Section three Five years of the UK NPM - reflecting and looking ahead from its counterparts internationally. As a general reflection on the UK’s position in relation to other NPMs around the world, it was noted that the UK NPM relied on certain advantages: ensuring that staff training is both rightsbased and compassionate; and addressing possible conflicts of interest arising from the use of staff seconded from inspected bodies. • the resources established members can bring to its work; • the existing expertise of members; • the breadth of coverage, both geographical and thematic; and • the layers of volunteer and statutory visits that its diverse membership allows. Strengthening the work of the NPM in the future Members identified a number of ways that being a part of the NPM had influenced their organisational working practices and focus. Among the examples cited were: • ensuring greater focus on the need to prevent ill-treatment in detention; • supporting increased focus on detention issues within organisations with broader remits, for example among bodies who cover police custody as part of their powers to inspect the wider policing landscape; • promoting joint working among NPM members, resulting in greater sharing of best practice; • focusing attention on key issues (for example de facto detention, segregation and restraint) across the NPM, allowing greater focus on these issues by individual members; • the establishment of the sub-group on children and young people, allowing members who monitor places where children are detained to speak with a stronger, united voice; and • strengthening specific areas of members’ working methods, including the rationale for recruitment of ‘specialised inspectors’ to monitor particular areas of detention; The event allowed those present to focus their attention on some specific areas of current relevance to the NPM in parallel small group discussions. The sessions provided an opportunity to discuss experiences and ideas around some challenging areas of current NPM work, and identify ways in which these could be overcome. A summary of the topics discussed and key points for future work is set out as follows. 41