CQC and HMI Prisons to set out how they will work together to inspect prisons in England

Published: 22 December 2016 Page last updated: 12 May 2022
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A new agreement has been formalised between the Care Quality Commission (CQC) and HM Inspectorate of Prisons (HMi prisons), to help facilitate how we will continue to work together to inspect health and care services in prisons.

We have responsibilities to inspect and regulate health and social care in the criminal justice system this including prisons, youth offending institutions, police stations and immigration removal centres.

These inspections are carried out jointly with HMI Probation, Ofsted, HMI Constabulary and HMI Prisons, across different services, to help ensure that people who use services in secure settings receive the same quality of care as the rest of the population.

The Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with HMIP outlines the way that the regulator and inspectorate will continue to work together and cooperate during joint inspections of prison services in England.

It sets out the areas in which the way we will continue to work together and coordinate our complementary roles and how we will avoid duplication or confusion. This will enable those that manage prisons to be clear about their accountability.

The areas for joint work and coordination include:

  • regulation and inspection of the provision of health and social care for people detained in custodial settings
  • reviews, studies and reports
  • advice and information to ministers, service providers and the public
  • working collaboratively in fora to improve outcomes for detainees e.g. the Joint Police Programmes Board

In support of these, we will share information and intelligence, and pool knowledge and expertise, as appropriate to achieve the objectives of this memorandum. We will also coordinate activity and, in particular, inspections and enforcement or other steps to follow up concerns.

We regularly review agreements with partner organisations to make sure they are always relevant, up to date and effective.

The revised agreement aligns with our new approach to inspections, and is set out in a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU).