask directly how the recent changes have affected their programme, alongside the practical visiting and contact details above.
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