Disclosure Team
Ministry of Justice
102 Petty France
London
SW1H 9AJ
Jack Maxwell
xxxx.xxxxxx@xxxxxxx.xxx.xx
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx.xxx
11 November 2020
Dear Mr Maxwell,
Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) Request – 201019025 Thank you for your request received on 19 October 2020 in which you asked for the
following information from the Ministry of Justice (MoJ):
Could you please provide me with the following documents regarding the pilot:
(1) Any reports, summaries or evaluations of the pilot.
(2) Any equality impact assessments or data protection impact assessments in
relation to the pilot or the 'new ACCT system'
Your request has been handled under the FOIA.
I can confirm that the MoJ holds some of the information that you have requested. However,
the information is exempt from disclosure under section 22(1) of the FOIA because it is
intended for future publication.
This is a qualified exemption which means that the decision to disclose the information is
subject to the public interest test. When assessing if it would be in the public interest to
disclose it to you, we considered the following factors.
Public interest considerations favouring disclosing information:
• Early disclosure would improve transparency in the operations of Government, and of
the justice system in particular.
Public interest considerations favouring withholding the information
• It is in the public interest to adhere to the existing publication process, which includes
time for the information properly verified before placed in the public domain. This
ensures that accurate information is available to all members of the public at the
same time. Early publication could increase the risk that incorrect or inaccurate
information being released.
In relation to the first part of this information request, I can confirm that we are planning to
publish the ACCT version 6 pilot evaluation report. As final changes continue to be made, it
is also the case that the information requested within the second part of this request is
unavailable at this time, therefore we do not hold this information. Drafting is not yet
complete for the associated Impact Assessments for both the pilot and ACCT version 6.
Therefore, continuing with publication of the requested information in line with existing
intentions will ensure that accurate information becomes available to all members of the
public at the same time. I am, however, unable to provide a confirmed timeframe for
publication at this time. This is due to the impact of COVID requiring revised roll-out and
publication plans to be kept under review and, as such, these are subject to change.
On balance, I therefore consider that public interest favours withholding the information at
present, until it is published officially.
While we are unable to provide any reports or evaluations of the pilot at this time, outside of
FOIA and on a discretionary basis I am able to provide some summary information relating
to the ACCT pilot referenced within your request. Assessment, Care in Custody and
Teamwork (ACCT) is a multi-disciplinary case management system used in prisons to
support people at risk of suicide and self-harm. We are in the process of revising ACCT and
between February and June 2019 we piloted changes, which included improving the focus
on individual needs and effective multi-disciplinary working. The revised ACCT was piloted in
9 prisons and 1 detention centre, reflecting a range of establishments and cohorts: Morton
Hall IRC, Norwich, Werrington, Foston Hall, Stafford, Brinsford, Swansea, Lowdham Grange,
Leicester and Stocken.
We are using feedback from the pilot sites and the evaluation report to make the final
changes to the ACCT document and associated guidance. We had originally planned to roll-
out the revised ACCT in 2020, however these plans were paused while we focused our
efforts on responding to COVID-19. We are currently finalising revised ACCT roll-out plans,
which will be kept under review to ensure these remain feasible subject to any further impact
of COVID.
Appeal Rights
If you are not satisfied with this response you have the right to request an internal review by
responding in writing to the address below within two months of the date of this response.
xxxx.xxxxxx@xxxxxxx.xxx.xx
Disclosure Team, Ministry of Justice
You do have the right to ask the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) to investigate any
aspect of your complaint. However, please note that the ICO is likely to expect internal
complaints procedures to have been exhausted before beginning their investigation.
Yours sincerely
Prison Safety Team