His Majesty's Prison Holme House is a Category C men's prison, located in

Stockton-on-Tees Stockton-on-Tees, often simply referred to as Stockton, is a market town in the Borough of Stockton-on-Tees in County Durham, England. It is on the northern banks of the River Tees, part of the Teesside built-up area. The town had an estimated ...

County Durham County Durham ( ), officially simply Durham,UK General Acts 1997 c. 23Lieutenancies Act 1997 Schedule 1(3). From legislation.gov.uk, retrieved 6 April 2022. is a ceremonial county in North East England.North East Assembly �About North East E ...

, England. The prison is operated by His Majesty's Prison & Probation Service.

History

A purpose built prison, Holme House opened in May 1992, and was expanded to include further houseblocks and workshops in the late 1990s. In July 2002, Holme House suffered a three-day prison riot. The prisoners turned violent after being locked up for longer periods due to staff shortages. Various fixtures and fittings were destroyed during the incident. Another major disturbance followed a year later, when rioting prisoners threw pool balls at prison officers. An incident in September 2014 resulted in one inmate being taken to hospital. Mike Quinn, vice-chairman of the National Association of Probation Officers Northumbria branch, said that the event was a consequence of staff cuts in the prison service. A spokesman for the Ministry of Justice stated that this had been an isolated incident unrelated to staffing levels. In 2017 the prison was re-rolled from a Category B local/remand prison to a Category C training and resettlement. This coincided with being chosen as a pilot site for a joint Department of Health and Ministry of Justice programme to develop better ways to promote recovery from drug addiction (Drug Recovery Prison Programme).

The prison today

A Category C Reform prison, Holme House takes adult male prisoners, and some sentenced young offenders. Accommodation at Holme House comprises seven self-contained residential communities. One house block is a drugs therapeutic community (69 places) and another block is for vulnerable prisoners. A mixture of single and double cells with integral sanitation and communal showering facilities. Holme House has a workshop complex and an Education Department who both provide inmates with employment and education classes. Work/training areas include

laundry Laundry refers to the washing of clothing and other textiles, and, more broadly, their drying and ironing as well. Laundry has been part of history since humans began to wear clothes, so the methods by which different cultures have dealt with t ...

, woodwork, furniture assembly,

textiles Textile is an umbrella term that includes various fiber-based materials, including fibers, yarns, filaments, threads, different fabric types, etc. At first, the word "textiles" only referred to woven fabrics. However, weaving is not the ...

Print Workshop Printing is the process for reproducing text and images using a master form or template Print or printing may also refer to: Publishing * Canvas print, the result of an image printed onto canvas which is often stretched, or gallery-wrapped, on ...

production, industrial cleaning, Painting and Decorating, electrical testing and picture framing. Many areas of training can lead to NVQ qualifications in related fields. There is a Visitors Centre located outside of Holme House Prison, which has a children's play area, disabled access toilets, a refreshment bar and a baby changing facility. The Visits Hall within the prison has a supervised play area, a tea bar, toilets and a baby changing facility.

References

External links

Ministry of Justice pages on Holme House

HMP Holme House - HM Inspectorate of Prisons Reports
{{DEFAULTSORT:Holme House (Hm Prison) Prisons in County Durham Category B prisons in England 1992 establishments in England Men's prisons Buildings and structures in Stockton-on-Tees