Annual Report 2010 by the National Preventive Mechanism against Torture of this system would be welcome, without this logically meaning any reduction in the physical supervision of the prisons by the JVPs. Furthermore, the increased use of these systems for court proceedings would reduce the need for inmates’ leave and their transfer to other prisons, which inconvenience both the inmates themselves and the security forces responsible for their transfer, with the exception being those procedural guarantees that require an inmate to be physically present. The prisons are subject to several types of both internal and external inspections 359. The prisons are subject to several types of both internal and external monitoring. They therefore receive internal inspections from the SGIP, from the health services in the autonomous communities and from Labour Inspection, as well as supervision by the JVP and the Public Prosecutor’s Office, and by the Ombudsman. In general, the situation of the maternal modules is good. It has been a good idea to create the so-called mothers’ units “unidades de madres” All the prisons visited have specific programmes catering for foreign nationals (30% of the inmate population) A reason for complaint tends to be that the sentence passed does not consider the provision made in Spanish legislation 150 360. Regarding mothers in prison with their children, the data available at the time of writing of this report indicate that, at 31 December 2009, the number of minors accompanying their mothers at establishments run by the SGIP amounted to 218 minors with 206 mothers, with eight being over the age of three, and they were housed in external maternal units and in attached units. Generally speaking, the situation in maternal modules is good; as an example, mention should be made of the module visited at Dueñas (Palencia). Positive mention should be made of the schemes — whose aim is to avoid minors spending their entire time in such an unusual environment as a prison — to arrange for them to leave the prison and attend infant schools in nearby towns, as well as the creation of a new type of infrastructure called mothers’ units “unidades de madres”, located outside the prisons, which at the same time as they provide an environment for the minors help to reincorporate their mothers into society. 361. All the prisons visited have specific programmes catering for foreign nationals, who account for approximately 30% of the inmate population. The overriding aim is to favour their integration through the teaching of Spanish in those cases as necessary, as well as helping them improve their understanding of the prison system. One of the problems that may affect foreign national inmates, which has come to light during the inspection visits made, is that those people without ties to our country have limited funds and are not supported by their consular services. Accordingly, the SGIP has reported that it does not have enough funds to attend to these needs, whereby the sole options for these foreign nationals — as well as for the Spanish nationals who are in similar circumstances — are to take up some form of paid employment, if possible, or seek assistance from an NGO. Furthermore, it should be noted that being a foreign national may have an impact on the possibilities of being granted leave from prison or accessing third degree, especially in those cases in which inmates have no family support outside. Finally, a further reason for complaint tends to be that the sentence THE OMBUDSMAN OF SPAIN