Section Four National Preventive Mechanism member profiles visitors in Scotland. Membership of the NPM has raised the profile of custody visitors among others working in this field and has contributed to custody visitors having an increased focus on the human rights of detainees, as well as looking at the conditions in which they are held. Summary of activities Between 1 April 2009 and 31 March 2010, the custody visitors made 1,066 visits. Of those visits, 1,025 were deemed to be ‘valid visits’. The 41 outstanding visits could not be completed due to factors such as the custody suite being closed or the unavailability of a custody visitor. There were 1,475 detainees held in police custody at the time of the visits in 2009–2010. Visitors spoke to 673 of these detainees. Some 408 (29%) detainees refused to be seen by a visitor while 394 were not seen for other reasons (such as being asleep or being with their solicitor). Of the 1,025 valid visits, 786 (77%) were found to be entirely satisfactory. In the remaining 239 (23%) visits, issues of concern were identified and the visits were deemed unsatisfactory. A total of 268 issues were identified by custody visitors during the course of the year. The majority of issues related to the safety or security of the detainee (such as ligature points), sanitation, cleanliness and faulty equipment. Other issues of concern related to bedding, lighting and ventilation.74 Key issues As noted above, the main issues arising from custody visits in 2009–10 relate to safety and security hazards. More generally, custody visitors have become concerned about the amount of time that immigration detainees spend in police custody suites. There is currently no dedicated detention facility for immigration detainees in Northern Ireland and detainees are often held in police custody pending removal to a detention centre in Scotland or England. In response to these concerns, raised by custody visitors and others such as the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission, the UK government has announced its intention to open a dedicated immigration detention centre, although it is unlikely to become operational until 2011. Custody visitors are only mandated to visit designated custody suites. In limited circumstances, however, the police may detain a person in a non-designated police station, although such detention is unlikely to be for longer than six hours. Nevertheless, custody visitors have become concerned at the increasing number of detainees being held in non-designated police stations to which they have no access. This concern is being raised with the PSNI. Despite their many concerns, custody visitors believe that the PSNI has improved its provision for detainees in recent years. The percentage of unsatisfactory visits has dropped from 36% in 2007–08 to 23% in 2009–10. Looking forward As with several other members of the UK’s NPM, the Custody Visiting Scheme in Northern Ireland is faced with carrying out its important role with decreasing resources. The Scheme faces year-on-year budget cuts over the next four financial years. This will undoubtedly mean that the number of visits will have to be reduced, together with more limited training for visitors. The recruitment of new custody visitors may also be adversely affected. The funding situation makes it all the more challenging for custody visitors to make their visiting even more effective and may affect their plans to, for example, increase the number of detainees spoken to during visits. 74 Further information on custody visits is available at: www.nipolicingboard.org.uk 61