Prison Service Instruction Number - Inside Time

PSI 40/2008 Page 2Audit and monitoringClosed visits must not continue without limit of time;Any additional period of closed visits applied while a prisoner is already on a periodof closed visits, must run concurrently with the remainder of the original period.Imposition of additional periods of closed visits in these circumstances must neverbe consecutive;All prisoners on closed visits must be reviewed every month to assess whether thereis a continuing need for closed visits.10. Individual establishments will be responsible monitoring arrangements for administeringclosed visits. Arrangements outlined in PSO 3610 for monitoring the visits bans initiativewill continue unaltered.Advice and InformationAPPLYING CLOSED VISITS11. Closed visits are an administrative measure, not a punishment. As such, they can beapplied regardless of whether or not a prisoner has been charged at adjudication withsmuggling drugs through a visit.12. Care should be taken to ensure the notification of closed visits is quite separate from anyadjudication procedures.13. Closed visits should be applied where prisoners are proved or reasonably suspected ofinvolvement in drugs smuggling through visits, or are considered to pose a reasonable riskof involvement.14. Establishments should be able to demonstrate that in deciding to apply closed visits theyhave taken into account all the individual circumstances of the case and have actedproportionately. For example, a prisoner simply failing one MDT would not necessarily posethe same risk as a prisoner who was previously known to be involved in drug using activitywho failed an MDT, and a different response may be called for. Equally, a drug dogindication on a prisoner’s cell is likely to warrant an on-suspicion MDT rather than closedvisits. In applying closed visits establishments may wish to look at the following:As balanced against:Patterns of drug use as demonstrated by MDT;Analysis/use of intelligence;Incidents on visits;CCTV evidence or possession of drugs on a post-visit search;Correspondence/telephone monitoring evidence of attempted or actual smugglingthrough visits;Finds from cell searches; andThe prisoner’s index offence and criminal record;Engagement with treatment and support programmes; andInvolvement in a voluntary testing programme. (This should not include anexamination of individual test results.)15. A number of prisons have adopted the practice of applying closed visits following onepositive MDT. This practice is likely to have arisen from papers circulated by ProgrammesGroup in 1996/97 following a pilot study which explored the value of imposing mandatoryclosed visits for prisoners known to use drugs.Order ref. 3610 Date issued 11/11/ 08