Operation Safeguard

Report: 8
Date: 3 March 2006
By: Commissioner

Summary

Operation Safeguard is the formal recognition of the use of police cells to hold Home Office prisoners when prisons have reached their operational capacity.

A. Recommendations

That the report be received.

B. Supporting information

Introduction

1. This report is submitted for the information of the Metropolitan Police Authority (MPA) Co-ordination and Policing Committee to address concerns arising from the discussion at the previous Committee meeting on 2 December 2005.

2. The subject matter to be addressed is Operation Safeguard and the associated prison lockouts.

3. Operation Safeguard is the formal arrangement of the utilisation of police cells to accommodate Home Office prisoners when prison service accommodation has reached its operational capacity. Operation Safeguard will only occur when the Home Office, through the Chief Executive of the National Offender Management Service (NOMS), authorises such a course of action to take place.

4. Recent demand on prison service accommodation has resulted in some overcrowding within the London Region and other parts of the country. As a result, NOMS were unable to house some prisoners from London courts within prisons in the London area. The Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) were asked to detain these prisoners overnight in MPS custody suites. This situation is commonly known as a lockout.

Response to issues raised by members

Health and Safety Implications

5. It is the Custody Directorate’s understanding that Operation Safeguard will only be instigated as a last resort. However, the MPS has established a Gold Group to address the implications and organisational response should Operation Safeguard be activated. Superintendent Malcolm Tillyer, Head of the Custody Directorate, chairs this. Group members include representatives from NOMS, MPS Finance Services and the MPS Department of Professional Standards (Prevention and Reduction Team).

6. All Home Office prisoners will be subject to an individual structured risk assessment and management action plan to ensure health and safety implications are addressed. This is a process that is applied to all detainees held in MPS custody facilities. The Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 Codes of Practice govern this process.

Training

7. Custody Officers and Designated Detention Officers (DDO) receive specific custody training and increased frequency of first aid training. This training would also be relevant when custody staff deal with Home Office prisoners.

8. Home Office prisoners will only be accepted at custody suites where there is sufficient trained staff, as well as cell capacity, to deal with the extra volume of prisoners safely.

Methodology

9. ACC Marshall is the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) lead for Operation Safeguard. The Custody Directorate has informed ACC Marshall that the MPS cannot give a commitment to provide any cells for Operation Safeguard, due to lack of custody capacity. Should a critical situation arise the MPS will review this decision based on the specific circumstances, including the significance of the problem facing the prison service and the MPS custody capacity at that particular time.

10. The MPS does not have sufficient cells to service our own increasing demands for custody capacity. Long-term plans include new build Borough Based Custody Centres in strategic locations across the MPS. The Custody Directorate has been tasked by AC Godwin to highlight short and medium term options to solve cell capacity across the MPS, to address cell shortage and to ensure demanding Offences Brought to Justice (OBTJ) targets are achieved. All future plans have associated cost implications. The Custody Directorate do not consider that professionally or politically the MPS is in a position to take on the responsibilities of other organisations.

11. The Custody Directorate has contacted ACC Marshall’s office to gain an indication of the number of police cells the MPS would be expected to provide should Operation Safeguard be invoked. This is not possible due to the evolving nature of Operation Safeguard. The situation would need to be managed on a daily basis.

12. The Custody Directorate has contacted the Head of Population Management Service (PMS) in NOMS. There has been an expected seasonal rise in the prison population but PMS is confident that they have sufficient prison capacity to cope with the peak annual demand at Easter. Therefore, Operation Safeguard is highly unlikely to be invoked for a period of some months, if at all this year.

13. Should Operation Safeguard be invoked the Custody Directorate would identify and utilise separate dedicated custody suites, whereby overflow sites (non 24/7) would be used. The most appropriate facilities would be identified at the particular time they are needed; this would be dependent on other custody demands. Overtime will be paid to staff to cover these facilities to ensure the MPS has sufficient trained custody staff. The cost of the overtime would be claimed back from the Home Office. The benefits of such tactics would be less impact on MPS core business, the ability to manage short-term sites in a more efficient and effective manner.

Vulnerable or high risk prisoners

14. Operation Safeguard will not be used to hold the following prisoners in police cells.

• Prisoners with a crown court trial in progress.
• Female prisoners.
• Juvenile prisoners.
• Prisoners identified at being at risk of suicide of self-harm (those with an open F2052SH or ACCT – the self-harm warning form and care plan).
• Prisoners remanded for serious offences potentially attracting Category A status.
• Prisoners with a documented history of escape attempts or significantly disruptive behaviour.
• Prisoners requiring admittance into a prison health care in-patients facility.

15. The ACPO protocol for lockouts requires that priority for prison accommodation be given to vulnerable prisoners.

16. The Custody Directorate are monitoring Home Office prisoners accommodated in MPS custody suites to ensure compliance.

Preventing deaths in police custody

17. The Custody Directorate aims to continually learn and introduce procedures to avoid adverse incidents and deaths in custody. The Safer Detention Working Party has been set up for this purpose. This Working Party is currently co-ordinating the implementation of the National Standards in relation to police detention and developing an improved risk management process. These standards and processes will also be applied to Home Office prisoners held in MPS custody suites.

18. The Custody Directorate continues to work closely with the Department of Professional Standards (Prevention and Reduction Team) to prevent deaths in police custody. This Team has strong links with the Independent Police Complaints Committee (IPCC). Any learning gained through good working relationships will also be applied to Home Office prisoners held in MPS custody suites.

