National Preventive Mechanism Seventh Annual Report 2015–16 The Children’s Commissioner for England (CCE) conducted an inquiry into isolation within the children’s custodial estate in England, resulting in the publication of a research report and a policy summary in September 2015. Following the BBC report on Medway Secure Training Centre (STC), the CCE visited each of England’s three secure training centres, at the behest of the Youth Justice Board. In April 2015, a youth justice specialist was seconded to the CCE, enabling visits to be undertaken more strategically and with refined methodology. The CCE was involved in a Home Office working party convened to improve compliance, by the police and local authorities, with the statutory requirement to transfer children refused bail after charge to local authority accommodation. This led to the development of a draft concordat. It also continues to monitor the de facto detention of children in immigration settings. Criminal Justice Inspection Northern Ireland (CJINI) published a number of reports, ­­­including a report of a highly critical unannounced inspection at Maghaberry Prison in May 2015. Due to its concerns it took the unprecedented step of returning to the prison in January 2016 and published a follow up report. While the situation at the prison had by then stabilised, CJINI remains concerned and continues to monitor the situation. It has also given evidence before the Northern Ireland Assembly Committee for Justice on Maghaberry, as well as on its final report of the Progress on Implementations of the Youth Justice Review recommendations, which were published in December 2015. 28 The Care Quality Commission (CQC) has started a number of projects aiming to better integrate and align Mental Health Act (MHA) monitoring with its regulatory activity. This includes updating its approach to visits to reflect changes in the MHA Code of Practice; implementing revised methodology for specially focused visits to ensure flexibility in responding to emerging MHA issues; and creating factsheets on both NHS and independent health care providers to address a lack of routine analysis being used to inform MHA reviewers’ visits. CQC has undertaken hundreds of MHA monitoring visits and drawn the first cycle of regulatory visits under the revised methodology to a close. This year it increased OPCAT compliance when Section 90 of the Care Act 2014 amended Section 48 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008, removing the requirement to gain Secretary of State approval for special reviews, thus strengthening independence. Care and Social Services Inspectorate Wales (CSSIW) continues to work in partnership with Healthcare Inspectorate Wales to monitor, inspect and improve the operation of the deprivation of liberty safeguards in Wales. As a member of the Leadership Group established by the Welsh Government in the aftermath of the Supreme Court judgement on the P v Cheshire West and Chester Council case in 2014, CSSIW has worked to emphasise the responsibilities of the NPM as the group considers the interim statement from the Law Commission on Mental Capacity and Deprivation of Liberty. CSSIW has begun the implementation of new frameworks for inspections of local authority