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NPM Bulletin – August 2025

Published:

Welcome

Welcome to our second summer bulletin.  I hope your summer holidays are either imminent or have occurred —and that you’re finding time to rest and recharge. I am very much looking forward to a break at the end of August, when I’ll be heading to South America for three weeks: spending time with friends in Chile, and, because I can’t help myself, attending a conference on detention in Peru (fear not value for money hawks, it is self-funded!).

Over the past month, the team and I have been fully immersed in populating data into and making some final touches to our brand-new Reporting Dashboard. This transformative tool will bring together and codify all UK NPM findings in one accessible platform, offering public access to the collective insight of more than 3500 monitors working across the UK’s places of detention. We are very excited to be launching this groundbreaking tool in just a few weeks, on 20th August, and we invite you all to join us (more details below).

Given the Dashboard is occupying almost every waking moment of the team this month, you will notice our bulletin is somewhat heavily focussed in that direction. Normal service will resume in September where we hope to highlight a lot of the upcoming work we have planned.

In parallel with the dashboard development, the NPM has remained actively engaged with international counterparts. I have continued to provide support to the NPM in Kyrgyzstan following my visit earlier this summer. We are also currently exploring the possibility of hosting a study visit from the Ukrainian NPM, which promises to be a meaningful exchange of experiences and expertise. Additionally, I have been collaborating with the Australian Human Rights Commission on a review of their human rights standards, contributing insights from our own practices in the UK. I have also met with the UK’s SPT rapporteur to update on our work, feed forward high-level concerns and view the workplan of the SPT. I also recently spoke with the Association for the Prevention of Torture about our new Reporting Dashboard. We also continue to work on thematic issues of solitary confinement with Dr Sharon Shalev and welfare detention.

As always, we encourage you to share this bulletin with your staff and volunteers so they can stay up to date with the latest NPM news. If you have received this bulletin as a forwarded email and would like to subscribe, please reply to this message.

With best wishes,

Sam Gluckstein, Head of UK NPM

Reporting Dashboard Launch & Blog

There is less than a month until the launch of our Reporting Dashboard, which will take place on 20th August 2025. You will be able to hear from UK NPM central team about the creation of the Reporting Dashboard, see a live demonstration of how to explore and interact with the data, and have the chance to ask any questions or offer any insights.

The launch will also offer the chance to hear from world-leading experts across the sector. Speaking at the event will be:

  • Dr Elina Steinerte – Vice chair for National Preventive Mechanisms, United Nations Subcommittee on Prevention of Torture
  • Professor Nicholas Hardwick – Professor at Royal Holloway and Former HM Chief Inspector of Prisons
  • Rob Linham OBE – Deputy Director of Rights and Public Law, Ministry of Justice
  • Chief Inspector Jacqui Durkin – Chief Inspector of Criminal Justice Inspection Northern Ireland
  • Alice O’Fee – Delivery Lead at Robiquity

Register your attendance for the launch here, and share the details with colleagues you work with, establishments you monitor, and any other interested parties.

Read our latest blog to get a sneak peek of some of the exciting features and learn more about the Reporting Dashboard.

A preview of the UK NPM's reporting dashboard.

National Subgroups

Sam and Angela O’Hagan, Chair of the Scotland Subgroup, have been meeting with subgroup members over the last few weeks to discuss the group’s strengths and areas for improvement, as well as upcoming priorities. These meetings have been very positive in shaping and aligning the direction and focus of the subgroup’s efforts for the months ahead. The Scotland Subgroup’s next meeting will be on 28 August in Glasgow.

The Northern Ireland Subgroup’s next meeting will be on Tuesday 16 September, with a representative of the Northern Ireland Commissioner for Children & Young People. This meeting will focus on issues affecting children in different settings of deprivation of liberty in Northern Ireland, as well as progressing research and awareness raising on conditions and treatment for people with personality disorder in prison and other custody settings.

National Detention Monitoring and Inspection Conference

We are inviting all 3500 OPCAT mandate holders across the UK to the first all-NPM conference in November 2025. The conference will explore the journey through detention systems, offer examples of good practice across different jurisdictions and settings, and hear from UN and Council of Europe officials about our roles in national and global work to prevent torture. The event is for inspectors, monitors, public appointees, custody visitors, researchers, support staff teams, and anyone who works or volunteers within the 21 bodies which make up the UK NPM.

