In April 2025, NPM bodies agreed a new, one year Business Plan to fulfil its mandate under OPCAT, and prevent torture and ill-treatment in places where people are deprived of their liberty.
The NPM pursues four organisational objectives, agreed by the 21 NPM bodies in 2022:
- To support NPM bodies in delivering their own responsibilities under OPCAT
- To undertake collective work and take joint action with a view to preventing ill treatment of detained people in the UK
- To promote awareness and understanding of OPCAT principles and the work of the NPM in the UK
- To liaise and work with international mechanism and organisations with a mandate to prevent ill treatment of detained people.
The current business plan follows a two-year programme running from 2023-2025, which implemented and developed the four NPM objectives. Alongside the 2023-25 Business Plan , the the following Task and Finish Groups were launched to develop collective work:
- Mental health in detention
- Menopause in custody
- Deaths in custody
- Definitions of places of deprivation of liberty
- Immigration detention
The work on mental health in detention and definitions of places of deprivation of liberty continues. A roundtable on deaths in custody was held in September 2023 which informs ongoing work, and NPM guidance on menopause in custody can be found on our Resources page.