The prison was given an Independent Review of Progress in January 2025, 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 Durham is a category B reception and resettlement prison for adult men in the Elvet area of Durham, run by HM Prison and Probation Service, serving courts across the North East and Cumbria. A full inspection in April/May 2024 had found it holding 985 prisoners against a certified normal accommodation of just 537, with 86% doubled up in single cells, and rated safety and respect both Not Sufficiently Good and purposeful activity Poor, all declines, with preparation for release Reasonably Good. This Independent Review of Progress, carried out in January 2025, checks progress against the concerns raised then rather than re-scoring the four healthy prison tests.
Inspectors found reasonable progress on reducing homelessness on release, with housing referrals up by around a third and sustainable accommodation placements up by roughly a fifth, helped by a new officer speeding up housing assessments for recalled prisoners and pre-release boards introduced for those with twelve weeks left. All three education and work themes also showed reasonable progress. Cell conditions had improved in places, with graffiti removed, curtains and toilet screening fitted, and new activity spaces added.
Elsewhere progress was limited. Inspectors found no meaningful progress on early safety screening for new arrivals, on transfers for prisoners needing mental health hospital care, or on time out of cell, and only insufficient progress on tackling drugs, violence and security or on overcrowded living conditions. The positive drug test rate had risen from around 18% to 24% and prisoner-on-prisoner assaults were up by roughly 60%. Over a third of prisoners were still locked up during core working hours, weekend time out of cell remained very limited for those without a job, around 820 prisoners remained doubled up in single cells, and about a quarter of prisoners were still released homeless.
Charlie Taylor
HM Chief Inspector of Prisons
February 2025
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 Durham (6–8 January 2025, published 10 February 2025) | Inspection report (PDF), Report on an unannounced inspection of HMP Durham by HM Chief Inspector of Prisons (30 April–16 May 2024, published 19 August 2024) |
| Easy read summary of the 2024 inspection report | HMP Durham, Report on an unannounced inspection of HMP Durham (15, 22–26 November 2021) |