NPM Bulletin – February 2025
Welcome
This month, our team has been working hard to finalise plans for the NPM Annual Conference from 30 April to 1 May, developing new training for the preventive monitoring guidance which will be launched later this year, and undertaking strategic and research-based projects.
I have been overseeing the finalisation of the new preventive training materials and the development of our recommendations database, finalising the NPM’s 2025-26 business plan, collaborating with international NPMs and external stakeholders, liaising with panel and keynote speakers for the annual conference, undertaking a seemingly never-ending list of MoJ finance commissions and preparing for the NPM Steering Group meeting. I’ve also met with the new Chair of the Joint Committee on Human Rights, Lord David Alton, and the new Head of the Civil Service.
Jane has drafted NPM evidence for the Joint Committee on Human Rights on the Mental Health Bill, and a scoping paper for NPM approaches to illegal children’s homes and possible intervention in the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill. As well as ongoing work on next year’s annual report (already!) and the April Conference, she has been facilitating activities for the Northern Ireland Subgroup and its communications with the Departments of Health and Justice.
Chelsea is currently leading the production of video interviews for the upcoming training programme, supporting the development of the new recommendations database, coordinating the Scotland Subgroup and working on a research project on deaths in prison custody in Scotland.
As always, we invite you to please cascade this bulletin to your staff and volunteers so that they can stay current on the latest NPM news. If you have received a forwarded copy of this bulletin and would like to be added to the subscription list, please reply to this email.
With the warmest of wishes,
Sam Gluckstein, Head of UK NPM
National Subgroups
The Scotland Subgroup will meet on 4 March for its Q1 meeting and a strategic planning session to develop our 2025-26 workplan in tandem with the national NPM business plan. In Scotland, Cabinet Secretary for Justice and Home Affairs Angela Constance has outlined a 6-part plan to address rising deaths in prison custody and has approved the construction of a nearly £1Billion new prison, HMP Glasgow, to replace HMP Barlinnie – the largest prison in Scotland – which is more than 140 years old.
CJI will host the next NPM Northern Ireland Subgroup meeting on 6 March 2025. This will be the first meeting where the NI Human Rights Commission will join the subgroup as an observer, ahead of designation as an NPM body. The subgroup will begin work on a case-study review approach to the key issue of personality disorder in prisons, and will approve revised terms of reference. Since the publication of the NPM’s 2023-24 annual report, Rachel Lindsay, Chair of the Northern Ireland Subgroup, Wendy McGregor, RQIA, and Sam Gluckstein have met with the Permanent Secretaries of the Departments of Health and Justice, discussing NPM concerns and priorities in Northern Ireland. A similar meeting will be held with the Director General of the Northern Ireland Prison Service and the Director of Safety Communities, Department of Justice, in March 2025.
New publication: Environmental Conditions of Detention
In June 2024, Sam and Jane presented and facilitated at a workshop held by the Edinburgh Law School, Understanding the Environmental Conditions of Detention. Environmental conditions refer to things affecting or shaping the physical and sensory experience, like lighting, sound, ventilation, and temperature. People deprived of their liberty typically do not have the opportunity to modify their environment, a component of autonomy and control most of us take for granted, and which can be essential for self-regulation, cognitive function and physical health. Often, places of detention have been constructed without due consideration of the importance of the immediate environment, and its potential for harm.
The UK NPM has now developed Guidance on the Environmental Conditions of Detention with the University of Edinburgh, which:
- Explains why these elements warrant further consideration under the broader international rules on detention.
- Offers key considerations when monitoring conditions.
- Outlines the key legal resources.
Hard copies of the guidance will be sent to all monitoring volunteers soon, and the NPM will continue to develop knowledge and best practice in this area.
UK NPM Annual Conference 2025
The UK NPM Annual Conference 2025 is planned for 30 April – 1 May 2025 at the Royal Botanic Gardens in Edinburgh. The senior NPM representative from each organisation, as well as one additional operational contact, have been invited to attend. Please RSVP using the link provided in your invitation as soon as possible. For more information, please contact us.
International Update
This month, Sam attended a meeting with the Belgian NPM in Brussels, to build international cooperation and exchange best practices. Belgium is the second last country in Europe to ratify OPCAT and has established a really complex model which Sam supported some development work on. The Council of Europe’s quarterly NPM Forum also took place in Strasbourg, focusing on tackling overcrowding in prisons: strengthening NPMs’ role in safeguarding rights and ensuring effective oversight. Cooperation with a plethora of NPMs is ongoing, and we will be taking part in further support throughout the year.
