Families, employers and first-time clients
Understanding HMPPS: The Family Plain-English Glossary
ACCT, IEP, OMU, Cat-D, ROTL, HDC — the terminology you will hear from staff and letters, decoded without jargon.
8 min read
The organisations
- HMPPS
- His Majesty's Prison and Probation Service. The executive agency running prisons and probation in England and Wales.
- HMIP
- HM Inspectorate of Prisons. Independent inspectorate; publishes reports on individual establishments.
- IMB
- Independent Monitoring Board. Volunteers with statutory right of access to every prison; families can write to them about unresolved concerns.
- PPO
- Prisons and Probation Ombudsman. Investigates complaints once the internal process is exhausted, and all deaths in custody.
- CRC / Probation Service
- Since 2021 probation is unified under the Probation Service within HMPPS.
Risk and welfare
- ACCT
- Assessment, Care in Custody and Teamwork. The care plan opened for a prisoner at risk of self-harm or suicide. Involves assessment, case reviews, observation levels and a CAREMAP of actions.
- CAREMAP
- The action plan inside an ACCT: who does what, by when.
- Constant supervision / observations
- The frequency at which staff check a prisoner, set at the ACCT review.
- Safer Custody
- The establishment's team responsible for suicide and self-harm prevention, and for handling family concerns.
- Listener
- A prisoner trained by the Samaritans to provide confidential emotional support to other prisoners.
- First Night Centre
- A dedicated induction unit in most local prisons for prisoners in their first nights in custody.
Behaviour, privileges and discipline
- IEP
- Incentives and Earned Privileges (the Incentives Policy Framework). Levels are typically Entry, Standard and Enhanced, and they govern spending limits, visits and in-cell items.
- Adjudication
- The internal disciplinary hearing for an alleged breach of the Prison Rules. Heard by a governor, or by an Independent Adjudicator (a District Judge) where added days are possible.
- Added days
- Additional days in custody that only an Independent Adjudicator can impose.
- Basic
- The lowest IEP level, with reduced privileges. Should be time-limited and reviewed.
Categorisation and where someone is held
- Category A to D
- The security categorisation of adult male prisoners. Category A is highest security; Category D is open conditions.
- Cat-D / open conditions
- A prison without a secure perimeter, where prisoners may be eligible for temporary release for work or resettlement.
- Closed conditions
- Categories B and C; a secure perimeter.
- Local prison
- The reception prison serving the courts in an area; where most people are first held.
- Training prison
- A prison focused on sentence delivery, work and education, usually after allocation.
- Restricted status
- The equivalent of Category A for women and young people.
Sentence management
- OMU
- Offender Management Unit. The department managing sentence progression, categorisation, transfers and release planning.
- POM / COM
- Prison Offender Manager, based in the prison. Community Offender Manager, the probation officer in the community.
- OASys
- The risk and needs assessment used across prisons and probation.
- ROTL
- Release on Temporary Licence. Time out of the prison for work, resettlement or family reasons, subject to risk assessment.
- HDC
- Home Detention Curfew, commonly called tag. Early release on an electronically monitored curfew for eligible sentences.
- CRD / SED
- Conditional Release Date and Sentence Expiry Date.
- Parole Board
- The independent body deciding release for indeterminate and certain determinate sentences.
- Licence
- The period after release during which a person remains under supervision and can be recalled.
Money, contact and visits
- Spends / canteen
- The weekly in-prison shop. What can be spent depends on IEP level and earnings.
- Private cash
- Money sent in by family. Most establishments now use the free gov.uk 'Send money to someone in prison' service rather than postal orders.
- PIN credit
- Telephone credit. Numbers must be added to an approved contact list before they can be called.
- Secure video calls
- The official HMPPS video visit service, booked through the Prison Visits Booking Service.
- Email a Prisoner
- A paid third-party service for sending messages that are printed and delivered on the wing.
- Social visits vs legal visit
- Legal visits with solicitors are separate from the social visit allowance and are not usually counted against it.
- Property card
- The record of a prisoner's stored property. Anything not on it will be difficult to recover.
Health in custody
- Reception screening
- The health assessment carried out on arrival, covering physical health, mental health, medication and substance use.
- Commissioning
- Healthcare is commissioned by NHS England, not by the prison. Continuity of prescribed medication is a clinical decision made by prison healthcare, not by prison officers.
- In-possession medication
- Medication a prisoner is permitted to keep in cell, following a risk assessment.
- Substance misuse services
- Substance misuse services and opiate substitution are commissioned separately in each establishment.
This guide is general information based on published HMPPS policy and gov.uk guidance for England and Wales. It is not legal advice and does not replace instructions from your solicitor.
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