VIII)  Permanently unemployable convicts activities of carers are not legally defined or uniformly organised Although these carers obviously carried out their tasks with great personal sacrifice and empathy, it was clear during the visit that there were not enough of them. Provision of actual uninterrupted care carries another risk, i.e. the risk of overburdening the carers. I understand the problems the individual prisons have with getting enough carers. Allowance for care provided to persons dependent on the assistance of others could offer the solution of how to fund the carers’ activities. Pursuant to Section 7 (2) of Act No. 108/2006 Coll., on social services, as amended, allowance may be claimed by a person who, due to his or her long-term medical problems, requires assistance of another individual in managing his or her basic life needs, in the scope given by the degree of dependence, if the assistance is provided by a close person, social care assistant or a provider of social services. The convict may serve as a social care assistant for another convict, if he or she is over 18, in a good health and if he enters into a written contract on provision of assistance. 117 A social care assistant should be remunerated using the granted allowance for care, not from the prison’s budget. In my knowledge, none of the prisons took advantage of this possibility. Another possibility may consist in the Prison Service’s obtaining the licence to provide social services pursuant to Section 78 et seq. of the Social Services Act. In that case, the Prison Service would be the direct recipient of the allowance for care. The fact that care is provided to dependent convicts by one or more convict carers represents a high risk, especially in view of the possible abuse and aggravation of the dependence on the care provided, the risk of psychological manipulation and pressure, and also in view of the possible bullying or blackmail of the convict in need. In order to prevent ill-treatment, the prison staff must pay increased attention to dependent convicts cared for by other convicts and regularly evaluate all the possible risks arising from the relationship between the carer and the person being cared for. To summarise the above observations, during my visits in prisons where TUCs serve imprisonment, and with respect to convicts dependent on the assistance of others in managing their ordinary life needs and situations, I encountered a lack of carers recruited from the ranks of other convicts, insufficient qualifications on their part to perform this kind of employment, but mainly a lack of legal basis for their activities. I have further found an increased risk of ill-treatment in the relationship between carer(s) and the persons being cared for. I recommend that the General Directorate of the Prison Service: •• Obtains an analysis in co-operation with the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs of the possibilities for utilising the allowance for care under the Social Services Act on the part of convicts dependent on the assistance of other persons, including the risks and potential obstacles in utilising the allowance; this should be implemented by the end of 2016. 117 Section 83 of the Social Services Act. /39/