Sam delivered a presentation about the UK NPM in Brussels (top) and attended the NPM Forum alongside representatives from other European NPMs (bottom)
Spotlight reports from NPM bodies
HM Inspectorate of Prisons – Time to care: what helps women cope in prison?
HMIP has published a report examining what prisons are doing to help women cope in prisons, based on research carried out in four women’s prisons in England. The findings included a failure to provide enough support, women struggling to maintain contact with loved ones, and long periods spent locked in cell with nothing to do, along with a concerning overreliance on physical force to manage women in crisis.
Read the press release and the full report: Time to care: what helps women cope in prison?
Latest news from NPM bodies
- People news:
- Sara Snell has now taken up her post as the new HM Chief Inspector of Prisons Scotland as of 3 February 2025
- The Care Inspectorate has published their Statistical Summary Report for Quarter 3 of 2024/25.
- CCE has published a report on Children’s involvement in the 2024 riots.
- CJINI has published terms of reference for the Inspection of harbour and airport policing.
- CJINI has been asked to respond to the Covid-19 inquiry module on children and young people in relation to youth justice (excluding policing.), including questions about CJI’s inspection and monitoring activities during the pandemic with children and young people (up to 25 years old.)
- CJINI held a scoping workshop to assist in planning a Review of the Multi-Agency Review Arrangements in Northern Ireland (the arrangements to assess and manage the risks posed by terrorist risk offenders) which will include consideration of how terrorist risk offenders are managed by justice partners, including in prison custody.
- The Chief Inspector at CJINI is currently holding consultation meetings with stakeholders and inspected organisations to develop an inspection programme for 2025-26.
- CJINI and RQIA are finalising the report of a Follow-up Review of the 2020 inspection of Police Custody.
Representatives from Criminal Justice Inspection, Northern Ireland Police Board, HM Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services and the Police Ombudsman for Northern Ireland met to discuss policing issues and consult on the CJI 2025/26 Inspection Programme
- CQC is recruiting non-executive directors, and has published terms of reference for phase 2 of the review of its assessment framework. They have also published an inspection report of forensic mental health wards run by Greater Manchester Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust.
- HIW has published their Mental Health Monitoring Annual Report 2023-24
- HMICS and HIS have recently undertaken an inspection of the custody centres serving Glasgow. A report on the outcome of this will be published in March 2025. HMICS is also at the early stages of inspecting custody centre operations in the Forth Valley division and will report on our findings in Spring.
- HMICS has published Terms of Reference for an upcoming Frontline Focus review of the tools of the trade for frontline officers.
- HMICFRS published a Cleveland Police: National child protection inspection which included a view on whether police were prioritising finding suitable accommodation for children rather than taking them into police custody.
- HMIP has published Time to care: what helps women cope in prison? as well as inspection reports of HMP Winchester and HMYOI Parc.
- HMIPS has published inspection reports of HMP Dumfries and Stranraer Sheriff Court.
- HMIPS attended “No Easy Journey: HMP Grampian Roundtable Event,” organised by Families Outside about the difficulty of getting to visits. Issues raised included remote prisons, lack of public transport, cost barriers, visit times and more.
- HMIPS and Edinburgh University will be hosting an event (in person and online) on 24 April for their IPMs. Speakers will include an ex-prisoner, an ex-prison officer and a prison governor, who will talk about their experiences of prisons, and provide insights to the IPMs about how they can be most effective in their role. A link to attend can be shared with interested NPM members.
- IMB has published several inspection reports, with key findings including:
- MWCS published inspection reports for the Arran and Iona Hubs of the State Hospital.
- Ofsted published a blog explaining updates they have made to the inspecting local authority children’s services (ILACS) framework. They have also published four inspection reports: Kyloe House, Atkinson Unit, Oakhill Secure Training Centre and Swanwick Lodge.
- SHRC released a Statement on investigations of deaths in detention.
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
17 Feb: Steering Group meeting, Online
4 March: NPM Scotland Subgroup meeting, Glasgow/Online
6 March: NPM Northern Ireland Subgroup meeting, Belfast
30 April-1 May: UK NPM Annual Conference 2025, Edinburgh
Follow us on Bluesky and LinkedIn!
A quick reminder to that the UK NPM has launched Bluesky and LinkedIn accounts – we invite you to follow us!
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