CAT/OP/GBR/CNPMRO/1 Paragraph 72 – The Subcommittee recommends that NPM continue to advocate for the adoption of legislation that will enable it to present its annual report in Parliament directly and to be accountable to Parliament for the implementation of its NPM mandate. 22. The NPM welcomes the SPT’s recommendation, contained in paragraph 72 of the SPT visit report, that the NPM continue to advocate for the adoption of legislation that will enable it to present the NPM’s annual report in Parliament directly. 23. With regard to the SPT’s recommendation that the NPM be accountable to Parliament for the implementation of its mandate, the NPM Chair and Secretariat, in consultation with members, is in discussion with the UK Government regarding its line of accountability as part of the MOJ consultation on Arm’s Length Bodies’ legislation. Section E. Cooperation Paragraph 77 – The Subcommittee recommends that NPM of UK take steps to enhance its cooperation and channels of communication with CSOs, for example through an annual forum or other avenues, and strive to maintain a proactive dialogue with the civil society. Regarding concerns expressed by the NPM, the Subcommittee recommends that the NPM involve NGOs in its work in a transparent manner and strictly from the perspective of prevention of torture. 24. The NPM conducts considerable work with CSOs: both NPM members individually and the NPM’s central coordination function engage in work with a range of CSOs, including NGOs and academics. The NPM accepts, however, that engagement with CSOs could be improved and will strive to build a closer relationship with organisations working on OPCAT-related issues in the future. The NPM’s ability to do this on a more regular and formal basis is currently constrained by NPM Secretariat capacity and would be greatly enhanced by additional resourcing for the NPM Secretariat. 25. Despite these resource constraints, the NPM Secretariat frequently hosts stakeholders from across the world, attends and speaks at international conferences and expert meetings on OPCAT-related issues, shadows other countries’ inspection and monitoring bodies, and contributes to work that strengthens the role of NPMs internationally. For example, in October 2020, the Head of the NPM Secretariat spoke on a panel regarding the work of the UK NPM and CSOs organised by the African Policing Civilian Oversight Forum. The NPM’s central coordination function has also long enjoyed a productive working relationship with academics at the University of Bristol’s Human Rights Implementation Centre (HRIC). Recent projects include consultation with HRIC, alongside other CSOs including NGOs and academics, on the NPM’s response to the MOJ consultation on Arm’s Length Bodies’ legal status. With support from the NPM Secretariat, HRIC also organised a roundtable with UK NPM lay-visiting bodies to discuss their approaches to monitoring during COVID-19 as part of a larger funded research project. 26. The NPM considers the role played by lay visiting bodies to be a key aspect of the NPM’s relationship with civil society. The NPM is incredibly proud of the democratic nature of many of its key members. It will continue to celebrate the fact that any citizen can join one of the NPM’s lay-visiting bodies and then has the right to visit and monitor the treatment of those detained in the local police station, prison or immigration removal centre. 27. As well as the active role of volunteers within NPM members’ fulfilment of OPCAT, the NPM also wishes to highlight the strong cooperative relationships between its individual member organisations and CSOs. An example from the NPM includes ICVA and the IMBs’ ongoing work with the Criminal Justice Alliance (CJA). The CJA is carrying out thematic research into independent custody visiting focused on race and gender, in order to examine current practice and make recommendations where they are needed. They are also working with the IMBs to look at equality and diversity in women’s prisons. 28. As well as co-operative work from lay visiting bodies, HMI Prisons regularly consults with civil society on its inspection methodologies. For example, HMI Prisons recently consulted with several NGOs to develop their Scrutiny Visits (SV) methodologies for short 6