Justice 1 Committee, 10 Mar 2004

Meeting date: Wednesday, March 10, 2004

Official Report 261KB pdf

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Rehabilitation Programmes in Prisons

Item 3 on our agenda concerns the inquiry into the effectiveness of rehabilitation programmes in Scottish prisons. I refer members to the paper prepared by the clerk, which sets out a proposed approach to fact-finding visits in respect of the inquiry. I seek members' views on whether they wish to visit the prisons that are suggested in the paper. At Her Majesty's Prison Cornton Vale, we would examine rehabilitation opportunities for women prisoners. At HMP Barlinnie, we would examine rehabilitation opportunities in a prison that is overcrowded—members will recall that one of the criteria that we set for ourselves was to examine rehabilitation in that context. At HMP Glenochil, we would examine rehabilitation opportunities in a prison with a wide range of categories of prisoners.

Members will be aware that the Executive has launched a consultation on reducing offending. Before we debate the clerk's paper, I draw to members' attention the fact that there may be some overlap between what the Executive intends to do and the results of our inquiry. I have written to the Minister for Justice seeking an assurance that the committee's conclusions will be taken into account in the development of Executive policy in this area and that the Executive will take no policy decisions before it sees the outcome of our inquiry. There may be no overlap between the inquiry and the Executive's consultation, but the people from whom we wish to seek evidence may be the same people whom the Executive wishes to question. That could be a problem, as they might suffer from witness fatigue. I have taken the liberty of expressing some concerns and suggesting that the Executive should perhaps have considered what committees were doing and have incorporated that work into its consultation. We will receive a response from the Executive that clarifies exactly its thinking on this matter.

I invite members to discuss the paper or any other matter that relates to the inquiry.

I welcome the suggested visits to the three prisons. The only thing that is missing from the paper is anything about the rehabilitation of sex offenders. We have one prison that specialises in dealing with sex offenders. Should we include that category of offenders in our considerations?

Do any members object to that suggestion? When we drew up the paper, we considered members' commitments and how many days they would be available over the year. However, Michael Matheson makes a fair point. If we are to be comprehensive, we will have to consider the STOP 2000 programme.

Peterhead prison has built an international reputation for its rehabilitation programme. If we are to get an overall picture, we should go to what would appear to be one of the jewels in the crown of the SPS's rehabilitation programmes, to see how it works and how effective it is.

That is a very fair point. If it can be accommodated in our schedule, we should attempt a visit.

I am interested in whom we are trying to rehabilitate. As other inquiries demonstrate, if you do not have a willing person, you can have all the rehabilitation programmes in the world but they will be of no use. At some point, we will have to get down to the nitty-gritty of the range of offenders and how they might respond to the range of programmes that is available. As we usually do, we will consult members about the timing of our visits.

I remind members that our next meeting will be a joint meeting with the Justice 2 Committee on Tuesday 16 March. The committees will consider witnesses for the budget process. Thereafter, the next meeting of the Justice 1 Committee will take place on Wednesday 17 March, for further stage 2 consideration of the Criminal Procedure (Amendment) (Scotland) Bill. I advise members that amendments for stage 2 should be lodged as early as possible—to help the clerks—and no later than 2 pm on Monday 15 March.

I thank Chris Gane for his attendance, and apologise for not doing so earlier.

Meeting closed at 12:27.