Moreover, officers and actors go to this type of institution at irregular hours in order to meet persons deprived of liberty outside of the working hours of the latter. It is therefore appropriate to establish these institutions in close proximity to public transport networks accessible in the evening and at night. The political will to build prisons with a capacity of several hundred places means that plots of land with a surface area in the order of about fifteen hectares need to be available. As a result these institutions have been established in peri-urban areas, due to the rarity of available land and the price of plots in close proximity to towns. The Contrôleur Général recommends the construction of institutions of limited capacity (around two hundred persons)223, in close proximity to urban centres, distributed in a uniform manner across the territory as a whole and well-established at the local level. This choice would make it possible to avoid the formation of “deserts in the provision of facilities”, noted for example with regard to penal institutions for convicted prisoners catering for women 224 in the southern half of France. 2.1.2 Arrangement of Areas for Friends and Families While letters and telephone make it possible to avoid the breaking of family ties when the latter have survived imprisonment, physical meetings maintain them and contribute to the rehabilitation of persons deprived of liberty. The material conditions of reception of families within penal institutions need to be such that the latter are not subjected to the effects of the imprisonment of one of their members in an excessive manner. The design of visiting rooms needs to guarantee adequate confidentiality and privacy for persons; a separation device and sound insulation between the cubicles needs to be put in place. The arrangement of areas dedicated to children within visiting rooms needs to enable the latter to see their parents under the pleasantest possible conditions. Family life units (UVF) and family lounges should be brought into general use225. In addition, it is important to make provision for the putting in place of such areas in remand prisons, and not solely in penal institutions for convicted prisoners. Indeed, although it is obviously important to maintain family ties in the long-term, it is equally important – and even, literally, a priority – to prevent the breaking of ties which, for its part, occurs from the moment of incarceration in remand prisons. A few young offenders’ institutions have arranged premises, or even veritable apartments, within the institution enabling the accommodation of families (and, if necessary, of open setting tutors), when they come to the centre in order to meet their child and at the time of assessment meetings. Apart from the savings made by parents who do not have to bear the costs of accommodation, this type of arrangement, sometimes referred to as a “family lodging”, enables the young person and their family to have the benefit of meeting under more independent conditions and emphasises the importance of the place of parents in educational supervision. It 223 Annual Reports for 2008 (p. 38) and 2010 (p.30) [in French]: "The Contrôle Général more than ever asserts its point of view, which leads it to believe that institutions of more than two hundred prisoners give rise to tensions and therefore, multiple exchanges, which are incomparably more frequent than in smaller institutions". 224 Annual Report for 2010, p. 167 [in French]: "Imprisoned women are moved still further away from their personal ties due to the fact that there are fewer institutions catering for them" and p. 190 "Their location raises a number of questions with regard to the maintenance of family ties and poses difficulties with regard to removal far from families, the South of France […] being devoid of penal institutions for convicted prisoners catering for women". 225 Annual Report for 2010, pp.185-189 and section 4 above. 142