THE PARLIAMENTARY OMBUDSMEN’S INSPEC TIONS OF REMAND PRISONS 2015–2019 The occupancy situation in the Prison and Probation Service’s remand prisons improved during the spring and summer 2019. As of July, the occupancy rate was 90 per cent or less. On 25 August 2019, the occupancy rate in remand prisons was 82.58 per cent. According to the Prison and Probation Service, however, the occupancy rate was higher in comparison with 2018.31 In December 2019, the pressure on remand prisons had increased again, and the occupancy rate in the high-security remand prisons was 95.07 per cent whilst in normal remand prisons it was 99.82 per cent. The occupancy rate in total was 97.51 per cent.32 According to the Prison and Probation Service, the strained occupancy situation has had a negative impact on remand prison staff ’s ability to work with isolation-breaking measures. The reasons for this are several. In the event of overcrowding, it is not uncommon for the areas used for isolation-breaking activities to be used for accommodating inmates and, as such, these areas cannot be used for the purpose for which they are actually intended. More inmates means that staff have less time per inmate for isolation-breaking measures. Eventually, the strained situation forced staff tasked with working with reducing isolation to work with other matters, for example the transportation of inmates. During an inspection of Göteborg Remand Prison in February 2019, the remand prison’s management stated that the objective for isolation-breaking measures had not been reached for any group held on remand (adult and juvenile). The increased occupancy rate has not hel31 Information retrieved from the Prison and Probation Service’s website on 23 August 2019. 32 Information retrieved from the Prison and Probation Service’s website on 18 December 2019. 8 ped the situation. An increase in staff resources would enable the objective to be reached.33 Similar details emerged from inspections of remand prisons in Karlskrona, Malmö, Nyköping and Trelleborg in April 2019. In the report from the inspection of Nyköping Remand Prison in April 2019, the following was noted: “Two and a half full-time positions are tasked with working with isolation-breaking measures on weekdays. This means that approximately four inmates with restrictions per day receive such measures. The staff prioritises those who appear to be feeling bad. Overcrowding affects the operation as there is more work for those who plan the operations and draw up remand prison plans. Furthermore, more inmates must share the time available for isolation-breaking measures.”34 In the report from the inspection of Malmö Remand Prison in April 2019, the following was noted: “According to representatives of the remand prison, staffing based on a 90 per cent occupancy rate means that staff resources, even at normal staffing levels, are not sufficient to meet the national targets for isolation-breaking measures. During normal occupancy periods, each working team has scheduled isolation-breaking tasks. At best, there is room for approximately four and a half hours of isolation-breaking measures per day. That time must be distributed over a relatively large number of inmates. Based on the current occupancy situation [an occupancy rate of 100 per cent], the staff resources are, in principle, only sufficient for outdoor exercise 33 See the Parliamentary Ombudsmen’s report dnr O 7-2019 p. 14. 34 See the Parliamentary Ombudsmen’s report dnr O 29-2019 p. 4. – 53 –