Save the dates have now been sent to most NPM bodies. If your organisation has not yet received one, please get in touch with Sarah and share mailing lists or preferences for distribution, or register here. Agendas will follow in due course.

Blog: Interview with the APT

Sam recently spoke with the APT about the new Reporting Dashboard, and how it could help shift detention oversight from fragmented data to collective insight. The interview highlights the need for greater consistency across NPM bodies, the challenge of low recommendation implementation, and the importance of moving from reactive monitoring to a more proactive, solution-oriented approach grounded in shared learning.

Read the blog here: From Data to Action: How the UK NPM’s New Dashboard Aims to Transform Detention Oversight

A Message from Our Chair, Sherry Ralph

It was such a delight to see so many of you in Edinburgh this May, and I wanted to take the opportunity in this Summer edition of the NPM Bulletin to say hello and reflect on our work to date. The first half of 2025 has been a challenging time for monitors across the UK. Just last week, I was deeply disturbed by the findings at Oakhill STC – and the treatment and conditions children were subjected to. It is a clear reminder if one was needed that our work in preventing torture and ill-treatment is as vital today as ever. Reports from across the country evidence the significant work needed by our four governments to prioritise their commitments to preserve the rights of detainees. Your work is so important in continuing to hold that spotlight on some of the most vulnerable in society. It isn’t an easy job, however, and I hope you have had the opportunity to take some rest over the summer.

I hope as many of you as possible can join the NPM team at the launch of our new Reporting Dashboard. This tool and launch is the culmination of over three years of intense work and I truly believe is such a step forward in our ability to fulfil our mandate. I am very proud of the team who have conceived the idea and delivered the project to such a high standard. The tool is already garnishing international acclaim and is beginning to influence the way recommendations are tracked and reported on globally.

Looking ahead to the autumn, it will be a busy period as the NPM continues with its ambitious business plan. To achieve all that we have set out, we will need your partnership and support. I know I can rely on you to continue the excellent cooperation that makes the UK NPM one of the most collaborative and successful in the world.

Be proud of your work this year, I know I am – and have a lovely summer.

Spotlight reports from NPM bodies

HM Inspectorate of Prisons – Annual Report 2024-25

HMIP’s latest Annual Report highlights the devastating impact of illicit drugs across the prison estate. Drug supply and misuse continue to undermine every aspect of prison life, with positive drug test rates often exceeding 30% and many prisoners reporting easy access. Widespread overcrowding, lack of activity, and deteriorating living conditions are driving demand for drugs and obstructing rehabilitation. Without coordinated action from the authorities, prisons will remain dangerously destabilised.

Read here: 2024-25 HMIP Annual Report

Care Quality Commission, HM Inspectorate of Prisons, Ofsted – Oakhill Secure Training Centre Urgent Notification

Following a worrying inspection in July, CQC, HMIP and Ofsted have issued an Urgent Notification for Oakhill Secure Training Centre. The inspection found staff conduct to be of significant concern: twenty-three staff were suspended between November 2024 and 13 July 2025, including 16 in response to allegations about their conduct with children. Since 14 July 2025, 7 more staff members have been suspended relating to their conduct with children.

Read here: Urgent Notification Letter – Oakhill STC

Latest news from NPM bodies

L-R: Craig Naylor, HM Chief Inspector of Constabulary in Scotland, Jacqui Durkin, Chief Inspector of Criminal Justice in Northern Ireland, Andy Cooke QPM DL, HM Chief Inspector of Constabulary and Helen Hall, Chief Executive, Policing and Community Safety Authority.

SHRC's easy-to-understand guide to the prison rules.

If we missed anything, or if you have a report, blog post or news story you would like to share in the next bulletin, please send us an email.

Upcoming events and activities

20 August 2025: UK NPM Reporting Dashboard International Launch, Online

28 August 2025: NPM Scotland Subgroup Q3 meeting, Glasgow

6 September 2025: ICVS Annual Conference, Edinburgh

16 September 2025: NPM Northern Ireland Subgroup Q3 meeting, Belfast

22 September 2025: NPM Steering Group Q3 meeting, Online

28 November 2025: NPM All Mandate-Holder Conference, online

External resources of interest

Following interim guidance from the NPCC, ICVA has produced a briefing for ICV’s regarding the searching of trans detainees. This guidance comes after the Supreme Court judgement earlier this year.

Thank you for reading!

This bulletin is compiled each month by the NPM Central Team. If you have any news you would like to share, please let us know.

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