National Preventive Mechanism Eleventh Annual Report 2019–20
•
•
•
•
72
with inspectors at the end of a court
custody inspection.
HMI Prisons and HMICFRS jointly carried
out the first inspections of the five
custody suites that are used for holding
suspects arrested for terrorism or
terrorist-related offences.
MWCS participated in the Sharing
Intelligence for Health and Care Group,
which brings together organisations in
Scotland, including NPM member CI, with
responsibility for inspecting or monitoring
health and social care services. The group
was used to share information between
organisations. Members also used the
forum to share their concerns and where
necessary coordinate action to deal
with issues.
SHRC are supporting the Chief Inspector
of Prisons in Scotland in her ongoing
review into deaths in custody in
Scotland. The review will identify and
make recommendations about areas of
improvement to ensure that appropriate
and transparent arrangements are in place
in the immediate aftermath of deaths
in custody in Scottish prisons, including
deaths of prisoners while in NHS care.
Judith Robertson, Chair of the Scottish
Human Rights Commission, is working
with HMIPS to ensure a human rights
perspective is incorporated into the review.
Ofsted carried out joint inspections
of STCs with CQC and HMI Prisons.
The inspectorates worked closely to share
information and develop their inspection
methodologies to prevent ill-treatment in
secure settings for children and adults. CQC
continued to support Ofsted’s inspections
of SCHs during the year. CQC inspectors
offer expertise during inspections in
assessing the health provision for children.
Submitting proposals and
observations on legislation
OPCAT requires NPMs to submit proposals
and observations to existing or draft
legislation to support the prevention
of torture and ill-treatment in places of
detention. There are a number of ways
NPM members are consulted on, or seek
to influence, the development of detention
policy and legislation using the evidence
from their monitoring of the treatment
of and conditions for detainees. Most
commonly, NPM members contribute to
formal policy consultations, parliamentary
inquiries and draft legislation, as well as
direct discussions with policy makers and
politicians. For example:
• The CCE submitted evidence to the Justice
Select Committee’s inquiry into the youth
justice population. In their submission,
they highlighted the unacceptably
restrictive practices used in secure
establishments for children, the harshest
forms of which are disproportionately
used against children from black and
minority ethnic backgrounds. The CCE’s
work on the situation for children
deprived of their liberty outside the
secure estate (both illegally and with
High Court authorisation) was cited in a
High Court judgement in April 2020. The
judgement raised concerns about the
legitimacy of judges to authorise a child’s
deprivation of liberty. The CCE’s report
on this topic has also been submitted
to the Supreme Court on a related case.
The CCE has also convened several
roundtables with officials from the MoJ
and Department of Health and Social
Care to push for improved and integrated
secure care.
Select target paragraph3
Connect to a paragraph
Connect to an entity
Disable highlights
Add to table of contents