Section one Context Since the outbreak of COVID-19, the NPM has made significant efforts to continue monitoring places of detention. Some approaches to monitoring places of detention across the NPM in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic include: • carrying out on-site visits to places of detention. Some members have adapted their methodology to perform shorter and more focused visits. In many cases, these visits will be based on data from a range of sources and focus on a smaller number of themes, such as safety in places of detention; • using confidential phone hotlines, as well as video and online services and technology, to enable direct independent contact with people in detention; • monitoring data on detention requested at a national level and from individual detention establishments; • working with non-governmental organisations (NGOs), advocacy groups and other members of civil society to gather information about the situation in detention, and to contact people in detention; and • issuing regular reports on findings from onsite visits and remote monitoring, which includes virtual visits and data collection. The NPM began collating members’ evidence on the impact of COVID-19 in April 2020. We aim to produce a comprehensive report on the impact of the virus on people in all types of detention in the UK in the next reporting year. 12 13 14 Political context, policy and legislative developments The political context in 2019–2020 Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, political discourse in the UK continued to be largely focused on the UK’s departure from the European Union. While the Conservative Party remained in power after the general election in December 2019, there were some notable shifts in policy. The Queen’s Speech in December 2019 included government commitments to: reform the Mental Health Act 1983 in England and Wales; increase time served under custodial sentences for the most serious offences in England and Wales; and reform the immigration system across the UK.12 The new government also pledged to establish a Royal Commission to review and improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the criminal justice process and establish a Constitution, Democracy and Rights Commission as part of a process of potentially amending the Human Rights Act and examining the relationship between the government, Parliament and the courts.13 In January 2020, the British and Northern Irish governments reached an agreement to restore devolved government in Northern Ireland after a three-year hiatus. The New Decade, New Approach deal included commitments for the Executive to publish a Mental Health Action Plan by March 2020, along with a Mental Health Strategy by December 2020, and to address the findings in recently published reports from CJINI (see ‘Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards', p.15).14 HM Government, December 2019, Speech: Queen’s Speech December 2019, https://www.gov.uk/government/speeches/ queens-speech-december-2019 [accessed 24/08/2020] House of Lords Library, March 2020, Constitution, Democracy and Rights Commission, https://lordslibrary.parliament.uk/ research-briefings/lln-2020-0089/ [accessed 24/08/2020] UK Government and Irish Government, January 2020, New Decade, New Approach, https://assets.publishing.service. gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/856998/2020-01-08_a_new_decade__a_new_ approach.pdf, [accessed 21/10/2020] 13