Detainees in short-term armed forces service custody facilities (SCF), used by the Army, Navy and RAF, were well cared for and felt safe, an inspection by HM Inspectorate of Prisons found.

Commenting on the publication of a report of the inspection of facilities in England, Scotland and Northern Ireland, Peter Clarke, HM Chief Inspector of Prisons, said it was a “very positive” report. “We were impressed by the attitude of staff in all the SCF and their approach to the care of detainees. The detainees we spoke to all felt safe. Almost without exception we found staff to be professional, caring and respectful.”

In most cases, short-term military service custody facilities are used for individuals who have been arrested but not yet dealt with in the military justice system. SCF staff across the services were found to be well trained with generally good procedures in place to manage issues such as child protection, rousing (for a detainee under the influence of alcohol) and use of force. Force had hardly ever been used. Inspectors found the environmental conditions in the SCF to be “very good with weaknesses largely mitigated by the excellent time out of cell most detainees experienced. For those staying more than a few days, visits arrangements were good and arrangements for those being released indicated good outcomes.” However, there were “quite limited facilities for detainees with disabilities and searching protocols that were often needlessly excessive and lacked proportionality.”

Mr Clarke said the announced inspections in September 2017 identified “operational, procedural and cultural differences” between different SCF. Despite the overall positive findings, inspectors highlighted some areas of concern:

• Some of the procedures and record-keeping around assessments of the risk detainees might pose, to other or to themselves, were highlighted. At most SCF, detainees were automatically treated as high risk on arrival, “regardless of their assessment and the risk they actually posed. This potentially increased the risk to detainees as staff failed to distinguish between detainees who were truly high risk and those automatically identified as such.”
• SCF staff needed a greater understanding of the purpose of risk management and the accountability that ensued. “This was also a particular problem in relation to self-harm, as the case management records of self-harm incidents we reviewed did not always reflect the good care that was actually offered.”
• There were small numbers of detainees passing through SCF – particularly in the Navy and the RAF – and SCF staff had quite limited opportunities to put their skills and training into practice. The report noted: “Trained staff across all three services inevitably became inexperienced and de-skilled.”

Overall, Mr Clarke said:

“Those detained in SCF experienced overwhelmingly good treatment in generally good conditions. Detainees were well cared for and safe. This report looks in greater detail at the experience of each of the three services in turn and inevitably identifies a number of procedural and practice failings. A number of recommendations are made which we hope will assist with the process of continuing improvement.”

– ENDS –

Notes to editors

1. A copy of the full report, published on 1 February 2018, can be found here.
2. In 2004, HM Inspectorate of Prisons, by invitation and under an agreed protocol, began regular independent inspections of the Military Corrective Training Centre (MCTC). This is the UK Armed Forces single central custodial facility, holding mainly service personnel who have been sentenced to 14 days to two years’ detention. The MCTC is staffed by service personnel.
3. In 2013, this invitation was extended to include the inspection of service custody facilities (SCF). These are short-term secure facilities for holding mainly service men and women who have been detained on suspicion of, or have been sentenced to short terms of detention for, offending against service discipline or criminal law. There are a number of SCF across the UK.
4. Inspectors visited a Royal Navy facility in Portsmouth; Army facilities in Co Antrim, Northern Ireland, Salisbury in Wiltshire, Catterick in North Yorkshire, Edinburgh, Colchester in Essex and Stafford; and RAF facilities at Brize Norton, Oxfordshire, Cosford in Shropshire, Halton, Aylesbury, Bucks, and Honington, Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk.
5. Please contact John Steele at HM Inspectorate of Prisons press office on 020 3334 0357 or 07880 787452, or at john.steele@justice.gov.uk if you would like more information about the report. For enquires about military custody please contact Patrick.Laredo100@mod.gov.uk (68 kB) (0207 218 79130).