2 International cooperation The National Agency continued its participation in 2012 in the project to improve networking between the national preventive mechanisms (NPM project), as well as between the CPT and the SPT, launched by the Council of Europe and the European Commission. Staff from the secretariat attended two workshops funded by the Council of Europe within the NPM project on the topics of “The immigration removal process and preventive monitoring“ and “Irregular migrants, Frontex and the NPMs”.32 The NPM project in its previous form expired with these two workshops. A follow-up project is under consideration for 2013, but it has not yet been clarified what form it will take. 3 Overview of enquiries by individuals The National Agency received 84 enquiries from individuals in the period under review, some of which did not relate to places where persons are deprived of their liberty. The other enquiries related exclusively to facilities within the remit of the Joint Commission. Roughly one-third of the enquiries concerned prisons, one-third psychiatric facilities or facilities for the placement of offenders with mental disorders. A considerable increase in the number of complaints was noted after the publication of the Annual Report and the presence of the Agency in the media to which this led. This indicates that the level of awareness of the National Agency increased noticeably, particularly as a result of the Annual Report. Since the National Agency is not an ombudsman, it is not legally empowered either to remedy individuals’ complaints or to give them legal advice. This fact is explicitly referred to in the reply letters to senders, as well as on the Agency’s website. This notwithstanding, information on concrete incidents is of great practical relevance for the work of the National Agency. It is available as background information in inspection visits, and can help focus on specific problem areas. Furthermore, concrete information and indications may influence the selection of the facilities to be visited and the priorities consequently set. If an enquiry suggests that there are any major problems, the National Agency establishes contact with the responsible authorities. This led in one case to a renewed check on fitness for detention being carried out by a physician outside the facility. If an enquiry furthermore provides an indication of suicide or of a risk being posed to others, the National Agency furthermore immediately contacts the head of the facility concerned. 32 More information on this can be found at II.2. 89