National Preventive Mechanism Eleventh Annual Report 2019–20 The SPT delegation also accompanied ICVs in police custody and court custody visitors on their visits to check on the welfare of detainees, and undertook confidential, unannounced visits to other places of detention around England and Scotland. The SPT met with various government departments involved in managing places of detention and persons deprived of their liberty. The delegation also held meetings with civil society organisations, including non-governmental organisations, the Equality and Human Rights Commission and academic researchers. Using the first-hand reports and evidence from the monitoring and inspections carried out by each of our members, the NPM Chair made an oral intervention to present a comprehensive picture of detention in the UK and the challenges in preventing ill-treatment, and answered questions from the Committee. We were pleased to see so many civil society organisations at these sessions. The NPM also attended a report launch event held by the non-governmental organisation Redress, which worked on a shadow report to the Committee Against Torture from civil society organisations. While the SPT’s report to the UK NPM and government has not yet been published, the head of the delegation has said: ‘The visiting bodies (NPM members) do an impressive amount of good work, but a more robust legislative framework is needed to achieve full compliance with the Optional Protocol’.202 The UK NPM welcomed the SPT’s visit to the UK, and the additional scrutiny they provided to places of detention and to the UK NPM to help us improve our efforts to prevent torture and ill-treatment. The Committee released its concluding observations on the UK’s implementation of the Convention on 7 June 2019. The concluding observations outlined the Committee’s concerns on places of detention which were also raised by the NPM in our submission. The Committee also noted its concerns regarding the NPM’s lack of legal status. Committee Against Torture The United Nations Committee Against Torture held its 66th session from 23 April to 17 May 2019, where it publicly reviewed the reports of different nations, including the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. The Committee Against Torture is the official UN body – made up of Independent Experts from around the world – that evaluates States’ progress in implementing the Convention against Torture. The NPM Secretariat and Chair travelled to Geneva for the UK’s evidence sessions on 7 and 8 May 2019. Committee for the Prevention of Torture The CPT made two visits to the UK in the reporting year. In October, the CPT made a follow-up visit to Scotland, where it visited HMP & YOI Cornton Vale to assess the treatment of women with acute mental illness after reporting on alarming treatment in 2018. The CPT also made a targeted follow-up visit to England in May 2019. It visited HMP Doncaster, HMP Liverpool and HMP Wormwood Scrubs, as well as HMYOIs Feltham and Cookham Wood, and Rainsbrook STC. The NPM released a short statement on the visit, welcoming the report and noting the concerns the committee raised in relation to the 202 UN Subcommittee on Prevention of Torture, September 2019, UN torture prevention body concludes visit to the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, https://www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews. aspx?NewsID=25023&LangID=E [accessed 10/11/2020] 76