Chamber and committees

I have substantially responded to the points in answer to Daniel Johnson’s question, but I would say the same to Russell Findlay. I am happy to meet him. I do not know the proprieties of meeting someone else who might have a current case against Police Scotland, but I am willing to look into that and come back to the member if it is possible to do so.

I agree with the point about making sure that rhetoric is reflected in reality, but I have faith that the members of Police Scotland’s senior management team are committed to this work, whether that is through the report that was produced by the Police Service of Northern Ireland or through the recommendations of Dame Elish Angiolini’s review. They are committed to driving out those behaviours and I want to support them in doing that. If, after discussions with Daniel Johnson and Russell Findlay, there are further suggestions, I am happy to take those to Police Scotland.

I think that Pauline McNeill’s first point was about whether general health concerns rather than suicidality or mental health concerns are properly recorded. I tried to make the point that a new electronic process has been developed and, during the course of its development, it was found that it was not doing exactly what Pauline McNeill has asked for. That process is now being changed to make sure that general health concerns are also recorded.

On whether families can have full confidence in the process, that is what we are aiming to achieve, but we have something more basic to achieve before we get to that, which is to give families the courtesy of basic information whenever it is possible to do so. I am the first to concede that that has not always happened in the past. That is our intention.

On time limits, which goes back to Jamie Greene’s questions, it will be about trying to make sure that the two processes that might apply are dovetailed as far as possible. Our aim is to make sure that, especially in straightforward cases, the information that is available can be passed on to the family as quickly as possible. That is the intention. I also think that victims should have similar notification, and that has been addressed by some of the recommendations that the SPS has already taken forward by publicising on its website the fact that somebody has died in prison. Those are our aims and what we are trying to do.

I recently discussed that very issue with the governor of Saughton prison. I know that members of the Criminal Justice Committee have visited HMP Edinburgh, which has well-developed practices for supporting prison officers. However, that prison does not yet have the kind of body scanner that Barlinnie prison has, which, I am told, has been extremely effective. Through the use of such equipment, along with the photocopying of documents that is now being done in many of our prisons, real progress is starting to be made in reducing the incidence of drugs in prison.

Russell Findlay quoted someone at Barlinnie saying that it is impossible to eradicate drugs in prison. Regardless of whether that is the case, in that person’s view, we must aim to eradicate drugs from our prisons. We must continue to train prison officers and to make sure that they have the support that they need. Often, the issue butts up against serious organised crime and people who are convicted for such offences, but I am content that, by pursuing the new technological opportunities that we have, we can make further progress in eradicating drugs from our prisons.

We always listen very carefully to any recommendations that are made by a public inquiry. To be fair, I think that all Governments do that.

The member mentioned the length of time that it has taken for the Sheku Bayoh inquiry to get to this stage. I understand that concern. Other concerns have been expressed to me about the fact that people who are appointed to chair inquiries can sometimes be unwell, which causes delays.

As the member knows, such matters are not an issue for me. Public inquiries are independent, and we want to respect that independence.

The Scottish Government stands shoulder to shoulder with all victims of hate crime, including LGBTQ+ people and disabled people, and we strongly encourage reporting of incidents directly to the police or by using one of the many third-party reporting centres that exist in every local authority. However, we recognise that for some victims, barriers to reporting hate crime remain. As we work to develop a new hate crime strategy for Scotland, we will consider how to build on the progress that has been made in reducing barriers in order to ensure that victims and witnesses have the confidence to report hate crime, and that they feel supported in doing so.

I have already made clear the pace at which we are considering that issue in prisons. In some cases, the issue is currently being dealt with, but I think that it is fairly obvious to most people that the presence of ligature cutters could also represent a threat in a prison environment. The fact that the SPS, Gill Imery and all those concerned are trying to do this in a way that maximises the safety of staff and prisoners shows that that is the right approach. The issue is being dealt with in many prisons, and they are not waiting for the further review that I mentioned or the further update. I am sure that it will be rolled out in a safe way in all prisons in due course.

We have set out bold and progressive plans for the new female custodial estate in Scotland. The plans include the smaller national prison in Stirling that the member mentioned, which will be built on the current Cornton Vale site and will accommodate around 80 women with the most complex needs, together with an assessment centre that is focused on identifying the needs of all women who come into prison custody.

Alongside the new facilities, we will adopt a new approach to working with women in prison. The SPS, in partnership with multidisciplinary teams, will work to create a recovery-based ethos that responds to the specific needs of women in custody. All aspects of the approach will be gender specific and trauma informed.

The SPS strategy for women is aligned with the national trauma training framework.

We are committed to supporting the changes that the chief constable has committed to lead, so that Scotland’s citizens and communities have trust and confidence in the policing system and the structures that underpin it. Of course, that has been impacted by the example that has been given already.

Working with partners, following the publication of Dame Elish Angiolini’s review, we have already taken significant steps towards achieving that. On 24 May, a 12-week public consultation was launched to seek views on 34 of her recommendations that would require possible legislative changes. We will continue to engage with partners and interested parties on those important matters, so that we can further improve transparency and strengthen public confidence in the police.

I imagine that there is unanimity in the chamber that those who are in prison should have the same level of care, whether for mental health or physical wellbeing, as those who are not in custody. We made that clear in our mental health transition and recovery plan, which was published in October 2020. I have already mentioned the ministerial working group.

In addition, the SPS is working in partnership with mental health experts to co-produce a revised mental health strategy for those in custody, which will be informed by a suite of health needs assessments on prisons, including one on mental health, which will be published by the Government later this year. The SPS is also working in partnership with NHS prison healthcare colleagues to ensure that due consideration is given to pre-liberation planning that will support transfer of care on release. That is about throughcare and a consistency of support for people who can be extremely vulnerable when they are in prison and when they are first released.

I assure the member that the people concerned—Gill Imery and HM Inspectorate of Prisons for Scotland—are well versed in the current situation in prisons and are well seized of those issues, but there is more work to be done on mental health issues, as I have just mentioned.

The member also mentioned the role of families. When I met the families, I was impressed with the knowledge that they had—first-hand lived experience of sometimes very traumatic events. We want to make sure that the lived experience of those families informs the new ways in which we can try to prevent further deaths in prison.