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The Good Book of Prisons

What's good in prisons across England & Wales

The prisoners rated the staff, and said relations between prisoners and staff were ‘good’. They liked the amount of time out of cell, and valued the sporting opportunities in the jail, highlighting gym, the playing pitches and the annual sports day. They thought education and vocational training was ‘good’, and gave special mention to the bike shop. The library was ‘excellent’ – they particularly welcomed the regular talks organised for visiting authors. They also praised the healthcare team, mental health support, and drug services. They described visits, including family and parent/child visits, as ‘very good’, liked the ‘2 hours as standard’ length, and rated catering in visits too.

The Officers described ‘really good’ relationships between prisoners and staff, based on the approach and ‘excellent’ jailcraft skills of staff. They agreed with the prisoners about the quality of education and training on offer, and also praised the library and the talks given by visiting authors. Mental health support and drug services were other positives mentioned by staff.

The managers praised staff, who ‘really cared’, as ‘excellent’. They highlighted the decency agenda ‘embedded in everything’ – and noted the Governor’s monthly ‘decency walkabout’ to monitor this. They said the prison was ‘safe’ with comparatively ‘very low’ levels of violence and self-harm, and felt mediation offered to prisoners after violent incidents played a role in this, while photocopying all mail had helped reduce NPS levels. They, too, rated sporting activities, and singled out the annual sports day, and like prisoners thought visits another positive. They rated healthcare and mental health provision as ‘fantastic’. They also valued the range of reps and mentors, and monthly prisoner consultative committee meetings with the Governor and Head of Res. The ‘well used’ staff mess and staff family open days were seen as positives for staff.

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Butler Trust

www.butlertrust.org.uk

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020 8688 6062

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Deerbolt Prison Information

• Accommodation: The prison consists of multiple residential units with individual cells or shared accommodation for inmates. The cells are equipped with basic amenities, including beds, personal storage, and sanitation facilities.
• Education and Vocational Training: Deerbolt Prison offers educational programs to help inmates improve their literacy, numeracy, and other skills. Vocational training opportunities are provided to enhance employment prospects upon release.
• Workshops and Employment: Inmates have access to workshops where they can engage in various activities such as woodworking, metalwork, and other vocational programs. These activities aim to develop skills and potential employment options within the prison.
• Healthcare: Deerbolt Prison has an on-site healthcare unit staffed with medical professionals who offer primary healthcare services to prisoners. Mental health support and substance abuse programs are also available.
• Sports and Physical Activities: The prison promotes physical fitness and well-being by providing access to sports facilities and organized activities. These activities aim to develop teamwork, discipline, and positive lifestyle choices.
• Family Contact: The prison recognizes the importance of maintaining family relationships and offers opportunities for visits and contact with family members, subject to specific guidelines and regulations.
• Chaplaincy Services: Deerbolt Prison has chaplains representing different faiths who offer religious support and guidance to prisoners.

Contact Information

Booking a visit to deerbolt prison.

Unlimited Prison Phone Calls Package

• be on that person’s visitor list
• have a visiting order
• book your visit at least 2 days in advance
• have the required IDwith you when you go
• driving licence
• senior citizen’s public transport pass
• annual public transport season ticket (with photo card)
• employer ID card (if it shows the name and photo of the visitor)
• European Community identity card
• CitizenCard
• rail or bus pass with photo
• young person’s proof of age card
• trade union or students union card
• birth certificate
• marriage certificate
• cheque book or credit card
• foreign ID card
• NHS medical card

The Nepacs helpline is here to support people navigating their way through the criminal justice system in the North East. We can offer information and support to individuals, their families and loved ones at the point of arrest, at court, throughout a prison sentence, and on release.

Our friendly team of helpline volunteers are available to offer a listening ear to those who need someone to talk to, and will provide important information about processes and next steps.

Normal opening hours Monday to Friday - office hours  

Freephone 0800 012 1539 Email [email protected] Text 07983 437 457

If you have concerns about a loved one in prison you can contact the prison's Safer Custody line. Details are on our website here.

Prisons in the north east

If you know the location of your loved one in prison and would prefer to call the Nepacs staff based at that establishment the contact details are below.

