Care for men at risk of self-harm at HMP & YOI Doncaster needed urgent improvement, prison inspectors found. The recorded rate of self-harm had risen since the last inspection and was higher than at most other reception prisons.
Inspectors also raised alarm about housing. Seventy per cent of prisoners did not have sustainable accommodation on release, and one in five left completely homeless.
HM Inspectorate of Prisons published its report in December 2025. The inspection ended in September 2025.
Doncaster is a category B reception and resettlement prison for young adults aged 18 to 25 and adult men. As a reception prison, it takes in large numbers of new arrivals. Serco runs it under contract.
Grades unchanged since 2022
Inspectors assess every prison against four healthy prison tests: safety, respect, purposeful activity and preparation for release. Purposeful activity covers education, work and time out of cell.
Doncaster scored reasonably good for safety and reasonably good for respect. It scored not sufficiently good for purposeful activity. Preparation for release received the top grade of good.
These grades matched the results of the previous inspection in 2022 exactly. At that visit inspectors identified 12 concerns, four of them priorities. Leaders had addressed eight of the 12 but had met only one of the four priority concerns in full.
This time inspectors identified five priority concerns and five key concerns. They also recorded six examples of notable positive practice.
Support for maintaining family ties was outstanding, with a wide range of interventions and creative family days.
HM Inspectorate of Prisons report
A crowded and fast-moving prison
The prison held 1,115 men during the inspection. Its operational capacity was 1,145, but its certified normal accommodation, the number it can hold without crowding, was only 738.
Turnover was high. Doncaster recorded over 5,500 admissions in the previous 12 months and released about 200 men each month. Fifty-five per cent of men were unsentenced and a further 14% had come back to prison on recall.
Overcrowding remained a priority concern. Many men shared small cells that lacked privacy and adequate furniture. Even so, cells and communal areas had become cleaner, and in-cell technology gave men more control over daily life.
Safety remained reasonably good overall. The atmosphere was calm, and violence ran below the average for similar prisons. In the inspectorate’s survey, 87% of prisoners said reception staff treated them well, against 73% at other reception prisons.
Peer supporters known as Insiders helped new arrivals settle in. A newly developed safer custody centre gave the most vulnerable men a safe space away from the main units.
Inspectors still found serious gaps. The ACCT system, which manages care for prisoners at risk of self-harm, needed to improve. Illicit drugs posed risks to stability and health.
Health care, education and work
Health care governance had failed to spot risks. Inspectors found weak oversight of the mental health team, a lack of clinical supervision and training, and inconsistent handling of medicines. Patients also struggled to get appointments.
Staff carried out many health screenings in communal areas, risking breaches of confidentiality. Dental waits ran so long that most men left before receiving an appointment.
In education, skills and work, the prison lacked enough places for its population. Leaders had also failed to fill all the places available. Attendance among those with places was reasonably high.
Library services had declined, and support for non-readers had stopped. Physical education, by contrast, was excellent. Inspectors said access to PE and the range of courses was much better than they often see.
Strong work with families and on release
Preparation for release stood out. “Support for maintaining family ties was outstanding,” the report said. Fathers could meet their newborn babies and learn basic care, and weekly toddler sessions ran alongside a social kitchen for older children.
The offender management unit, which oversees sentence plans and release, was well led. It had set up a team to support remanded men and ran weekly sessions for recalled prisoners. Inspectors described the departure lounge as much better than they normally see.
Leaders had appointed a former drug user as a recovery specialist to strengthen work on reducing drug demand. The Chief Inspector of Prisons, Charlie Taylor, singled this out for praise.
Gaps remained in public protection. Staff had not reviewed every risk management arrangement for high-risk prisoners before release.
Taylor said the prison had made progress through committed leadership and a dedicated staff team. While weaknesses persisted, he concluded that “the overall direction was positive”.
Doncaster opened in 1994. Serco took over its management in 2005, and that contract received a 15-year extension in 2011.
About this story
This story is based on HM Inspectorate of Prisons’ report on HMP & YOI Doncaster, published on 8 December 2025, following an inspection that ended in September 2025. All figures and judgements are the inspectorate’s. Read the full inspection report · See the prison’s profile in our directory.
