Prisons
We have a maximum of 15 minutes for this item on Scottish prisons. It was on last week's agenda, but the evidence session on the Carbeth hutters was much more involved than we expected, so we did not reach the item on prisons. It was never certain that we would discuss prisons—the item was included as prisons will be a long-running issue for the committee, and there had been an announcement about a budget cut of £13 million, followed by a great deal of speculation as to the impact of that shortfall. I suspect that the announcement resulted in many local press releases, seeking assurances that the local prison would not close down.
Since then, I have been advised—although I have not been able to confirm this—that at the Scottish Executive Cabinet briefing yesterday, references were made to a consideration of the way in which young offenders are dealt with. As a result of our interest in prisons, the committee is considering taking on the issues of young offenders and women offenders. My understanding is that there is a steer that the treatment of young offenders is to move away from custody and towards non-custodial disposals. That would be in keeping with the direction in which things have been moving in Scotland over a period of years, and obviously it impacts on our discussions on prisons over the longer term. I want to allow the committee a brief opportunity to discuss some of the issues arising from the £13 million budget cut and in respect of young offenders.
I was most concerned to learn of the threats to close Penninghame open prison. I know that that is only speculation, but I have a constituency interest. The prison is in the south of Scotland and I lived quite close to it for a long time—in a village called Minnigaff. The prison is very well respected. I have a paper from it—I will be happy to let members see it if they do not have copies—which contains submissions from the prison officers and from local communities. It is a successful prison, which has a very low cost per prisoner. If it were to close, it would be serious for the Scottish Prison Service.
Unique to Penninghame are what are known as independent units. Twenty independent unit places are available—prisoners have to work and to budget for their food. Forty per cent of the prisoners are on outwork placements—they used to work in Minnigaff, on pensioners' gardens. The social mixing is important.
The impact on the local economy would be noticeable. The area needs the employment that the prison provides. Its cost to the Prison Service is well below the target for other prisons.
The main point is the prison's success as the gateway to release for all levels of prisoners, from those sentenced to short terms to those who are serving sentences for murder. It has a good drug rehabilitation programme. I have a letter from the head teacher of Douglas Ewart High, the local school, praising what the Prison Service does for the school, and similar letters from various voluntary organisations. It is a successful open prison, and I want the committee to be aware of that.
We recently heard from the Scottish prisons inspectorate, which boasted of the reduction in prison overcrowding. Any reduction in staffing numbers or in the number of prisons would affect that.
The report from the inspectorate suggested that Longriggend, which some members of the committee visited, was under threat. I understood that other options that would reduce overcrowding in the prison might be considered.
The £13 million reduction seemed to come out of the blue. It should have been announced in the statement on funding that the Minister for Finance gave to the chamber a few days before the announcement.
The policy on young offenders is totally separate from the argument on the £13 million reduction. The Parliament must make a decision on how to deal with the reduction. I do not believe that those policies can be introduced immediately; they will have to be discussed. I have great concerns about any thought of reducing the number of warders or the number of prison spaces.
I advise the committee that I have seen, and have a copy of, the internal Scottish Prison Service document that was sent round after the announcement of the £13 million reduction. It takes the form of three pages of hypothetical questions and answers and is on the basis that there will now be an increase in overcrowding. Assurances are given that the Scottish Prison Service will be able to handle overcrowding.
I will ensure that copies of the document are circulated to all members.
To some extent, you have pre-empted what I was going to say.
Given the way in which we first heard of the announcement in the popular press, it is difficult to know the details. If numbers of prisoners were falling—as they seem to be—and there were no problems about the fabric of our prisons or about overcrowding, I would have no problem with the reduction in the budget. However, prisons are overcrowded and the buildings are poor.
