- 12 18. In the report on its 2019 visit, the CPT stated that the first Strategic Plan for the Penitentiary System (2018-2020) was a step in the right direction. Nevertheless, it advocated that there was a need to flesh it out further and to include both specific timelines and human and financial resources required for implementing the various objectives, notably for improving conditions of detention and the modernisation of infrastructure; human resources development (including initial and on-going training programmes13 and welfare of staff); reducing overcrowding; ensuring the security of staff and inmates; preparing for reintegration of prisoners into the community; and improving health and social care services. For each of these objectives there needs to be specific actions and yearly benchmarks to enable a measurable assessment of the outcomes. Further, it is important to provide financial projections over a medium to long-term period (five- to ten-years) showing how the planned provision will be met and implemented within the resource levels available. Extra-budget financing requirements from European institutions and partners should be clearly laid out and promoted. Moreover, the role and input of other actors within Greece such as the Ministry of Culture, Education and Religious Affairs and the Ministry of Health need to be more clearly elucidated. Coordination and co-operation among these actors should be enhanced. Further, if prisons are to move beyond warehousing inmates, much more needs to be done to develop offender management programmes and vocational training courses which will assist prisoners in preparing for their return into the community. This also implies developing a properly resourced and functioning probation service which can support prisoners in their transition from prison to the community, notably in respect of accommodation and employment. Above all, there remains a critical need to invest much more resources in recruiting and training prison officers. These comments remain pertinent as the follow-up Strategic Plan for 2021-2023, adopted by the Ministry of Citizens Protection in January 2022, does not fully address these issues and appears to be aspirational rather than a detailed roadmap with benchmarks and clarity about what will be achieved and with what means. 19. The CPT recommends that the Greek authorities adopt a revised Strategic Plan, which includes a detailed implementation schedule, with a view to setting out a more detailed plan for the years ahead, taking into account the above remarks. In particular, the following areas should be covered and addressed: ➢ the mission of prisons and the values according to which prison staff will work; ➢ the size of the prison estate and the range of the prison types that it will include; ➢ the range of activities, including education and vocational training, that will be provided and the amount of access that detained persons, including those on remand, will have to them; ➢ the introduction of specific offender management programmes to assist prisoners in preparing for their return into the community; ➢ the human resource requirement needed to run the prisons professionally (notably, prison officers), giving competence profiles for the key roles; 13 See also European Committee on Crime Problems (CDPC), Guidelines regarding Recruitment, Selection, Education, Training and Professional Development of Prison and Probation Staff, 25 April 2019.