National Audit Office report finds shortage of correctional officers at CCF
The Corradino Correctional Facility has a shortage of correctional officers, the National Audit Office has found.The National Audit Office (NAO) conducted a follow-up review of the Corradino Correctional Facility, to determine whether recommendations
The Corradino Correctional Facility has a shortage of correctional officers, the National Audit Office has found.
The National Audit Office (NAO) conducted a follow-up review of the Corradino Correctional Facility, to determine whether recommendations that it had made in a 2021 report were implemented.
While it was positively noted that the Correctional Services Agency's (CSA) correctional officer complement increased by 15% when compared to the original study, a shortage was still registered.
"As at June 2024, this complement stood at 405 while in December 2021, the number of correctional officers engaged with CSA was 351. During discussions with CSA management, this Office was informed that the agency had conducted internal studies which indicated that, as at time of discussions (October 2024), the correctional officer complement would need to increase by 100 officials for the ideal staffing level to be achieved," the NAO report reads.
However, when requesting a copy of this study, the audit team was forwarded with the same document it was forwarded in the original audit, that is, a spreadsheet listing the projected ideal correctional officer complement for the different divisions and other sections within CCF but did not present any detailed explanations or justifications for these vacancies, the NAO report read.
The NAO was further informed that the recruitment process for additional correctional officers had commenced, with CSA asserting that 33 managed to successfully complete the subsequent phase of the written examination. "Following this phase, these correctional officers will also be required to sit for an in-house induction course to be considered for engagement. However, apart from noting that the number of successful candidates is not sufficient to bolster the correctional officer complement to what the Agency deems as required, the latter also highlighted that the eventual engagement of all the 33 applicants is in itself not a certainty, as there is always the possibility that a number of these could fail the aforementioned induction course."
The NAO reviewed the overtime figures for the scoped period as a result, and found that despite the increase in the number of correctional officers, the use of overtime remained substantial. "In fact, while overtime hours decreased by 7% in 2022, 2023 saw an increase of 9%, resulting in an overall average increase of around 1% over these two years."
Another of the recommendations made in 2021 was for the CSA to continue in its efforts, particularly insofar as maintaining order, cleanliness and low incidence of substance abuse are concerned. The NAO was informed, however, that the CCF still does not employ a formal performance assessment system. It did say that the CSA was looking into a procedure which involves the review of correctional officers' performance and the drawing up of relative performance reports on a quarterly basis. The CSA stated that this was still being discussed internally, and as such the NAO said that this recommendation was not implemented.
During the site visits at CCF, the audit team observed a high level of activity within the divisions, especially in those housing a larger number of inmates. "Despite the increased activity, it was observed that most divisions were maintained in an orderly manner."
However, when comparing the overall situation at CCF with the original 2021 report, it was noted that some of the divisions featured a lesser level of cleanliness, the NAO report read. "Specifically, the audit team noted that the common areas of these divisions were littered with cigarette residue and that food refuse was littering the areas around the rubbish bins. In addition, the audit team observed that the room used to store cleaning equipment for one of the divisions (which, as informed by CSA Management, is the responsibility of inmates) was very cluttered and contained broken and unusable cleaning items."
The audit team also observed that in one division there was elevated noise levels due to technical problems with the ventilation equipment, which proved to be a material inconvenience particularly at times when inmates would need to sleep. However, it noted that the ventilation in itself was not compromised in this instance.
Regarding drug use, it positively noted that the CSA has endeavoured to maintain a low incidence of substance abuse within CCF. The report featured two tables, namely tests performed on newly admitted inmates, and tests on inmates which had been incarcerated for more than four weeks.
The first showing the results of substance abuse testing upon admission to the prison. In 2023 for instance, there were 838 admissions, of which 485 tested positive to substance abuse. The second table regarding substance testing after a four week period showed that in 2023, 5,175 were tested, of which 8 tested positive.
