The prison was given a full inspection in February 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 & YOI Downview is a closed training prison for women south of London, run by HM Prison and Probation Service, holding 302 prisoners against an operational capacity of 356, most of them serving sentences of more than four years. Inspectors rated safety Good, an improvement, respect Reasonably Good, also an improvement, and purposeful activity and preparation for release both Reasonably Good, unchanged, describing the prison overall as safe, well run and improved since the last inspection.
Staff-prisoner relationships were generally positive, and of 31 recommendations from the previous inspection, 18 had been fully achieved and 7 partially achieved. Around 64% of women were engaged in education, work or training at the time of the roll check, most of those in full-time roles, and three-quarters used the library at least weekly. Releases had risen sharply over the past year to 508, more than three times the previous figure.
Concerns remained nonetheless. The self-harm rate was slightly higher than at the two most comparable prisons, and use of force incidents, at 165 over the year, were higher than at comparable establishments. Four in five women surveyed reported a mental health problem, and the longest wait for a secure hospital transfer under the Mental Health Act was 156 days. The offender management unit was chronically understaffed, leaving around 60 recategorisation reviews overdue and slowing progression, and inspectors raised concerns about excessive weekend cell confinement. On release, fewer than a quarter of women had settled accommodation arranged, and around one in ten left homeless or failed to reach the housing that had been arranged for them.
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:
- Inspection report, HM Inspectorate of Prisons website, Report on an unannounced inspection of HMP & YOI Downview by HM Chief Inspector of Prisons (2–12 February 2026, published 18 May 2026)
- Easy read summary of the 2026 inspection report
- Action plan, HM Prison and Probation Service action plan in response to the 2026 inspection of HMP & YOI Downview
- HMP & YOI Downview, Report on an unannounced inspection of HMP & YOI Downview (12–23 July 2021)