National Preventive Mechanism Eleventh Annual Report 2019–20
Between 1 April 2019 and 31 March
2020, Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of
Prisons (HMI Prisons) published inspection
reports on 37 prisons holding adult men
and five prisons holding adult women,
and published 16 independent reviews of
progress (IRPs) in adult male prisons. IRPs
provide an independent assessment of the
progress a prison has made in implementing
recommendations from the previous full
inspection. IRPs are not inspections and do
not result in scores. HMI Prisons published
five inspection reports of young offender
institutions (YOIs) holding children under the
age of 18, and two inspection reports of
STCs holding children aged 12 to 18, jointly
with Ofsted.
In relation to immigration detention, HMI
Prisons inspected three immigration removal
centres, 13 short-term holding facilities and
two charter flight removals. In addition, it
inspected police custody suites in six force
areas, as well as TACT (Terrorism Act) suites
holding detainees arrested on suspicion of
terrorism or terrorism-related offences, jointly
with HMICFRS. HMI Prisons also inspected
three court custody areas. During the year,
HM Chief Inspector of Prisons issued two
Urgent Notification letters to the Justice
Secretary expressing serious concerns,
following the inspections of HMP Bristol ( June
2019) and HMYOI Feltham A ( July 2019).
HMI Prisons revised two sets of its
Expectations, the human rights-based
criteria used for assessing the treatment
of detainees and conditions of detention.
It worked with HMICFRS on the second
edition of Expectations for Border Force
custody suites and also published a second
version of Expectations for court custody,
following wide consultation. HMI Prisons
published several thematic reports during
the reporting year on: the separation
of children in YOIs; youth resettlement
(together with HM Inspectorate of
Probation); and an analysis report on
the experiences of children held in STCs
and YOIs.
HMI Prisons’ full inspection programme
was suspended on 17 March 2020 due to
COVID-19. HMI Prisons developed the short
scrutiny visits (SSVs) model to continue
to fulfil its duty to scrutinise and report
independently on treatment and conditions.
SSVs were announced on 8 April 2020 and
the visits commenced on 21 April 2020.191
Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of the
Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services
(HMICFRS) continued to contribute to the
NPM’s police sub-group during the reporting
year. It has also engaged with police
forces across England and Wales to share
information on its inspection reports.
191 HMI Prisons, Short Scrutiny Visits (webpage), https://www.justiceinspectorates.gov.uk/hmiprisons/about-hmi-prisons/
covid-19/short-scrutiny-visits/ [accessed 10/11/2020]. HMI Prisons launched the Scrutiny Visits (SVs) methodology in
August 2020, more information here: https://www.justiceinspectorates.gov.uk/hmiprisons/about-hmi-prisons/covid-19/
scrutiny-visits/ [accessed 10/11/2020]
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