"Yhe incidence of positive tests upon admission were notably higher than those detected after the four-week period. It is also worth highlighting that the number of tests being performed has increased significantly from 2022 to 2023 with the rate of positive test results consistently decreasing throughout the observed period."
Expansion
One of the other recommendations made in 2021 was for the CSA to expedite the construction of new premises to increase its current capacity. The CSA noted insignificant progress on this recommendation. The NAO said it was informed that the construction project has been revised with the new extension being designed to house 140 inmates instead of 100.
"The project has however stalled following completion of the excavation stage as, according to CSA management, the projected costs for the whole project would have exceeded the budget originally allocated in 2021. In fact, the agency is seeking to secure an additional €4.5 million in its annual budget allocation in order to proceed with the procurement, building works and completion (up to the structural phase of the building) of the new extension. Consequently, management decided to reallocate a portion of the original funding to cover another extension being constructed at the gatehouse. CSA management explained that the construction of this extension at the gatehouse has been completed and will be hosting additional offices for the facility's administration and security sections."
Rehabilitation
Some of the 2021 proposals dealt with inmate rehabilitation.
A change in legislation was proposed to elevate the function of rehabilitation with CCF, which read: "As the design of local law is beyond the remit of government entities such as CSA, NAO recommends that the Ministry for Home Affairs, National Security and Law Enforcement considers proposing a change in legislation so that the function of rehabilitation within correctional facilities in Malta is elevated and enhanced through better and comprehensively defined legal obligations."
But the NAO noted that there has been insignificant progress. "The CSA acknowledged that enhancing the function of rehabilitation through well-defined legal obligations is advisable. When asked on whether there were any discussions with the Ministry in this regard, CSA replied in the negative. However, during discussions with the audit team, the Agency noted that it had proposed a number of amendments to the legal framework governing the granting of prison leave. NAO was informed that these proposals, which were forwarded to the relative Ministry, aim to increase opportunities for inmates to engage in community work while serving their sentence. In view of these assertions, the audit team requested supporting documentation and correspondence however, up until the time of writing, no such documentation was received."
Regarding the 2021 proposal for the CSA to draw up care plans for all inmates, the NAO noted that this was fully implemented. "The audit team was informed that all the inmates at CCF have been assigned a care plan and that such plans are prepared within four months from the date of the prisoner's admission."
"To verify these assertions, the audit team reviewed documentation on a randomly selected sample of 30 inmates. NAO positively noted that, from the selected sample, most inmates (27) had been assigned a care plan. As for the remaining three inmates, the audit team was informed that two of these were released on bail within a short period of their admission to CCF, with the CREU not having enough time to devise the care plan. The audit team was also informed that documentation for the remaining prisoner could not be retrieved for this analysis as it was being held at CSA's forensic unit at Mount Carmel Hospital. In addition to this sample, NAO also reviewed documentation for another sample of 10 inmates who had been admitted to CCF only a month before this particular exercise was performed. In these cases, the audit team noted that, although only two of these inmates had been assigned a care plan, all prisoners had received a core needs assessment which, as noted by the reviewed documentation, highlights the need for any immediate interventions that may be required by the relevant inmate."
Conclusions
The NAO observed that out of the 17 recommendations presented in the original 2021 report, the agency managed to fully implement three and register progress, to varying extents, in another 11 (with the remaining three recommendations not being implemented). "While noting that the Agency accepted all of the original report's recommendations, NAO is concerned that for the majority (nine) of the recommendations proposed in the original report, the agency only managed to register either insignificant progress or no progress at all. On the other hand, this Office acknowledges the agency's efforts particularly within the care and rehabilitative function in which three of its recommendations have been fully implemented. In NAO's opinion, CSA needs to invest more effort, particularly in the management of its human resources and the overall improvement of the environment within the facility in order to implement the recommendations related to this area. To this end, this Office urges CSA's management to persevere in its efforts towards the care and rehabilitative functions while increasing its commitment towards enhancing the overall environment at CCF and bolstering its human resources."
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