High-risk transgender women inmates have been allowed to move around a female prison without individual supervision, a new report has revealed - prompting outrage from feminist campaigners. 

E Wing at HMP Downview in Sutton, Surrey, is reserved for trans women with a history of sexual or violent offending who are in possession of a gender recognition certificate (GRC) stating their gender as female. 

Established after trans prisoner Karen White sexually assaulted two female inmates at HMP New Hall in West Yorkshire, it is intended to separate potentially dangerous offenders from women inmates, many of whom are victims of sexual abuse. 

Jail bosses previously followed official guidance to ensure every inmate was subjected to one-on-one supervision by a prison officer when they left E Wing and mixed with female prisoners for activities, education, religious services and social visits. 

But this policy was later suspended - with trans women receiving the same monitoring as any other prisoner when they are in the rest of the prison, according to a new report by Downview's Independent Monitoring Board (IMB). 

Kellie-Jay Keen, leader of the political party Party of Women, told the Mail: 'This will leave women at risk of attacks. The women in this prison should sue the prison estate.'

Downview is unique in Britain for holding trans women in a female prison.

In 2023, the rules were changed to prevent trans women with male genitalia, or those who had been convicted of a violent or sexual offence, from being held in the women's prison estate.

This means that any trans woman without a gender recognition certificate is automatically put in the male estate. Those with one have been eligible for E Wing at Downview. 

The unit has long drawn the ire of gender critical campaigners, who have repeatedly called for it to be abolished. 

Many assumed it would be axed after April's Supreme Court ruling that the definition of women is based on biological sex, but the IMB said its status 'has not been formally clarified' - suggesting ministers are sitting on their hands about its future. 

Very little information is shared in public about E Wing, making the IMB report grants a rare insight into what goes on inside it. 

Inspectors said it had been described by prisoners and staff as 'toxic' and 'full of drama', with some prisoners staying in their rooms to avoid conflict and bullying and others resorting to self-harm. The wing has a maximum capacity of 16. 

Elsewhere in the IMB report, concerns were raised about the 'alarmingly' low number of inmates being temporarily released from Downview to carry out work with potential future employers and said this had caused some providers to consider ending their partnership with the prison.

Prison minister James Timpson has repeatedly described the provision of work programmes for inmates as a priority for the government.  

The IMB also raised concerns about the number of acutely mentally unwell women being held at Downview. 

Inspectors found there has been a 90 per cent increase in the number of inmates facing extended delays during transfers to secure psychiatric settings over the last two years. 

Emma Wilson, chair of the IMB at Downview said: 'Prisons, by their very nature, are closed environments with little visibility from outsiders. 

'The general public would be shocked to learn that there are many acutely mentally unwell women who simply should not be detained in a prison environment. 

'It is a shameful indictment of our mental health system to see the punitive and unsuitable conditions in which these women are held.

The impact on these vulnerable women, and on staff and other prisoners is enormous. 

'Prison staff show considerable compassion and patience in supporting these women with their day-to-day needs, but they are not trained mental health professionals.

'We continue to monitor some extremely distressing examples of acutely mentally unwell women being held in segregation as highlighted in our report. 

'Our firm belief from a monitoring perspective is that prison is categorically the wrong place for such women.'

A Ministry of Justice spokesperson said: 'This is a separate unit for transgender prisoners, isolated from the main female population and only has access to the wider prison's regime under exceptional circumstances following robust risk assessments and constant direct supervision.'