The prison was given a full inspection in July and August 2023, 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 Sudbury is a category D open training and resettlement prison in Derbyshire, run by HM Prison and Probation Service, holding 603 men against an operational capacity of 621. Inspectors rated safety, respect and purposeful activity all reasonably good, unchanged from the previous inspection in 2017, while rehabilitation and release planning improved to Good from reasonably good. This was the first full inspection since 2017, and the report noted the prison had sustained its performance and improved further on resettlement.
Violence was rare and had reduced since the last inspection, with only 4% of prisoners currently feeling unsafe, and self-harm was low at just four incidents in the year. A through-the-gate hub coordinated multiple external resettlement partners, almost all prisoners had an address to go to on release, and around 40% of recent leavers had secured employment. Nearly all prisoners held a work or education allocation, with close to 30% accessing paid work out in the community, and family ties support was described as very good, including breakfast clubs and creative sessions for children during visits.
Inspectors nonetheless raised drugs as a priority concern, with a positivity rate of 20% on mandatory testing and 42% of prisoners saying drugs were easy to get. Older residential units were in poor condition and needed substantial investment, access to cleaning materials and laundry was poor, and there were too few evening or weekend enrichment activities. There were 11 abscondings in the year, higher than most other open prisons, and around 240 prisoners were returned to closed conditions, also higher than similar establishments, with insufficient analysis of the causes.
Charlie Taylor
HM Chief Inspector of Prisons
September 2023
To read the full reports, go to the HM Inspectorate of Prisons website or follow the links below:
| Inspection report (PDF), Report on an unannounced inspection of HMP Sudbury by HM Chief Inspector of Prisons (24 July–3 August 2023, published 30 October 2023) | Easy read summary of the 2023 inspection report |
| Action plan, HM Prison and Probation Service action plan in response to the 2023 inspection of HMP Sudbury | |