As one who is interested in the young offenders strategy—or lack of such—I echo Roseanna's points. The conditions in which young people were held in Longriggend were appalling. No wonder we have people who spend their lives going in and out of prison. I have no problems about the proposed closure of Longriggend, but the committee should return to the issue of young offenders later. We need to develop a coherent strategy to deal with the problem. Incarceration, though necessary in some cases, should not be the first option when dealing with young offenders.
Phil Gallie made the point that we were satisfied that overcrowding was not an issue, because of the opening of the prison in Kilmarnock, and that the key issue was drugs in prisons. We have an overwhelming responsibility to ask the Executive about that issue. It is not acceptable if the committee is not satisfied, so we might go back to the issue of overcrowding.
The question of the rehabilitation of offenders in institutions and what we do with people in prison has never genuinely been considered. We have an opportunity to examine progressive ways of dealing with people in prison—I agree that there should be a separate strategy for young offenders, and I agree with what is being done there. The committee must not lose sight of the issue of rehabilitation.
I do not know how we came to decide that we would consider prisons. The committee has a lot of work. I know that this will overburden us, but I do not think that we can let it go.
That is why it is on the agenda today. Whatever else we do, I want us to keep visiting the issue.
Pauline McNeill is right. It is vital that you all see copies of the internal Scottish Prison Service document, as it specifically refers to an expectation of overcrowding as a result of the budget reduction.
I will say what everybody else has said. The announcement came out of the blue. Having just visited prisons and seen the appalling conditions at Longriggend, I could not believe that it was happening, and I want to know why.
I have had representations from MSPs with prisons in their constituencies. I received a representation from the MSP whose constituency contains Cornton Vale. She spoke to the governor of Cornton Vale, who is most concerned. She said that the prisons had made efficiency gains, but were not getting the benefit, as those gains were passed somewhere else. The Prison Service feels that it is down to the minimum. As Scott Barrie, Pauline McNeill and others have said, we need to take this further.
I am interested in what the figure of £13 million constitutes. I have heard various descriptions of it, including accumulated underspends. What has the Scottish Prison Service not being doing to achieve several years' worth of underspend?
I have done further research. Apparently, the service will be allowed to keep £11 million of last year's underspend.
We need to ask the Executive and the Scottish Prison Service what those sums are. If the underspends were accumulated over a number of financial years, why, given the state of places such as Longriggend, has the money not been spent? Also, why was it decided to reallocate the £13 million?
I understand that those sums were achieved through efficiency savings within the Prison Service specifically so that they could be spent on the prison estate. The efficiency savings were a way in which the service could accumulate money, to deal with things such as ending slopping out.
If the service cannot benefit by spending the money on the prison estate, there is not a great incentive to find future efficiency savings.
Why have those savings not been used? What prevented the Prison Service from using them?
Nothing prevented the Prison Service. It was trying to accrue enough money to make a substantial difference.
What is the point of the Prison Service making such an effort if it does not benefit?
That is a broader issue.
Can we have that clarified? It seems strange that the service could accrue contingencies or balances from revenue and then be able to spend them on capital projects.
We need clarification, as we are all operating on the basis of newspaper reports that gave us nothing more than a figure, followed by a great deal of speculation. It is difficult to know whether that speculation is informed.
I suggest that we write directly to Tony Cameron, the chief executive of the Scottish Prison Service, requesting clarification on where the £13 million came from, what the money was originally to have been spent on, what the position is now, given that the money has been taken away, and what the result will be. We can refer him specifically to the internal memorandum circulated by the Scottish Prison Service. We should also write to the Deputy First Minister and Minister for Justice asking how the decision was made, where he thinks the £13 million came from and what justification there can be for taking it away.
If that is agreed, we can take the issue forward both with the chief executive of the Scottish Prison Service and with the justice minister. That might shed some light on the matter; I am aware that, at the moment, we are operating in an area of speculation. I would also like to ask for clarification of the Cabinet briefing that I understand took place yesterday, so that we can establish what the proposals are. We would want to include those proposals in any future examination of the young offenders strategy by the committee.