establishments had implemented a suitable electronic system; the remaining 78% continued
to rely on paper records. In many cases, these were poorly completed, and in some cases
illegible. I am now aware that a number of prisons have requested new IT equipment to
implement this requirement, and so I expect to see better performance in 2017.
Considerable improvements have been made in the storage and destruction of intercepted
material over the last few years. The majority of prisons have installed an automated deletion
program, which deletes all pin-phone communication after a 3-month retention period.
Compliance in this area is very good and no significant recommendations were made.
A recent priority for many prisons has been preventing the supply and possession of
synthetic drugs. This has resulted in an increase in the interception of incoming mail
and especially in letters fraudulently claiming to contain legal or confidential documents.
Despite the increase in volume, this process is well managed. No recommendations were
made in relation to this aspect of interception.
www.iocco-uk.info
53