HM Prison Winchester continues to struggle with deteriorating conditions as well as high levels of violence and illicit drug use following inspection by His Majesties Inspectorate into Prisons (HMIP).

A new report into Winchester Prison finds that levels of violence in 2026 had increased from a rate of 415 assaults on prisoners per 1,000 prisoners in 2024. This rate of violence was already high in comparison with other prisons in previous years, making new data even more unsettling.

Safety remains a primary concern for inmates in HP Winchester as access to and use of illicit drugs are prevalent in this facility. A HMIP prisoner survey found 51% of prisoners reported that it was easy or very easy to access illicit drugs. These statistics highlight consistent areas of failure within HP Winchester.

Prisoners also suffer from a lack of purposeful activity with the inspection finding ‘a third of men were locked up during the working day, and nearly half were not allocated to any activity’. Ofsted, an organization that inspects education, skills, and work activities found that in HP Manchester almost all areas of ESW activities were inadequate.

Data from the HMIP shows small improvements to prisoner outcomes in terms of safety and respect from poor to not sufficiently good. This improvement is overshadowed by the stagnant improvement to purposeful activity and preparation for release from 2024 to 2026.

The 2024 inspection by the HMIP highlighted 15 areas of concern with only 5 areas being addressed as of the most recent inspection in 2026. Improvements were made to early day support for prisoners, living conditions of the segregation unit, fair treatment and inclusion, staff vacancies, and ESW support. Many priority and key concerns remain unaddressed.

Systematic failings previous reported by the Justice Gap remain present in this report such as violence, drugs, and prisoner safety raising concerns that any improvements are not addressing key concerns.