Section Three The second year – activities and key issues by type of detention enacted within a matter of days, allowing little time for consultation with stakeholders or for the implications of the changes to be fully considered. The extended length of time for which suspects may be detained is likely to have an impact on both the custody process and facilities, and will present new challenges to police forces. These legal and practical developments will now be taken into account by both HMICS and the independent custody visitors during their monitoring of police custody in Scotland. Northern Ireland CJINI inspects all aspects of the criminal justice system, including places of detention such as prisons, court and police custody, and secure facilities for children. Custody inspections are carried out in conjunction with RQIA, which assesses the health and social care provision in these settings. CJINI’s programme for 2010–11 did not include police custody, as this had been inspected in the previous year, but a follow-up inspection will be undertaken in 2011–12. In 2010–11, the Northern Ireland Policing Board’s independent custody visitors made 1,047 unannounced visits to the 21 designated custody suites in Northern Ireland. There were 1,963 detainees held in custody at the time of the visits, and custody visitors spoke to 918 of them. Of the remainder, 358 detainees refused to be seen, while the others were not seen for other reasons, such as being asleep or being with their solicitor. The consent of detainees is required before custody visitors may speak to them or view their custody record. Previously, custody visitors were introduced to detainees by custody officers. However, in October 2010, custody visitors began to introduce themselves to detainees. This has had a large impact – 26% of detainees declined to speak to custody visitors from April to September 2010 but this fell to 9% from October 2010 to March 2011. This year, custody visitors have also increased the number of visits carried out at weekends and at unsocial hours (between midnight and 6am). Of the 1,047 visits made by custody visitors, 82% were deemed to be satisfactory. A total of 227 issues were raised in the unsatisfactory visits. The most common concerns related to safety and security hazards, sanitation, oxygen checks, faulty equipment and cleanliness of accommodation. Other issues included lighting, ventilation and detainees not being told their rights. As reported last year, custody visitors remain concerned about the number of immigration detainees being held in police custody – this was due to there being no dedicated immigration detention facility in Northern Ireland in 2010–11. Such a facility opened in late in 2011, however, and custody visitors hope that this will provide more appropriate accommodation. Custody visitors in Northern Ireland work with their counterparts in the rest of the UK to develop national standards for visiting and to raise awareness of their work. Such joint working makes good use of limited resources at a time when custody visitors, as with many other monitoring bodies, are being asked to make considerable efficiency savings. There are fears that a reduction in funding will result in fewer visits being made to police custody. 29