HMP Holme House and HMP Kirklevington Grange - Visitor centres 01642 744080. You can also contact the Holme House family support team Monday to Friday on 01642 744418 (leave a message and someone will call you back).

HMP Durham visitors - Visitors centre 0191 332 3676 or 0191 332 3484

HMP Frankland visitors -  Visitors centre 0191 376 5200, Tuesday to Sunday from 11.30am to 4pm

HMP&YOI Low Newton visitors - Visitors centre 0191 376 4138 (Tuesday, Thurs, Friday, Saturday and Sunday afternoons) or family support 0191 376 4232 (9am to 5pm Monday to Friday)

HMP Deerbolt visitors - Visitors centre 01833 633272, 11am to 4pm, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday 

HMP Northumberland visitors -  Visitors centre 01670 383736. 9am to 11am Mon and Tues, 9am to 4pm Wed, Thurs & Friday, 12noon to 4pm Saturday and Sunday) 

For children and young people aged 8 to 17 years If you are worried about a young person involved in the criminal justice or care system in the north east and would like to arrange for some telephone or online support please contact our youth project on [email protected]

You can also contact us or give feedback on our services by filling out the form below.

If your enquiry is urgent and regarding the safety of a loved one in prison, then please contact the prison direct and speak to their safer custody team as this e-mail is not monitored 24/7.  

Please note that although we will endeavour to treat all information confidentially some of our mailboxes are accessed by a number of Nepacs staff and volunteers. Please limit confidential personal information or identifiable data in any email correspondence. If you are concerned about privacy and would like to have a confidential discussion, please contact us by telephone.

For general enquiries you can contact our head office:

20 Old Elvet, Durham, DH1 3HW

General enquiries: Tel: 0191 375 7278

Get in touch

Please note: We are unable to help with booking or cancelling prison visits. Please ring the relevant booked visits line to book or cancel.

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Prisons · Durham

Overcrowding.

Certified Normal Accommodation (CNA): 337

Population: 324

Deerbolt is a category C Young Offenders Institution in County Durham, situated on the outskirts of Barnard Castle. It was established on the site of a former military camp in 1973.

Read Deerbolt’s latest inspection report here.

About this information

Certified Normal Accommodation (CNA) is the prison service’s own measure of how many prisoners can be held in decent and safe accommodation. Any occupancy above CNA means that the prison in question is overcrowded.

Prisons in England and Wales fall into four separate security categories. Some prisons can operate under more than one category.

Category A : Category A prisons are high security prisons, holding those individuals considered the most threatening to the public should they escape. Category A prisons should not be overcrowded, given the high levels of security required.

Category B: Category B prisons, or local prisons, are the largest category of prison. They tend to hold un-sentenced prisoners, prisoners on remand awaiting trial, short-sentenced prisoners or those newly sentenced and awaiting transfer to another prison category. Category B prisons tend to be the most overcrowded, with a constantly churning population.

Category C: Category C prisons are sometimes called ‘training prisons’. They are meant to offer education and training to prisoners and the vast majority of prisoners on longer sentences will spend time in Category C accommodation. Historically not overcrowded, we now see more and more Category C prisons running overcrowded regimes.

Category D: Category D prisons offer open conditions and house those who can be reasonably trusted not to try to escape. Prisoners in Category D prisons will be given Release On Temporary Licence (ROTL) to work in the community or go on home leave, usually returning to the prison in the early evening. The majority of Category D prisoners will be towards the end of their sentence, and their period in open conditions is preparing them for their eventual release. Category D prisons tend not to be overcrowded.

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• prison watch
• young people

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HMYOI Deerbolt

•    Community News
•    Inspections,
•    Regimes,
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•    Work and Education
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Key Contact Details

The prison is run as part of the North East Region by HMPS. The capacity is for 539 men  and the #1governor is Andy Hudson who has been in post since June 2018 It serves the North East, Cumbria and Yorkshire areas.

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• Our reports
• / Our reports
• / HMP/YOI Deerbolt

HMP/YOI Deerbolt

Report on an unannounced inspection of HMP/YOI Deerbolt by HM Chief Inspector of Prisons (21 June – 9 July 2021)

Inspection report ( 1 MB )

Further resources

Population statistics ( 147 kB )

Survey methodology and results ( 381 kB )

Survey analysis – Excel workbook ( 209 kB )

Action plan

HM Prison and Probation Service Action Plan ( 348 kB )

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• Archived website

HMP Deerbolt inmates locked up for 23 hours a day - report

• Published 12 April 2022

Young offenders were often left in cells for up to 23 hours a day because of staff shortages, sparking "high levels" of violence, inspectors found.

The HM Inspectorate of Prisons found workshops put on for HMP Deerbolt inmates were often empty because there were not enough guards to escort them.

The report said as inmates spent so little time being engaged or tired out, it caused fights to break out.

Inspectors said progress by bosses had so far been too slow.

They said they left the prison, near Barnard Castle, County Durham, "without any assurance that managers would be able to deliver the safe and reliable full-time regime their population needed".

The report followed 12 recommendations made to HMP Deerbolt - a young offenders institution and Category C training prison which currently has 270 inmates aged 18 to 24 - in an inspection in July.

'Anxious for safety'

Inspectors then had said activities were poor - the lowest grade - and said safety was not sufficiently good.

However, officials who visited in March said they still found inmates were left stuck inside cells for hours, often only spending 30 minutes a day in the fresh air.

And during those opportunities they said they saw "prisoners with their backs to the perimeter of the exercise yards, clearly anxious for their safety".

The report said 24 front-line staff had resigned in the past year and sickness had hit remaining staff.

"At the time of our visit, there was no realistic prospect of the prison being able to deliver access to full-time work or education safely and routinely, even for the currently much reduced population," it said.

HM Chief Inspector of Prisons Charlie Taylor said progress "to improve the poor regime had been slow".

Mr Taylor also said violence between prisoners was higher than at the 2021 inspection, with some of it "very serious".

The report said more than half of violent incidents were fights, with inexperienced staff allowing prisoners in conflict to see each other.

Mr Taylor said: "Very limited time out of cell contributed to prisoners' frustration and levels of violence. Staff shortages meant that violence was not always easy to manage."

Progress had been made with improvements to the segregation unit and the introduction of in-cell phones, the report said, on all but one wing.

However, Mr Taylor said: "They will need to move quickly to address staff shortages, restore purposeful activity and reduce the high levels of violence."

A Prison Service spokesperson said: "We are pleased that inspectors recognised our staff's tireless work to improve safety.

"Restrictions continue to be eased in line with government guidance and the prison is working through an action plan to ensure activities that the pandemic prevented can get back up and running."

Follow BBC North East & Cumbria on Twitter , Facebook and Instagram . Send your story ideas to [email protected] .

Related Topics

• HM Inspectorate of Prisons
• Barnard Castle

More on this story

Police called to riot by young offenders

• Published 9 January 2020

Too many young inmates 'kept in cells'

• Published 11 September 2018

Related Internet Links

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2024 National Strategy for Suicide Prevention

Suicide is an urgent and growing public health crisis. More than 49,000 people in the United States died by suicide in 2022. That’s one death every 11 minutes.

National Strategy for Suicide Prevention

The 2024 National Strategy for Suicide Prevention is a bold new 10-year, comprehensive, whole-of-society approach to suicide prevention that provides concrete recommendations for addressing gaps in the suicide prevention field. This coordinated and comprehensive approach to suicide prevention at the national, state, tribal, local, and territorial levels relies upon critical partnerships across the public and private sectors. People with lived experience are critical to the success of this work. 

 The National Strategy seeks to prevent suicide risk in the first place; identify and support people with increased risk through treatment and crisis intervention; prevent reattempts; promote long-term recovery; and support survivors of suicide loss. 

Four strategic directions guide the National Strategy:

Strategic Direction 1: Community-Based Suicide Prevention

Goal 1: Establish effective, broad-based, collaborative, and sustainable suicide prevention partnerships.

Goal 2: Support upstream comprehensive community-based suicide prevention.

Goal 3: Reduce access to lethal means among people at risk of suicide.

Goal 4: Conduct postvention and support people with suicide-centered lived experience.

Goal 5: Integrate suicide prevention into the culture of the workplace and into other community settings.

Goal 6: Build and sustain suicide prevention infrastructure at the state, tribal, local, and territorial levels.

Goal 7: Implement research-informed suicide prevention communication activities in diverse populations using best practices from communication science.

Strategic Direction 2: Treatment and Crisis Services

Goal 8: Implement effective suicide prevention services as a core component of health care.

Goal 9: Improve the quality and accessibility of crisis care services across all communities.

Strategic Direction 3: Surveillance, Quality Improvement, and Research

Goal 10: Improve the quality, timeliness, scope, usefulness, and accessibility of data needed for suicide-related surveillance, research, evaluation, and quality improvement.

Goal 11: Promote and support research on suicide prevention.

Strategic Direction 4: Health Equity in Suicide Prevention

Goal 12: Embed health equity into all comprehensive suicide prevention activities.

Goal 13: Implement comprehensive suicide prevention strategies for populations disproportionately affected by suicide, with a focus on historically marginalized communities, persons with suicide-centered lived experience, and youth.

Goal 14: Create an equitable and diverse suicide prevention workforce that is equipped and supported to address the needs of the communities they serve.

Goal 15: Improve and expand effective suicide prevention programs for populations disproportionately impacted by suicide across the life span through improved data, research, and evaluation.

Federal Action Plan

The Federal Action Plan identifies more than 200 actions across the federal government to be taken over the next three years in support of those goals. These actions include:

• Evaluating promising community-based suicide prevention strategies
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• Funding a mobile crisis locator for use by 988 crisis centers
• Increasing support for survivors of suicide loss and others whose lives have been impacted by suicide

These actions will be monitored and evaluated regularly to determine progress and success, and to further identify barriers to suicide prevention.

Get Involved

Join the conversation. Everyone has a role to play in preventing the tragedy of suicide. Find social media material, templates, and other resources to support and participate in the shared effort.

Read the press release

* This content is undergoing Section 508 remediation. For immediate assistance, contact [email protected] .

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• Crime, justice and law
• Prisons and probation

Low Newton Prison and Young Offender Institution

Low Newton is a prison and young offender institution (YOI) in Brasside, near Durham, for women aged 18 and over.

Help us to improve this page. Give us your feedback in this 2-minute survey .

Book and plan your visit to Low Newton

Reception visits.

One Reception visit is permitted within the first 14 days of being taken into custody and will last a minimum of 30 minutes. The 14 days will start the day after arriving in custody.

A maximum of 3 adult visitors and no limit on children can attend a reception visit. Please note that a child is classed as anyone under the age of 18.

These visits do not need to be booked but they can only take place within the normal times of social visits. On arrival, visitors will need to go straight to the visitor centre and advise NEPACS staff that they are here for a reception visit.

Relevant checks need to be carried out on the visitors arrival to determine if the visit can go ahead. Visitors can wait in the visitors centre while the checks take place. NEPACS staff and volunteers are available to help. Visitors will be advised if the visit has been approved.

Visitors attending for a reception visit may bring a reception parcel to the visit. This parcel is limited to clothing and footwear. A full list of items that can be bought in are on the NEPACS website or will be listed on the Low Newton prison guide on the Gov.UK website.

NEPACS staff will check the parcels and items not on this list will not be allowed in and will be returned to the visitor.

All visitors must have the correct form of ID. Visitors will not be allowed to attend the visit if the correct ID is not presented prior to the visit.

To visit someone in Low Newton prison you must:

• be on that person’s visitor list
• book your visit between 2 weeks and 48 hours in advance
• have the required ID with you when you go

At least one visitor must be 18 or older at every visit.

are to arrive at the visitors’ centre for PM visits no earlier than 1 hour prior to the start of the visit, any late arrivals may be refused entry.

Refreshments are available in the main visits hall only. Visitors may take in £20 per adult to spend. Change is available at the visitors’ centre.

One clear baby bottle plus 1 unopened carton of baby milk or 1 clear bottle of breast milk will be permitted for babies along with changing materials.

Play areas are available for children under 16 in both Visitors Centre and the main visits hall.

Help with the cost of your visit

If you get certain benefits or have an NHS health certificate, you might be able to get help with the costs of your visit , including:

• travel to Low Newton
• somewhere to stay overnight

How to book family and friends visits

You can book your visit online or by telephone.

Telephone booking line: 0300 303 0632 Booking line opening times:

• Monday: 12pm to 5pm
• Tuesday: 9am to 5pm
• Wednesday: 12pm to 5pm
• Thursday: 9am to 5pm
• Friday: 12pm to 5pm

Find out about call charges

Visiting times:

• Tuesday: 1:45pm to 3:45pm
• Thursday: 1:45pm to 3:45pm
• Saturday: 1:45pm to 3:45pm
• Sunday: 1:45pm to 3:45pm

Visitors are advised not to arrive to the prison until 1 hour before the visit start time.

Prisoners that haven’t been convicted may have 2 weekday visits and 1 weekend visit as per our current visit schedule.

How to book legal and professional visits

Legal and professional visits can be booked via the central booking telephone line 0300 303 0632.

Booking line opening times:

You can also book online.

We can offer Video Legal Visits which can be booked by emailing the following email address:

[email protected]

These are subject to availability of video conferencing rooms.

• Tuesday: 2:15pm to 4:15pm
• Thursday: 2:15pm to 4:15pm

Getting to Low Newton

Find Low Newton on a map

Bus: Buses run from North Road in Durham (0.5 miles from the station). No. 62 runs twice hourly and No 64 runs every 10 minutes to Rothbury Road (on Newton Hall Estate) which is a 10 min walk to the establishment.

Train: Durham City is the nearest station. It’s a 10-15 minute walk to the bus stop, or taxis operate from both the station and bus stop.

Car: From the north or south take the A1 (M) to the A167 Chester le Street slip road. On the roundabout below the A1 take the exit posted A167 Durham (from the North it is the 3rd exit from the South it is the first). Coming the second roundabout, follow the A167 Durham Sign, going straight on. There is a large BP garage on the right. You come to another roundabout, go straight ahead, following signpost A167 Durham. Go on to another roundabout, go straight ahead, A167 Durham. You will go under a railway bridge, carry straight on the dual carriageway, straight through the two new roundabouts at Chester Moor and the Red Lion. At the next big roundabout, take the first left signposted Arnison Centre, Newton Hall, Finchale Priory. Carry on past McDonalds, Sainsburys etc. on your right. At the next roundabout go straight across, signposted Newton Hall, Brasside, Finchale Priory. Continue a short distance to another roundabout, (housing estate on the right, Newton Grange pub/hotel on your left). Turn left signposted Newton Hall, Brasside, Finchale Priory. Go on down the hill, under the railway bridge. Take the first right for Low Newton prison.

There is a visitor’s car park at the front of the prison but parking is limited during the week.

To plan your journey by public transport:

• use National Rail enquiries
• use Traveline for local bus times

Entering Low Newton

All visitors, aged 16 or older must prove their identity before entering the prison. Read the list of acceptable forms of ID when visiting a prison .

All visitors will need to be given a pat-down search, including children. You may also be sniffed by security dogs.

Visitors should dress appropriately, or you could be turned away.

You can purchase refreshments during your visit.

You will need to leave any valuables in a locker before entering the visitor area.

You will be told the rules by an officer at the start of your visit. If you break the rules, your visit could be cancelled and you could be banned from visiting again.

Visiting facilities

On visiting days the Nepacs visitors centre , (outside the prison next to the visitors car park) is open from 12:30pm to 4pm. Visitors centre staff can provide information and support.

There is a tea bar facility Visits are limited to 12 prisoners per Social Visit session, 3 Official/Legal visits, up to 3 closed visits. 3 adults per prisoner, for more than 3 child visitors required, Family Services may contact the prison for approval. Toilet facilities are available.

Visitors using wheelchairs need to make their own arrangements to travel from the visitors centre to the prison. There are no extra prison staff available to push wheelchair users. The route to the main visits hall from the visitors centre is ramped to allow access and takes around 4 minutes.

Family days

The Family Days and Child Parent days have resumed. Approval to attend can be gained by the prisoner through application to the Offender Management Unit (OMU) team managing this service.

Keeping in touch with someone at Low Newton

There are several ways you can keep in touch with a prisoner during their time at Low Newton.

Secure video calls

To have a secure video call with someone in this prison you need to:

• Download the Prison Video app
• Create an account
• Register all visitors
• Add the prisoner to your contact list.

How to book a secure video call

Secure video calls at this prison can be requested by prisoners only.

You will receive a notification if a prisoner has requested a video call with you.

Read more about how it works

Slots available:

• Monday: Evening slots
• Tuesday: Mornings and Evenings
• Wednesday: Mornings and Evenings
• Thursday: Mornings and Evenings
• Saturday: Mornings
• Sunday: No video calls

Visits are subject to availability, registering via the APP and approval of approved ID. All visitors should be linked with contacts if wishing to be on the same video call.

Phone calls

All cells at Low Newton now have telephones. Prisoners have phones in their own cells so they will always have to call you. They have to buy phone credits to do this. Prisoners can make calls between 7.30am and 9pm for a maximum of 60 minutes per day.

They can phone anyone named on their list of friends and family. This list is checked by security when they first arrive so it may take up to a week before they are able to call.

There are phones on all wings of the prison that can be accessed at certain times. Prisoners may make calls totalling 90 minutes in one 24 hour period.

You can also exchange voicemails using the Prison Voicemail service .

Officers may listen to phone calls as a way of preventing crime and helping keep people safe.

You can send emails to someone in Low Newton using the Email a Prisoner service .

You might also be able to attach photos and receive replies from the prisoner, depending on the rules at Low Newton.

Include the person’s name and prison number on the envelope.

If you do not know their prison number, contact Low Newton or use the Prisoner Location Service .

All post apart from legal letters will be opened and checked by officers.

Send money and gifts

You can use the free and fast online service to send money to someone in prison .

You can no longer send money by bank transfer, cheque, postal order or send cash by post.

If you cannot use the online service, you may be able to apply for an exemption - for example if you:

• are unable to use a computer, a smart phone or the internet
• do not have a debit card

This will allow you to send money by post.

Gifts and parcels

Parcels are permitted into HMP Low Newton with the following restrictions:

All parcels sent in should be done so after the correct approval has been granted by the prison and only from the approved sender:

Unauthorised parcels will be refused.

• 12 month prisoner parcel allowance – (allowance runs 1 Jan to 31 Dec)
• 4 x a year parcels for Enhanced Prisoners
• 2 x a year parcels for Standard Prisoners
• 0 x parcels for Basic Prisoners

Only items on the current facilities list will be permitted. All parcels should be clearly marked with the senders’ information.

There is a limit to property allowances – please be aware when sending parcels in that items exceeding the allowance will be held or returned to sender.

Flowers are permitted to be sent in but all orders must be via approved suppliers.

Prisoners are given a list of approved items that can be sent to them as gifts from a catalogue or the on-site shop. Contact Low Newton for more information on what is allowed.

Make sure to include the person’s name and prison number on the parcel.

Family and friends of prisoners are permitted to send books directly to their loved ones, or can order books from approved retailers, which can source and send the books on to prisoners.   For the full list of approved retailers, you can read the HMPPS Incentives Policy, Annex F .

All parcels will be opened and checked by officers.

Life at Low Newton

Low Newton is committed to providing a safe and educational environment where prisoners can plan for a positive future and learn new skills to help them on release.

Security and safeguarding

Every person at Low Newton has a right to feel safe. The staff at Low Newton are responsible for their safeguarding and welfare at all times.

For further information about what to do when you are worried or concerned about someone in prison visit the Prisoners’ Families helpline website .

Low Newton trains prisoners to be ‘listeners’ for those who need support during difficult times.

Arrival and first night

When a prisoner first arrives at Low Newton, they will be able to contact a family member by phone. This could be quite late in the evening, depending on the time they arrive.

1 x reception visit allowed within the first 7 days without prior booking.

Remand Prisoners – can book visits subject to availability.

Sentenced and convicted prisoners can book visits subject to visiting orders and space availability. Priviledge visiting orders cannot be used at the weekends.

They will get to speak to someone who will check how they’re feeling and ask about any immediate health and wellbeing needs.

They will be offered a hot meal and shower and get a pack of essential items and £2 of phone credit.

An interpreter will be available if needed.

Regular induction has been re-introduced to HMP Low Newton. This takes place over the first 2 weeks of custody. Initial induction wing familiarisation is in place for all new arrivals.

They will meet professionals who will help them with:

• health and wellbeing, including mental and sexual health
• any substance misuse issues, including drugs and alcohol
• personal development in custody and on release, including skills, education and training
• other support (sometimes called ‘interventions’), such as managing difficult emotions

Everyone also finds out about the rules, fire safety, and how things like calls and visits work.

Accommodation

Around 340 prisoners live at Low Newton.

The accommodation is a mix of single cells with their own or shared washing facilities. There are also some 3-person cells.

Telephones are available to prisoners on wings and are accessible by PIN-phone accounts. There are no phones in cells.

Faith services

Chaplains offer counselling and support. There is a multi-faith group and special events like a Christmas carol service.

Prisoners can apply to attend Sunday services. Multi-faith chaplains visit each week and there are weekly prayer and faith groups.

Education and work

The education provider is NOVUS, providing classroom based functional and vocational skills. Distance learning is still available. Wamitab (cleaning), CRED and Enterprise (sewing) work parties are now running.

Gym sessions for prisoners available. Kitchen, Horticulture and Recycling work available offering qualifications. Shannon Trust peer to peer learning to read available.

Education and training opportunities include:

• health and hygiene training
• gardening skills
• call centre skills
• hairdressing, fashion and beauty
• literacy and numeracy
• life skills, including child-parent studies

The psychology department offers treatment programmes including:

• enhanced thinking skills
• relapse prevention
• life skills development

Prisoners also have the opportunity to take on orderlies responsibilities, such as in the gym and reception unit, and to get involved in cookery, art and craft.

Prisoners also have access to a library and support from a visiting librarian.

There is also a ‘drop in’ learning facility using computer based learning packages. Both prisoners and staff choose their own time and pace to learn.

Temporary release

Prisoners can sometimes be released on temporary licence, based on a full risk assessment, to help them prepare more gradually for return to the community.

Some prisoners get to live with families for short periods of time and can use this time to plan accommodation or research education and work opportunities for when they are released.

Some prisoners also have work placements in the community, being released on a day-to-day basis to allow them to be in the community and develop their work skills.

Support for family and friends

Find out about advice and helplines for family and friends .

To contact the family and significant other prison lead please email FamilySupportServices .Low [email protected] and provide return contact information.

Support at Low Newton

NEPACS provide our Visitor Centre service.

Contact info: 0800 012 1539.

Further information can be found at www.nepacs.co.uk

Twitter direct messaging service (DM) available – responses within 24 hours. Twitter notifications updated with key news points and good news. You can follow the account at @HMPLowNewton.

Email a prisoner service has been upgraded to include pictures.

Safer Custody

If you think the prisoner is at immediate risk please call the switchboard on 0191 376 4000 and ask for the Orderly Officer and explain that your concern is an emergency.

If your concern is urgent but not life-threatening, please call the Safer Custody Helpline on 0191 376 4189 or contact the prison Safer Custody team using the web form (the team will pick up all contact forms within 72 hours).

Concerns, problems and complaints

In an emergency.

Call 0191 376 4000 if you think a prisoner is at immediate risk of harm. Ask for the Orderly Officer and explain that your concern is an emergency.

Problems and complaints

If you have any other problem contact Low Newton.

Inspection reports

HM Prison and Probation Service publishes action plans for Low Newton in response to independent inspections.

Contact details

Governor: Guy Pidduck

Telephone: 0191 376 4000 Monday to Sunday, 24 hours (switchboard) Find out about call charges

Email: [email protected]

HMP/YOI Low Newton Brasside Durham DH1 5YA

Updated visiting guidance based on 1 April COVID rule changes

Added link to new safer custody information under Security and safeguarding.

Updated visiting information: Visits temporarily suspended

Updated physical contact guidance

In-cell telephony update.

Updated visiting information for newly arrived prisoners.

New visiting times and booking information added.

Prison moved into National Stage 3 framework and is now preparing to open visits for family, friends and significant others. We will update this page with specific visiting information as soon as possible.

Updated visit info

Updated visiting information in line with new national restrictions in England.

Updated visiting information in line with coronavirus restrictions.

Added legal visits booking information

Updated visiting times for family and friends.

Updated: Low Newton prison visiting information in line with coronavirus restrictions.

Updated: HMP Low Newton visiting times and visiting procedure changes in line with coronavirus restrictions.

Updated governor name from Gabrielle Lee to Rob Young

Updated information to include confirmation of secure video calls being available at this prison.

updated survey link

Prison visits update.

First published.

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