HMIP Inspection of Lewes

The prison was given a full inspection in June 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 Lewes is a category B reception and resettlement prison for adult men in East Sussex, run by HM Prison and Probation Service, holding 558 prisoners against an operational capacity of 620, with 62% of the population unsentenced on arrival. Inspectors rated safety not sufficiently good, unchanged, while respect and preparation for release both improved to reasonably good, up from not sufficiently good, and purposeful activity remained not sufficiently good. Stable leadership and strong staff-prisoner relationships were said to be driving a more positive culture.

Eighty per cent of prisoners said they were treated with respect by staff, above the comparator average, and dedicated offender managers now supported the majority-remand population from early in their stay. Eighty-seven per cent could use a phone daily, a neurodiversity unit with a sensory room had been introduced, and healthcare staff produced simplified hospital-visit summaries for patients with disabilities.

Inspectors nonetheless raised two priority concerns: drugs were too freely available with insufficient support for prisoners with addictions, and too many prisoners had no work or purposeful activity. Twenty-eight per cent of prisoners said they felt unsafe, with minority ethnic prisoners more than twice as likely to report feeling unsafe as white prisoners, and self-harm levels remained higher than at comparable prisons. Food quality, cell conditions and the prisoner applications system were all criticised, and a fifth of prisoners were released with no fixed address.

Charlie Taylor
HM Chief Inspector of Prisons
July 2025

HMP Lewes

To read the full reports, go to the HM Inspectorate of Prisons website or follow the links below: