A report by the National Audit Office reveals that out of 17 recommendations to improbve matters at the Corradino Correctional Facility, only three were implemented in three years, the Nationalist Party said Tuesday. This confirms that the Labour Government is not serious about reforming the prison.

Another failure for the Ministry for Home Affairs, Security, and Labour as the Auditor General confirms that more effort and determination are needed to implement the necessary reforms, the PN, through its spokesman Darren Carabott, said.

The PN references the recently published report by the National Audit Office (NAO) titled Follow-Up Audits Report 2024 - Volume II, particularly the section A Strategic Overview on the Correctional Services Agency's Operations at the Corradino Correctional Facility, which follows a performance audit published in December 2021.

The aim of this new report was to evaluate whether the recommendations made in 2021 had been implemented within the Prison's administration up to the end of September 2024.

In summary, after three years, the Auditor General's report reached the following conclusions:

• Minimal progress was made on maintaining order and cleanliness in the prison
• Partial implementation of recommendations for renovating areas within Corradino, with no cells restored to the expected standard
• Minimal progress on extending the prison after excavation work stopped due to budget overruns
• Partial implementation of a study on staffing needs, highlighting that current officers and staff are overworked due to insufficient human resources
• Non-Implementation of recommendations on performance assessments for officers, and protecting their work conditions and well-being
• Non-implementation of training programs for all officers
• Minimal progress on hiring professionals for the Care, Re-integration, and Education Unit based on a needs assessment
• Minimal progress on legislative changes to strengthen Corradino's rehabilitation function
• Non-implementation of educational opportunities for prisoners
• Minimal progress on providing work placements for prisoners
• Partial implementation of policy and procedure drafting
• Incomplete implementation of designing and implementing an Offender Management System.

The only fully implemented recommendation over the three years was the creation of care plans for each prisoner, the systematic assignment of internal work placements, and officer training in rehabilitation and care, the PN said.

The Auditor General's report states that only three of the 17 recommendations from 2021 were fully implemented, concluding that more determination and effort are needed at Corradino Correctional Facility.

This is yet another clear certificate of failure for Minister for Home Affairs, Security, and Work Byron Camilleri, who now faces documented evidence that prison system reform and personal rehabilitation are not his priorities.

The PN said it believes that if the prison system and personal rehabilitation fail, crime will rise and take advantage of the situation, leading to serious consequences for the public and society as a whole.

PN has no credibility on the corrective system - PL says

If there's a party that has credibility to talk about the Auditor General's reports it is the Labour Party, which since elected in Government introduced a system that publishes what has been done on the recommendations, with the Auditor General himself noting this effort and the good implementation of his reports. This shows how institutions should be respected, the PL said in reply.

When it comes to corrective systems it is no exception. Because this was a Government that carried out major reforms, with one of the most important being that the prison was really started to be run by the country's authorities, and the prison was no longer full of drugs. The Auditor General himself states: "NAO positively noted that the CSA has endeavoured to maintain a low incidence of substance abuse within CCF."

This is the basis of everything because no rehabilitation is carried out in a prison full of drugs. And thus, when drugs were removed, major reforms could be undertaken, including:

• Agreements with NGOs in the rehabilitation sector;
• The opening of two half-way houses, with the third and the first for women opening in the coming time;
• Engagement of professionals (doctors, psychiatrists, nurses, social workers) in multi-disciplinary teams, which today number 49 professionals;
• A care plan for each individual;
• The creation of the office of the Commissioner for the Protection of Prisoners;
• New state of the art medical facilities;
• Continuous infrastructural work to embellish and improve facilities;
• A place where prisoners go to meet their children;
• More workers, who are better trained and under better conditions.

This is some of the work done, the PL said. Moreover, other reforms including those currently being discussed in Parliament, namely the electronic monitoring law and the reform in the probation system which is promised in the electoral manifesto and which will take place during this legislature.

Because this is a sector that is it's easy to talk about it, however, it is more difficult to run. From the Government, the Labour Party has shown that it is focused on implementing major reforms, which have started and will continue even with work recommended by the Auditor General. Once again credibility is the PN's biggest enemy