National Preventive Mechanism Eighth Annual Report 2016–17 (to appear before the court post-charge for a decision to be made whether to bail or remand them) and a mental health issue arises which requires transfer to a health setting. The proper identification and assessment of mental health issues in police custody is critical in order to ensure detainees are given proper support and treatment at the earliest stage. Failure to provide this could potentially lead not only to deterioration of the detainee’s mental health but may also impede the criminal justice process. Legal and policy framework Mental health legislation governs the use of police custody as a place of safety in England and Wales91 and Northern Ireland.92 When the Policing and Crime Act 2017 enters into force in England and Wales, police custody will no longer be a place of safety for children, and should only be used in exceptional circumstances for adults (the lack of a health-based place of safety will not be considered an exceptional circumstance). In Scotland, mental health legislation does not deem a police station to be a ‘place of safety’ except where there is no other available suitable accommodation.93 Alongside this legislation, specific agreements have been developed between police and health care partners in Northern Ireland and England and Wales (for example, a memorandum of understanding, multi-agency protocol, etc) which provide guidance on multiagency working between police and health partners, including in the area of mental health provision.94 In Scotland, the Mental Health Act Code of Practice encourages the development by the police, NHS and local authorities of local Psychiatric Emergency Plans. Availability of data NPM members found wide variation in the availability of data relating to the pathways out of police custody to mental health settings. Data on the number of people detained in police stations under place of safety provisions is published by the Health and Social Care Information Centre in England and Wales. In Northern Ireland, a reporting requirement has been introduced under Section 156 of the Mental Capacity Act (Northern Ireland) 2016, but this has not yet entered into force. In Scotland, the Mental Welfare Commission publishes annually the numbers of people detained under place of safety provisions, and how many of them are held in a police station.95 It published more detailed analysis in 2016.96 Independent Custody Visitor schemes’ own analysis of Section 136 data identified that though there had been a rise in the overall 91. Section 136 of the Mental Health Act (1983) provides for a constable to remove an apparently mentally disordered person from a public place to a place of safety for up to 72 hours for the specified purposes. The place of safety could be a police station or hospital (often a special Section 136 suite). 92. The Mental Health (Northern Ireland) Order 1986 makes a similar provision to that in England and Wales. The Mental Capacity Act (Northern Ireland) 2016 retained this provision. 93. Mental Health (Care and Treatment) Scotland Act 2003, s. 297. 94. In Northern Ireland, this was yet to be signed off. 95. Mental Welfare Commission for Scotland, 2016, Mental Health Act Monitoring 2015–16, http://www.mwcscot.org.uk/ media/342871/mental_health_act_monitoring_2015-16.pdf [accessed 13/11/17]. 96. Mental Welfare Commission for Scotland, 2017, Place of Safety Monitoring Report 2016, http://www.mwcscot.org.uk/ media/373113/place_of_safety_monitoring_report_2016.pdf [accessed 13/11/17]. 36