OVERVIE W OF THE INVESTIGATIONS BY OPC AT UNIT IN THE SPRING AND SUMMER OF 2020
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Table 1.1. Inspected establishments
Agency
Establishment
Method
The Prison and Probation Service
Färingsö remand prison
Questionnaire (inmates)
The Prison and Probation Service
Kronoberg remand prison
Questionnaire (inmates) and video meetings (staff )
The Prison and Probation Service
Beateberg prison
Questionnaire (inmates) and video meetings (staff )
The Prison and Probation Service
Färingsö prison
Questionnaire (inmates)
The Prison and Probation Service
Hall prison
Questionnaire (inmates) and video meetings (staff )
The Prison and Probation Service
Svartsjö prison
Questionnaire (inmates)
The Swedish Migration Agency
Flen detention centre
Video meetings (detainees and staff )
The Swedish Migration Agency
Märsta detention centre
Video meetings (detainees and staff )
The National Board of Forensic Medicine
Psychiatric Examination Division in Göteborg
Questionnaire (patients) and telephone meetings (staff )
The National Board of Forensic Medicine
Psychiatric Examination Division in Stockholm
Questionnaire (patients) and interviews outside the division (staff )
The National Board of Institutional Care
Tysslinge special residential home for young people
Outdoor interviews (residents and staff )
The National Board of Institutional Care
Hornö special residential home for substance abusers
Outdoor interviews (residents and staff )
For further information regarding the inspections, see Appendix B.
Within the framework of these investigations, a total of
eleven inspections were carried out. The Parliamentary
Ombudsman sent out 200 questionnaires to inmates in
prisons and remand prisons. 145 inmates responded to
the questionnaire, which gives a response rate of 72 per
cent. All 28 patients at the National Board of Forensic
Medicine were given the opportunity to respond to a
similar questionnaire. Of these patients, 18 responded,
which gives a response rate of 64 per cent.
The Parliamentary Ombudsmen’s investigations began by each Parliamentary Ombudsman holding initial
meetings with representatives of the agency under inspection. All investigations were then concluded by the
Parliamentary Ombudsman holding meetings with the
Director-General of the agency under inspection.
1.3 Overview of the operations of the
agencies under investigation
According to the Swedish Civil Contingencies Agency
(MSB), “vital societal functions” is a collective term for
the activities, facilities, nodes, infrastructures and services that are of vital importance in upholding important societal functions within a sector of society.6 These
functions are conducted by a large number of private and
public actors.
In their investigations, the Parliamentary Ombudsmen
have established that the relevant agencies are conducting vital societal functions. Together, the Prison and
Probation Service, the Swedish Migration Agency, the
National Board of Forensic Medicine and the National
6 See the Swedish Civil Contingencies Agency, Guidance for the identification of
socially important activities (2019), p. 7.
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