GovWire

This prison service instruction (PSI) contains guidance for prisons on identifying potential high security prisoners and referring them to the high security group for categorisation. It provides the criteria for identifying:

• category A prisoners (adult men)
• restricted status prisoners (young adults and women)

It also specifies the security arrangements that prisons should take for potential high security prisoners while they are being held outside of the high security estate, including:

• cell allocation and security standards
• work placements
• daily routines
• correspondence and telephone calls

These are designed to ensure that all prisoners are treated in a fair, consistent and objective way while the appropriate security measures are applied lawfully, safely, fairly, proportionately and decently.

This is a current PSI. It came into effect on 2 March 2015 and was last updated on 4 March 2015.