Section two The fifth year officials and NPM officials did not compromise the independence of the NPM; rather, it helped to meet the requirement for quality and expert input and raised State officials’ awareness of the NPM.’39 On 5 March 2014, after discussion within the NPM, a response was provided to the Committee against Torture (see Appendix Six). In its response the NPM expressed its commitment to working to strengthen the actual and perceived independence of the mechanism in line with standards set by the Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture. Members committed to work towards making a clearer distinction between the human resources they apply to NPM activities and those applied to their broader functions, and to work towards a reduction in their reliance on seconded staff allocated to NPM activities. In addition, the UK NPM agreed to develop a set of principles to reduce the possibility of conflicts of interest of seconded staff across the NPM. It welcomed the Committee’s recognition of the need to ensure the NPM is adequately resourced. iii. The European CPT reports on 2012 visits to the UK In September and October 2012 the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CPT) made two official visits to the UK and its reports on both visits were published this year. The report into the September 2012 visit, published after considerable delay in March 2014, set out a number of recommendations in relation to the CPT’s examination of the situation of female prisoners (Cornton Vale, Edinburgh and Greenock Prisons) and adult males on remand (Barlinnie and Kilmarnock Prisons). The CPT also looked into the treatment and conditions of detention in several police stations and visited a mediumsecure psychiatric clinic, also in Scotland. In England, the Committee examined issues relating to persons held under immigration legislation and visited two immigration removal centres (IRCs), Brook House and Colnbrook.40 Among its recommendations, the CPT called for strengthening of the safeguards in place for people detained by the police in Scotland, and efforts to bring down overcrowding by promoting alternatives to imprisonment. It was critical of the fact that at the time of its visit, remand prisoners at Barlinnie Prison often spent up to 22 hours a day confined to their cells, and of the 63 cupboard-like cubicles in which prisoners were placed during the admission process there. In relation to the immigration removal centres it visited, the CPT expressed concerns about the indefinite nature of detention and the number of people spending longer than a year in immigration detention; the complaints it heard from detainees about the unsupportive and negative attitude of staff; and a small number of allegations of excessive use of force and verbal abuse by staff at Colnbrook IRC. The CPT recommended ending the handcuffing of detained persons during medical consultations in hospitals, and a rapid review of the appropriateness of detention in cases where a medical practitioner has submitted a report that a detained person may have been the victim of torture (Rule 35.3 of the Detention Centre Rules (2001)). 39 UN Committee against Torture, Summary record of the 1139th meeting, Consideration of reports submitted by States parties under article 19 of the Convention. CAT/C/SR.1139. 40 http://www.cpt.coe.int/documents/gbr/2014-11-inf-eng.htm 33