Report Shows More Needs To Be Done For Vulnerable Prisoners

The Northern Ireland Prison Service (NIPS) has welcomed the publication of a report on its treatment of vulnerable prisoners.

Published by Criminal Justice Inspection Northern Ireland (CJINI), it found that while a number of improvements have been made in the care and treatment of vulnerable prisoners, more needs to be done.

NIPS Director General Colin McConnell said: "Providing safe, decent and secure custody for all those placed in our care is a primary objective for the Northern Ireland Prison Service.

"Prisons are complex environments and many people admitted to our care have severe personality disorders. Putting in place regimes and support services for those individuals, as well as for other prisoners who will at some stage during their time in custody present themselves as vulnerable, is a huge challenge for the NIPS."

The Director General said that the fundamental end to end reform programme within the NIPS will improve procedures and operating practices across the service.

Mr McConnell said: "The Strategic Efficiency and Effectiveness (SEE) Programme will introduce new staffing arrangements centred on engagement with prisoners.

"This change programme, the most important in the history of the NIPS, will fundamentally transform every aspect of how the service operates on a daily basis so that offenders can address their offending behaviour."

(CD/GK)