58 the national board of institutional care Treatment and activities A recurring issue during the inspections of the National Board of Institutional Care’s special residential homes for young people and substance abusers is the content of the care, and individuals in care experiencing a lack of activities. During the inspection of the special residential home for young people Vemyra, all the young people that the Parliamentary Ombudsmen’s employees spoke to asked for more activities. During a review of the activity schedules for the young people, it was noted that the degree of activity varied greatly: from one hour per week to several hours every day.18 Following the inspection, the Parliamentary Ombudsman called on the National Board of Institutional Care to take measures to ensure that all individuals are offered structured daily activities to a sufficient degree on weekdays and, in addition, meaningful activities at the weekends. The Parliamentary Ombudsman also recalled a recommendation by the Council of Europe’s Committee for the Prevention of Torture that young persons deprived of their liberty have special needs for physical activity and intellectual stimulation and should be offered a full programme of education, sport, vocational training, recreation and purposeful activities.19 At the special residential home for substance abusers Gudhemsgården, several of the individuals that the Parliamentary Ombudsmen’s employees spoke to in the home’s locked departments stated that they mostly watched television and did not receive any treatment, and that the stay there was reminiscent to “warehousing”.20 During the inspection of the special residential home for young people Vemyra, it was noted that one of the young persons admitted to the home during the year was only 13 years old and, therefore, did not belong in the target group of girls above elementary school age.21 The Parliamentary Ombudsman stated, inter alia, that he will continue to follow the issue in future inspections and that it is important that the consequences for the young people placed at the home are also brought to the attention of the social welfare committees.22 Other shortcomings in the physical environment There are major differences between the National Board of Institutional Care’s institutions regarding their respective physical environments. Several of the institutions were not originally intended to accommodate individuals deprived of their liberty and the premises are often old and in need of renovation. During the inspection of the special residential home for young people Vemyra, the Parliamentary Ombudsmen’s employees noticed that the home’s 18 See the Parliamentary Ombudsmen’s report p. 11, ref. no. O 44-2019. 19 See the Parliamentary Ombudsmen’s report p. 21 and 22, ref. no. O 44-2019. 20 See the Parliamentary Ombudsmen’s report s 8, ref. no. O 58-2019. 21 See the Parliamentary Ombudsmen’s report p.3, ref. no. O 44-2019. 22 See the Parliamentary Ombudsmen’s report p. 22, ref. no. O 44-2019.