In Britain, where a statutory inspectorate has existed for some time, prison visiting committees were not abolished and the two systems were left to operate in tandem. The mere fact that there is another way of appointing a prisons watchdog on behalf of the public does not mean we would have to get rid of the prison committee system in the future were we to give a statutory basis to the activities of the Inspector of Prisons, who at present is operating on a non-statutory basis.