CAT/C/GBR/CO/5 Detention conditions 31. The Committee is concerned about the steady increase in the prison population throughout the past decade and the problem of overcrowding and its impact on the suicide rate, cases of self-injury, prisoner violence and access to recreational activities. The Committee echoes the concerns raised by the National Preventive Mechanism in 2010 concerning deficiencies in access to appropriate mental health care and treatment and inappropriate placement of children. It is deeply concerned that children with mental disabilities can sometimes be placed in police custody in England for his or her “own interest or for the protection of others” (arts. 11 and 16). The Committee urges the State party to strengthen its efforts and set concrete targets to reduce the high level of imprisonment and overcrowding in places of detention, in particular through the wider use of non-custodial measures as an alternative to imprisonment, in the light of the United Nations Standard Minimum Rules for Noncustodial Measures (the Tokyo Rules) (General Assembly resolution 45/110, annex). It further recommends that the State party speedily implement the reforms undertaken with a view to reducing the reoffending rate. The State party should ensure that children with mental disabilities shall not, under any circumstances, be detained in police custody, but directed to appropriate health institutions. Detainees who require psychiatric supervision and treatment should be provided with adequate accommodation and psychosocial support care. The Committee also recommends that the State party step up efforts to prevent violence and self-harm in places of detention. Women offenders 32. The Committee welcomes the adoption of new strategies for female offenders in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, aimed at reducing the number of women in custody and increasing the use of community sentences in combination with support and rehabilitation services. It further welcomes the Northern Ireland Minister of Justice’s plan to construct a separate custodial facility for women prisoners in Northern Ireland, and the steps taken by the Scottish government to implement the recommendations made by the Commission on Women Offenders. The Committee is nevertheless concerned at the unprecedented increase of women in prison over the last 15 years, at information that about half of them have severe and enduring mental illness, and at the disproportionate rate of self-harm amongst women prisoners (arts. 11 and 16). The Committee recommends that the State party commence without further delay the construction of the new custodial facility for women prisoners in Northern Ireland and urgently implement its new strategy for female offenders, in accordance with the United Nations Rules for the Treatment of Women Prisoners and Non-custodial Measures for Women Offenders (the Bangkok Rules) (Economic and Social Council resolution 2010/16, annex). The Committee recommends that the State party pay due attention to the recommendations of the Commission on Women Offenders (Scotland) and those contained in the Corston Report (England and Wales) and, in particular, ensure effective diversion from the criminal justice system for petty non-violent offenders, increase the use of community sentences, and implement changes to the prison regime to further reduce deaths and incidents of self-harm. Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust Public Inquiry 33. The Committee notes with interest the reports, published in 2010 and 2013, of the public inquiry, chaired by Robert Francis QC, into the , which highlight the failure of the National Health System’s managers and regulators to identify and act upon the problems at Mid Staffordshire Foundation Trust that led to some 400 to 1,200 deaths between 2005 and 2009. The Committee notes with particular concern the finding that the “system […] 12