Durham Prison Upgrades Underwear, Boosts Vocational Training

0:00On April 10th, the Ministry of Justice just announced that new prisoners at H&P Durham are finally getting their full share of underwear and socks, fixing a big complaint from the Independent Monitoring Board. Earlier this year, the board's report covered monitoring from November 2024 to October 2025 and they found inmates, arriving with just three pairs each instead of the eight required by national rules. Funding cuts hit hard too, slashing classes on food safety, cleaning, and business skills, while vulnerable prisoners lost half their English and math. Lessons plus key staff like education coordinators. Overcrouting and poor, toilet setups remain problems, but there's good news with self-harm, down 42% from last year, a solid library, and strong vocational training options. The Ministry owns up to the challenges at Durham and says they're pushing higher quality lessons and job-specific programs to turn things around for inmates.