CAT/OP/GBR/RONPM/1 (c) For Scotland: • Care Inspectorate • Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary in Scotland • Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Prisons for Scotland • Mental Welfare Commission for Scotland • Scottish Human Rights Commission • Scottish Police Authority (Independent Custody Visiting Scheme) (d) For the whole of the United Kingdom: • Independent Reviewer of Terrorism Legislation 15. Through the designation of numerous pre-existing bodies to form the national preventive mechanism, the Government of the United Kingdom wished to put to good use and continue an established tradition of independent inspection of places of detention. As a result, the mechanism, with its 21 bodies and groups, is unique and complex. Characterized by a great diversity of entities, the mechanism comprises bodies with explicit mandates in various detention settings and bodies with broad mandates in specific territorial jurisdictions of the United Kingdom. Another particularity of the mechanism is that it comprises lay and professional bodies. 16. Some members of the national preventive mechanism monitor places of detention as just one part of a much wider regulatory role, while others are dedicated to inspection functions only. For example, the Regulation and Quality Improvement Authority and the Care Quality Commission regulate and inspect the quality of all health and social care services in Northern Ireland and England, respectively. This includes patients detained under mental health legislation, as well as the health services provided in prisons and police stations. The Office for Standards in Education, Children’s Services and Skills inspects and regulates all services providing education and skills (e.g., schools and colleges, and education provision in prisons) as well as services that provide care for children and young people, including secure children’s centres and secure training centres. On the other hand, the key role of Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Prisons, the Independent Custody Visiting Association, the Independent Monitoring Boards, Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Prisons for Scotland and lay observers is to provide independent scrutiny of the conditions and treatment of persons deprived of liberty in a variety of detention settings. 17. The inevitable consequence of the government decision that the functions of the national preventive mechanism were to be fulfilled collectively by 21 individual bodies is that one place of deprivation of liberty can be visited by several of the mechanism’s bodies. For instance, at least three bodies (Independent Monitoring Boards, the Care Quality Commission and Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Prisons) have the mandate of monitoring prisons, but their methodologies are not harmonized in that regard. Lay monitoring bodies perform day-to-day visiting functions, and have a more continuous presence in places of detention, while inspectorates perform their functions periodically, using risk-based criteria. 18. The Government of the United Kingdom designated Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Prisons (England and Wales) to coordinate the members of the national preventive mechanism. The mechanism’s annual report is presented to Parliament by the Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice. B. Legal basis, budget and roles 19. While each of the 21 bodies has a legal basis of its own,6 the national preventive mechanism as a collective entity does not have a separate legal basis in the United Kingdom. Indeed, no legislation or other formal document or process was created or enacted to establish the mechanism and, to date, ministerial statements to Parliament constitute the only basis for 6 See www.nationalpreventivemechanism.org.uk/members/. 5