National Preventive Mechanism Seventh Annual Report 2015–16 stations being used as a place of safety for children under the exercise of powers within section 136 of the Mental Health Act 1983.30 In England the Mental Health Crisis Care Concordat (2014)31 and in Wales the Crisis Care Mental Health Concordat (2015)32 aimed to address issues of vulnerable people, such as children and people with mental health issues, being held in custody. Specific recommendations for changing the inspection and monitoring arrangements for education in prisons and youth custody were made in these reviews, which were under consideration by NPM members at the end of the reporting year. In February 2014, the then Justice Secretary announced an independent review of self‑inflicted deaths in custody of young adults to be chaired by Lord Harris. The review reported in July 2015 and concluded that ‘the same problems are being reported from so many different sources and over such a long period of time […] the lessons are clearly not being learned, and not enough has been done to bring about substantive change’ and made a large number of recommendations to address this. Of particular note was the contention that all young adults in custody should be viewed as vulnerable and the review recommendation that all young adults aged 18–24 should be accommodated in small units with specialist staff. Youth offending teams should be required to maintain contact with children transferred from the under 18 estate for a minimum of six months – longer if they are vulnerable (up to 21 or 24 years old).33 Arrangements should be made for particularly vulnerable young adults to remain in the children’s estate if deemed in their best interests. The government indicated that these proposals would be considered in the context of the youth justice review and consideration of wider reforms of the prison estate.34 Subsequently, in February 2016, a ‘wholesale reform’ of prison policy in England and Wales was announced by the Prime Minister.35 At the heart of this reform was the plan to give greater financial and operational autonomy to governors and ‘remove the bureaucratic micromanagement that disempowers them’. Six ‘reform prisons’ would be created to take this approach forward and ‘prison league tables’ would be introduced to encourage comparisons between different institutions. Significantly, the Prime Minister announced that a Prisons Bill would be introduced in the next session of Parliament. The last Prisons Act in England and Wales dates back to 1952, making this an important opportunity to update the basic legislation governing prisons. Further reviews were underway at the end of the reporting year. In July 2015 the Home Secretary announced that an independent review into deaths and serious incidents in police custody would be led by Dame Elish Angiolini.36 In January 2016, the Prime Minister announced a 30. http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/bills/cbill/2015-2016/0134/cbill_2015-20160134_en_1.htm [accessed 01/11/16]. 31. http://www.crisiscareconcordat.org.uk/ [accessed 22/11/16]. 32. http://gov.wales/docs/dhss/publications/151210reporten.pdf [accessed 22/11/16]. 33. http://iapdeathsincustody.independent.gov.uk/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/Harris-Review-Report2.pdf [accessed 01/11/16]. 34. https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/486564/gov-response-harris-review.pdf [accessed 01/11/16]. 35. https://www.gov.uk/government/speeches/prison-reform-prime-ministers-speech [accessed 01/11/16]. 36. https://www.gov.uk/government/news/home-secretary-announces-chair-for-deaths-in-custody-review [accessed 01/11/16]. 20