National Preventive Mechanism publishes annual report into UK detention

The NPM is made up of 20 independent bodies and co-ordinated by HM Inspectorate of Prisons. It was established in 2009 by the UK government to meet its UN treaty obligations regarding the treatment of anyone held in any form of custody. NPM members have the power to inspect regularly all places of detention within their remit with the clear purpose of preventing ill treatment of anyone deprived of their liberty.

The first annual report recommended that the government should identify which places of detention are not subject to independent visits by the NPM and ensure that those gaps in protection are addressed. The report highlights that court cells in England and Wales are now subject to inspection by HMI Prisons, and the Office of the Children’s Commissioner is now conducting visits to children and young people in medium secure units. In Scotland, the Care Inspectorate is monitoring secure homes for children while in Northern Ireland, progress is being made to bring ‘non-designated’ police cells into the remit of the Northern Ireland Policing Board Independent Custody Visiting Scheme.

All the places of detention within the NPM’s remit were under financial pressure during the year, as were NPM members themselves, and many faced a rapidly changing policy environment. The challenge for the NPM overall was to ensure its monitoring work was consistent and comprehensive. Consistency was addressed through the regular sharing of information and practice. Six key themes emerged, common to many forms of detention:

• the recognition of practices that amount to de facto detention and calling for effective processes to be in place to prevent abuse where it occurs;
• identifying and applying common principles for monitoring the use and governance of restraint;
• protecting prisoners and detainees from reprisals or sanctions when cooperating with any part of the NPM;
• the importance of learning, sharing and applying lessons from deaths in all sorts of custody as part of a preventive mandate;
• applying international human rights standards on solitary confinement to policy and practice on segregation, separation and seclusion; and
• ensuring that the treatment of children adheres to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child wherever they are held.

The year ahead will see NPM members look to establish common understanding in each of these areas, forging the way for joint working where appropriate. The NPM also comments on policy and proposed legislation where this has implications for the treatment of those in detention.

On behalf of the 20 members of the UK NPM, Chief Inspector of Prisons Nick Hardwick said:

‘The need to ensure the NPM’s work is comprehensive, and that all places of detention receive regular preventative visits, was underlined by the revelation of horrific abuse at the Winterbourne View Hospital for young adults with learning difficulties in 2011 and 2012 and the failure of the oversight mechanisms in place at that time. The start of court custody inspections and the second year of overseas escorts monitoring revealed some embedded bad practice that had become established in the previous absence of systematic inspection and monitoring. In the coming year we will work to identify and address any other type of detention that is not subject to independent statutory visiting.

‘On 8th April 2014 the NPM will mark the fifth anniversary of its designation in the UK. This will be an important opportunity for NPM members and others with responsibility for the treatment of those in detention to reflect on the progress that has been made in this initial period as well as identify future priorities.’

1. A copy of the annual report (2 MB).
2. The UK’s National Preventive Mechanism (NPM) was established in March 2009 under the Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (OPCAT). A United Nations (UN) treaty, OPCAT was ratified by the UK in 2003. OPCAT requires the UK to have in place a ‘national preventive mechanism’ to visit all places of detention and monitor the treatment of and conditions for detainees.
3. The NPM consists of 20 existing bodies throughout the UK, which are independent and have the right regularly to inspect all places of detention. It is coordinated by HM Inspectorate of Prisons.
4. The 20 bodies who make up the NPM are:

• England and Wales]
• Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Prisons (HMIP)
• Independent Monitoring Boards (IMB)
• Independent Custody Visiting Association (ICVA)
• Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary (HMIC)
• Care Quality Commission (CQC)
• Healthcare Inspectorate Wales (HIW)
• Children’s Commissioner for England (CCE)
• Care and Social Services Inspectorate Wales (CSSIW)
• Office for Standards in Education, Children’s Service and Skills (Ofsted)

Lay Observers (LO)

Scotland

• Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Prisons for Scotland (HMIPS)
• Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary for Scotland (HMICS)
• Scottish Human Rights Commission (SHRC)
• Mental Welfare Commission for Scotland (MWCS)
• Care Inspectorate (CI)
• Independent Custody Visitors Scotland (ICVS)

Northern Ireland

• Independent Monitoring Boards (Northern Ireland) (IMBNI)
• Criminal Justice Inspection Northern Ireland (CJINI)
• Regulation and Quality Improvement Authority (RQIA)
• Northern Ireland Policing Board Independent Custody Visiting Scheme (NIPBICVS).

  5.  Please contact Jane Parsons in HMI Prisons press office on 020 3681 2775 or 07880 787452 if you would like more information or to request an interview with Nick Hardwick. You may also contact Lucy Daly in Healthcare Inspectorate Wales’ press office on 0300 062 8163, or Malachy Finnegan, Communications Manager at the Regulation and Quality Improvement Authority in Northern Ireland on 028 9051 7485. You may also contact Alan Forman at HM Inspectorate of Prisons for Scotland on 0131 244 8482 or 07794 087605.