Justice 1 Committee, 17 Dec 2003

Meeting date: Wednesday, December 17, 2003

Official Report 258KB pdf

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Rehabilitation Programmes in Prisons

Agenda item 5 is the inquiry into the effectiveness of rehabilitation programmes in prisons. I refer members to another note prepared by our hard-working clerks. I am inviting members to comment on the proposal about focus groups of prisoners. The idea came from the clerking team; I think that it is an excellent idea, but I invite members to comment on the paper.

During the inquiry into the prison estates review, we had something of a focus group session in most of the prisons that we visited. The sessions were of mixed value because, at times, I had the impression that some of the prisoners were just there because they had been told to go and they did not have much to contribute. How would we identify prisoners who might seek to get involved in the groups and who would be able to make a contribution?

The exercise might be valuable in enabling us to find out the views of prisoners. If we are to ascertain prisoners' views and their experience of the rehabilitation service in prisons, it would also be helpful to get the views of those who deliver the programmes and those who work with prisoners in other ways. The prisoners might have views that differ. In my experience of the prison estates review inquiry, the prisoners had a very different view from those who provided counselling services or other professionals. I am not sure where the idea of focus groups would fit into gathering that information.

I am sure that it could all fit together. We will discuss the appointment of an adviser under agenda item 6, and that person can guide us on the best way of getting the best information. Paragraph 7 of the paper states:

"It is intended that the facilitator will organise a pilot focus group in advance of the others to test the approach used."

We would therefore get a chance to see whether what we were planning was going to work before we went to a full-blown consultation.

Michael Matheson is right in relation to canvassing the views of those who deliver the programmes, if those people can be identified. We must constantly test the quality of the exercise to assure ourselves that it is worth while.

I endorse what Michael Matheson said. If we are seeking a balanced view, we have to get the views of the organisations that are delivering the services as well as those of the prisoners.

I may have missed this, but I wondered whether there would be some discussion with people who have come out the other side; by that, I mean people who are not in prison but who have either benefited or not benefited from the rehabilitation process in prisons. We might be able to get that information from Safeguarding Communities-Reducing Offending and other groups. It would be useful to hear from individuals once they have gone back into society rather than just from those who are still in prison.

I agree. I emphasise that, if we are going to do the inquiry at all, we must submit our bid by 6 January. The paper represents a preliminary attempt to set out the basics. Everything that has been said so far has been very useful and there does not seem to be any dissent on including those points. Members will be able to flesh out what they want to do later, but the paper will allow the committee to make an initial bid to the Conveners Group for money. If the paper, in its basic form, is agreeable, it will go to the Conveners Group and, after that, we will talk about the detail of what else to include.

That takes us to agenda item 6, which members have agreed to take in private.

Meeting continued in private until 12:55.