The NPM’s 16th Annual Report finds worsening conditions across UK detention facilities
The National Preventive Mechanism (NPM) published its 16th annual report revealing alarming statistics across detention facilities. Based on over 50,000 visits across UK detention facilities, the report identifies worsening conditions in prisons as a result of overcrowding as well as immigration centres that fail to meet international and domestic human rights standards. The report highlights overcrowding, staff shortages, deteriorating infrastructure and prolonged isolation undermining dignity and safety across detention types. It notes increased violence, self-harm and indefinite detention in immigration facilities, and widespread long-term institutionalisation of people with learning disabilities and autistic people in settings lacking therapeutic care. In response, The Law Society of England and Wales has called on the UK government to ensure prisons meet human rights standards following publication of the report. The Law Society emphasised Article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights, which prohibits torture and inhuman or degrading treatment, and called for sustained funding and reform across the criminal justice system.