National Preventive Mechanism Seventh Annual Report 2015–16 Police custody NPM members in England and Wales reported some progress in making more efficient use of custody suites, as the number of people detained in police custody as a place of safety under section 136 of the MHA and the number of child arrests continued to fall.12 However, improvements were inconsistent across regions and the welfare of vulnerable people in custody remained a concern. In England and Wales members reported that vulnerable people, such as children and people with mental health issues, were too often in custody not because they had committed a crime but because they were a risk to themselves, which could have be avoided if alternative arrangements had been made available by the relevant agencies.13 Other recurring concerns identified across the UK included: risks relating to the use of force, the variable quality of risk assessments in custody, and the large overrepresentation and proportionally worse outcomes of black and minority ethnic groups in custody. Prison Continuing from last year, a decline in outcomes for prisoners in England and Wales was of great concern to NPM members, who also found a surge in incidents of violence. During 2015 there were 22,195 recorded assaults in prisons, an increase of 31% from the previous year, while incidents of serious assaults went up by 26%.14 In the reporting period there were over 34,586 reported incidents of self-harm, an increase of 27%, with a 22% increase in the number of individuals self-harming. There were 105 self-inflicted deaths in prison, a 28% increase.15 The growing prevalence of new/novel psychoactive substances (NPS) was identified by inspectors as the most serious threat to the safety and security of the prison system at the moment.16 These synthetic substances, formerly known as ‘legal highs’,17 were linked not only to violence and the related debt and bullying, but also to serious illness, self-inflicted deaths and life changing self-harm.18 12. See National Police Chiefs Council (2016) Use of Section 136 of the Mental Health Act 1983 in 2015–16 (England and Wales) and Howard League (October 2016) ‘Child arrests in England and Wales fall by 59% in five years’, available at http://howardleague.org/news/childarrests2015/ [accessed 22/11/16]. 13. HM Inspectorate of Constabulary (March 2015) The welfare of vulnerable people in police custody, available at: http://www. justiceinspectorates.gov.uk/hmic/publications/the-welfare-of-vulnerable-people-in-police-custody/ [accessed 01/11/16]. 14. There were 2,953 recorded serious assaults from March 2015–16. See Ministry of Justice ( July 2016) Safety in Custody Statistics Bulletin: March 2016, available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/safety-in-custody-quarterly-updateto-june-2016 [accessed 01/11/16]. 15. Ministry of Justice ( July 2016) ibid. 16. HM Chief Inspector of Prisons for England and Wales (December 2015) Changing patterns of substance misuse in adult prisons and service responses, available at: https://www.justiceinspectorates.gov.uk/hmiprisons/inspections/changingpatterns-of-substance-misuse-in-adult-prisons-and-service-responses/ [accessed 01/11/16]. 17. Spice and other NPS were unclassified in UK law until May 2016 when the Psychoactive Substances Act came into effect, therefore they were technically legal though never allowed within detention settings. 18. Prison and Probation Ombudsman ( July 2016) Learning Lessons Bulletin: New Psychoactive Substances, available at: http://www.ppo.gov.uk/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/LLB_FII-Issue-9_NPS_Final.pdf#view=FitH [accessed 01/11/2016]. 16