Lewes inspection report 2025
Report for Lewes Prison
Summary
Built in the 19th century, HMP Lewes in Sussex is a category B reception and resettlement prison for adult men, holding 558 prisoners at the time of this inspection. The population is characterised by high turnover, with 65% of prisoners on remand or unsentenced and 85% having been at the prison for less than six months. A recurring theme of our inspection was the significant operational challenges this fact creates, particularly in delivering consistent support, purposeful activity, and effective resettlement planning. Overall, however, we found a prison that, commendably, was evidencing very clear progress. In our healthy prison tests, we judged outcomes to be ‘reasonably good’ for respect and preparation for release; both improvements compared to our previous 2024 inspection. For safety and purposeful activity, outcomes were assessed as ‘not sufficiently good’, although this too marked an improvement in the purposeful activity test.