Section one Introduction Context escorted to, from or between places of detention. We focus, in particular, on escorts within the criminal justice system and on overseas escorts. Overseas escorts has been a new area of work for the NPM members who monitor immigration detention, and involves monitoring detainees during their removal from the UK, including during removal flights. We make recommendations to authorities responsible for escorts aimed at ensuring they strike an appropriate balance between transporting detainees securely, and doing so safely and humanely and without resorting to disproportionate security measures. In this report, we have also highlighted the valuable work of the lay monitoring bodies within our NPM. The work of four of the 18 members is carried out by volunteers who monitor prisons and police custody in their local communities. They do so with impressive frequency and commitment. We make recommendations regarding the remit of and support for lay monitors with the aim of ensuring that OPCAT is effectively implemented in the UK. visits and ensures that those gaps in protection are addressed. We are pleased to report that the government has extended the remits of NPM members to cover court custody in England and Wales, as well as customs custody facilities. While progress on military detention still needs to be made, we are moving closer to the full implementation of OPCAT. Our recommendations are directed at the UK government, the devolved administrations and those authorities responsible for places of detention. We would like to thank the Human Rights Implementation Centre at the University of Bristol and the Association for the Prevention of Torture for their ongoing support and contribution to our work. We have also summarised the coordinated and joint activities of the NPM members and noted progress against our previous recommendations that the government identifies which places of detention are not subject to independent Nick Hardwick Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Prisons 5