The main objective of the visit was to examine the treatment and conditions of detention of persons held in the men's prison estate in England and Wales, and of patients held in forensic psychiatric establishments in England. This visit also assessed the implementation of recommendations made by the Committee after its previous periodic visit in 2021 and following discussions during its October 2024 high-levels talks on the situation in United Kingdom prisons.
To this end, the CPT delegation visited three male reception and resettlement prisons, where it focused on staff treatment, violence and use of force, segregation, conditions and regimes for prisoners, as well as examining healthcare provision in prisons, including mental healthcare.
The second focus of the visit was the treatment of patients held in mental health establishments. The delegation visited three psychiatric hospitals accommodating forensic psychiatric patients, where it focussed on the medium secure wards. It also assessed the implementation of recommendations made by the Committee following previous visits to psychiatric establishments.
In the course of the visit, the delegation met with Lord Timpson, Minister for Prisons, Probation and Reducing Reoffending, and Baroness Merron, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Women's Health and Mental Health. It also held in-depth consultations with James McEwen, Director General and Chief Executive Officer of His Majesty's Prison Service (HMPPS), and Kate Davies, Director for the National Health Service (NHS) England, Offender Heath & Mental Health, as well as with senior colleagues from the Ministry of Justice, HMPPS, the Department of Health and Social Care and the NHS.
The delegation also held consultations with His Majesty's Inspectorate of Prisons, the Care Quality Commission, the Prisons and Probation Ombudsperson, and non-governmental organisations.
At the end of the visit, the delegation provided the authorities of the United Kingdom with its preliminary observations.
The visit was carried out by the following CPT members:
- Gunda Wössner, 2nd Vice-President (Head of delegation)
- Ewa Dawidziuk
- Gautam Gulati
- Imants Jurevičius
- Kristina Pardalos
- Marrit de Vries
They were supported by Marco Leidekker, Head of Division, and Francesca Gordon, Advisor, of the CPT Secretariat and assisted by two experts, Olivera Vulić, psychiatrist (Montenegro) and Hans Wolff, medical doctor (Switzerland).
The delegation visited the following establishments:
Prisons
- HMP Bristol
- HMP Berwyn
- HMP Leeds
Psychiatric establishments
- Elysium Healthcare, Arbury Court, Warrington
- Greater Manchester Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust, Riverside Centre, Prestwich
- South West Yorkshire Partnership NHS Foundation Trust, Fieldhead hospital, Wakefield
The CPT and the United Kingdom