The London Criminal Justice Board (LCJB)

19. A dialogue is ongoing between the Custody Directorate and the Executive Director of the LCJB. All LCJB members have been briefed on relevant issues arising out of Safeguard. If members wish to further explore issues arising from that briefing a formal agenda item will be tabled.

Home Office and Prison Service Discussions

20. The Custody Directorate will shortly be meeting with the Home Office. We will be seeking reassurance that acknowledged seasonal peaks in the prison service population are being managed effectively to ensure that the MPS is not asked to take responsibility for lockout prisoners. During this meeting, we will also raise the suggestion, from the discussion at the previous Co-ordination and Policing Committee meeting, regarding using other facilities such as cells in courthouses. It would not be appropriate for the MPS to be responsible for staffing such facilities.

21. The Custody Directorate continually puts pressure on NOMS in relation to lockout prisoners. The Custody Directorate has gained an undertaking form the Prison Escort and Custody Services (PECS) that, each time a prisoner is locked out to an MPS custody suite, we will be provided with an explanation as to why this course of action was necessary. The Custody Directorate considers that this stance has contributed to the significant reduction in lockouts.

Overview of the current situation

22. The updated MPS lockout figures supplied to the MPS by ACPO are as follows.

• April 2005 - 24
• May 2005 - 1
• June 2005 - 0
• July 2005 – 28
• August 2005 - 19
• September 2005 - 29
• October 2005 - 130
• November 2005 - 25
• December 2005 - 4
• January 2006 - 0
• February 2005 (up to 14 February) - 9

List of abbreviations

MPA

Metropolitan Police Authority

NOMS

National Offenders Management Service

MPS

Metropolitan Police Authority

ACPO

Association of Chief Police Officers

PMS

Population Management Service

IPCC

Independent Police Complaints Committee

LCJB

London Criminal Justice Board

PECS

Prison Escort and Custody Services

ICV

Independent Custody Visitors

C. Race and equality impact

1. The introduction of the Custody Directorate enables the MPS to develop and introduce corporate operating procedures that will ensure fairness and equality across a range of custody services. Should the Home Office approve Operation Safeguard to be implemented, the current procedures and training of MPS custody staff will be sufficient to cover race and equality impact.

2. It should be borne in mind that the prisoners subject to Operation Safeguard will generally fall in to two categories, (1) Convicted prisoners and (2) Prisoners who have been remanded by the courts awaiting trial. A distinction should be drawn between Safeguard Prisoners and MPS core business detainees.

3. Should the dedicated site(s) plan be adopted, the MPS via Performance Information Bureaux (PIB) would then be in a position to monitor safeguard prisoners around disproportionality issues and provide reassurance. However, it should be noted that the organisation would not be in a position, other than in exceptional circumstances, to decline Home Office prisoners.

4. Although the remit of Independent Custody Visitors (ICV) does not cover visiting Home Office prisoners, the MPS would welcome their involvement with Operation Safeguard prisoners. This would help demonstrate openness and transparency and would assist with community reassurance measures.

5. The introduction of an Independent Advisory Group (Custody group) and a London Custody Forum will enable the Custody Directorate, external partners and the public to influence custody policy and practice now and in the future.

6. The Directorate recently published a revised policy around custody risk assessment that provides a clear structure for identifying individual detainee needs. This policy compliments the new Case Disposal Policy that removes the potential for individual bias within the charging or case disposal process.

7. The Directorate has established an internal programme/project management system that ensures that the diversity implications around each and every new piece of work are considered at an early stage and that these are both documented and acted upon.

8. All work undertaken is given consideration as to the impact of the Disability Discrimination Act and members from the Custody Directorate attend the Disability Programme Board to ensure compliance with the Act. Colleagues within Property Services also support this process.

D. Financial implications

1. The cost recovery process for Operation Safeguard is detailed in the Home Office Circular 8 of 1997 (Reimbursement of Costs of Holding Prisoners in Police Cells).

2. Until Operation Safeguard is initiated, there will be no indication as to the numbers of prisoners the MPS would be expected to accommodate in its cell accommodation. For this reason, it is not possible to place a financial value to the potential impact of this issue.

3. Pat Collins, MPS Finance Services provided finance information in the previous report submitted to the Co-ordination and Policing Committee meeting. This information is still current.

4. The ACPO Police/Prison Service Overnight Accommodation Protocol allows the MPS to claim back £55 per night per prisoner accommodated on weekdays and £55 per 12-hour period on Saturday, Sunday and Bank Holiday. This is in addition to medical and incidental expenses.

5. MPS Finance Services has recently submitted a claim to NOMS for £15,070 for 274 prisoners accommodated between March 2005 and December 2005.

6. MPS Finance Services are currently reviewing the system to claim money back from NOMS when the MPS accommodates lockout prisoners. A consistent process, used by all MPS Boroughs, will shortly be introduced by MPS Finance Services to ensure a robust system for cost recovery.

7. The ACPO Police/Prison Service Overnight Accommodation Protocol should be reviewed annually. The Custody Directorate has made strong representations to ACC Marshall that the amount the MPS is allowed to claim back from NOMS should be substantially increased to reflect a more realistic cost recovery amount. MPS Finance Services has provided information to assist this review. Once ACC Marshall has completed the review, the MPS will consider all options, including a separate cost recovery agreement between the MPS and NOMS to ensure realistic cost recovery.

E. Background papers

None

F. Contact details

Report author: Inspector Zara Kingdom, Emerald Custody Directorate

For more information contact:

MPA general: 020 7202 0202
Media enquiries: 020 7202 0217/18

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