2011 Annual Report of the Interception of Communications Commissioner
Regrettably serious weaknesses and failings were found in the systems and processes at 15 of
the prison establishments. As a result the percentage of poorly performing prisons has remained
fairly static. Considering the fact that it was the fifth inspection of six of these establishments, my
inspectors expected to see much better standards being achieved. This number is still too high
and indicates a failure by managers and staff to ensure that the interception of communications
is conducted fully in accordance with the rules. These prisons had mostly failed to implement
fully the recommendations from their previous inspections. Two of these prisons have already
been subject to health checks and one to a second full inspection. I am pleased to report that
these three prisons have worked hard to improve their systems and procedures and they are
now achieving a good level of compliance with the rules governing the interception of prisoner’s
communications. The other prisons have provided an assurance that they will take the necessary
remedial action, nevertheless they will also be subject to early re-inspections to check that they
have improved their standards.
“Regrettably serious weaknesses and failings were found in the systems and
processes of 15 of the prison establishments...These prisons had mostly failed to
implement fully the recommendations from their previous inspections”
In last year’s report I explained that my prison inspections tend to go in two year cycles due to
the number of establishments that require inspecting. Next year I hope to report a reduction in
the number of poorly performing prisons.
I outlined earlier in this report that a traffic light system (red, amber, green) has been adopted
for the recommendations that emanate from the inspections. This enables prisons to prioritise
the areas where remedial action is necessary. This year 547 recommendations were made by
my inspectors during the prison inspections and this is an average of 7 recommendations per
establishment. Figure 17 shows the breakdown of recommendations by colour.
Figure 17 – Recommendations from 2011 Prison Inspections
Red
18%
Green
39%
Amber
43%
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