Report of the Interception of Communications Commissioner - July 2016
Inspection Findings & Recommendations
10.16 The total number of recommendations made during our 74 prison inspections in
2015 was 409, an average of 5.5 recommendations for each prison (Figure 17).
10.17 A traffic light system (red, amber, green) is in place for the recommendations to
enable prisons to prioritise the areas where remedial action is necessary:
•
•
•
Red recommendations - immediate concern - serious breaches and / or noncompliance with Prison Rules, the NSF or PSIs which could leave the Governor
vulnerable to challenge.
Amber recommendations - non-compliance to a lesser extent; however
remedial action must still be taken in these areas as they could potentially
lead to serious breaches.
Green recommendations - represent good practice or areas where the
efficiency and effectiveness of the process could be improved.
Figure 18 2015 prison inspection recommendations by category
induction &
prisoner
awareness
21%
monitoring of prisoners
mail and
telephone calls
66%
legal privilege or otherwise
%
storage, retention & destruction
of intercepted material 4%
translations 1%
10.18 In 2015 14% of the recommendations were red, 46% amber and 40% green.
Figure 18 shows the breakdown of the 2015 recommendations by category. As identified
in 2014, the majority (66%) of recommendations made during 2015 inspections fell into
one key category – the procedures for the monitoring of prisoners’ telephone calls and
mail. Whilst this category covers a wide range of issues regarding monitoring processes
the most significant concerns were around the authorisation and review procedures and
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