Chamber and committees

The Scottish Government has made substantial progress in implementing the recommendations of the report Commission on Woman Offenders.

Following the commission’s principles of coordinated multi-agency working, 16 new services for women offenders have been developed in localities across Scotland to deliver services tailored to the needs of women who offend. Where appropriate, these projects follow the model of community justice centres for women. But, where a single centre does not fit the needs of the population, the projects are using a range of models (including outreach projects and improved co-ordination of services) to deliver improved services to women in smaller or rural populations.

We are also providing mentoring services to women offenders across Scotland through the SHINE public social partnership, one of the mentoring services being funded through the Reducing Reoffending Change Fund.

The Scottish Prison Service (SPS) is developing a new national prison for women in Inverclyde which will open in summer 2017. The plans for HMP Inverclyde have been developed in line with the commission’s recommended standards. In addition, new women specific facilities at HMP Edinburgh and HMP Grampian will provide the opportunity for many women to serve shorter sentences closer to their families.

In the meantime, an upgrade to HMP Cornton Vale has included renovation of prison buildings, the creation of a new family/visitor hub and specialised training for all SPS staff who deal with women prisoners.

I have asked Colin McConnell, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service, to respond. His response is as follows:

“The Scottish Prison Service is currently developing a strategy for the management of women in custody in parallel with the development of Scotland’s new national establishment for women offenders, HMP & YOI Inverclyde. This development is currently in design phase. A key aspect of this is the appropriate application of technology, including supporting improved family contact, alongside other offender outcomes.

HMP & YOIs Grampian and Cornton Vale already make use of their video conferencing facilities for virtual visits and all establishments utilise the email-a-prisoner service which enables prisoners to receive email correspondence.”

NHS Education for Scotland have developed and been delivering two day workshops on mentalisation-based therapy (MBT) skills and awareness for staff in forensic settings. Staff from a range of disciplines including nurses, psychologists, social workers, psychiatrists and occupational therapists, have been equipped with a working knowledge of MBT which they will be able to put into use in their current practice.

The Scottish Government and NHS Education for Scotland are working with NHS Grampian to develop capacity to deliver evidence based MBT in NHS Scotland. Through MBT Scotland, hosted by NHS Grampian, it will establish an MBT network to help clinical teams across Scotland establish the necessary skills and expertise to deliver MBT across complex groups, including personality disorder.

The Scottish Government has made commitments in the Mental Health Strategy 2012-15 to improve services and address the challenges around mental health and offending. £158k is available over the three years from 2013 to 2016 to support the funding of these initiatives.

The Mental Health Strategy for Scotland includes a specific commitment to build on the work carried out at HMP&YOI Cornton Vale by testing the effectiveness of training prison staff in a ‘mentalisation’ approach to working with women with personality disorder and women who have experienced trauma. The Scottish Prison Service (SPS) is working in partnership with NHS Lothian to test approaches to working with women with borderline personality disorder. Funding has been provided by the Scottish Government Mental Health Division to support a two-year pilot programme at HMP&YOI Cornton Vale and HMP Edinburgh with the aim of improving the care, treatment and support of women with personality disorders through the development of therapeutic relationships and environment.

The SPS women offenders project team is also working in collaboration with Professor Lindsay Thomson, Chair of the National Prisoner Healthcare Network Mental Health Workstream to develop a model of care to meet the future management of women with high care needs, as part of the service planning work in progress for HMP Inverclyde. Additionally, HMP&YOI Cornton Vale is collaborating with a pilot intervention for women assessed with post-traumatic stress disorder, which will be delivered by a team lead by Professor Kevin Power, University of Stirling. SPS will continue to participate in the care programme approach in the management of restricted patients who may be accommodated in prison.

Information relating to parts (b) and (c) of the question is not held centrally.

Queen Victoria School is registered with Scottish Ministers as an independent school and there are no plans to change the status of such schools in the event of independence.

The Scottish Government recognises the importance of stability in the education of the children of service personnel. In the event of independence it would therefore enter into responsible discussion with the government of the rest of the UK, which would also have a strong interest in maintaining continuity of education for children of its service personnel at the school. Discussions would include the availability of places at the Queen Victoria School to children of service personnel from the rest of the UK and from the Commonwealth.

It may also be helpful to say that in Scotland’s Future Scottish Ministers have confirmed that terms and conditions of service personnel will remain harmonised with those of the UK through a transitional period. That would include the Continuity of Education Allowance, where eligibility criteria are met.

In the course of developing the Hepatitis C Phase 1 Action Plan, Health Protection Scotland estimated the costs of the current and future burden of chronic hepatitis C disease on the NHS in Scotland. This work was completed in February 2007.

Health Protection Scotland estimated that the annual health service costs associated with the monitoring, management and treatment of people with diagnosed chronic hepatitis C disease in Scotland was £11.8 million in 2005. This figure included £2.8 million for antiviral therapy for hepatitis C.

The same work also estimated potential future costs, assuming uptake of hepatitis C antiviral therapy by around 1,000 former injecting drug users a year. In this scenario it was estimated that costs would rise to around £22 million in 2015, comprising around £13 million for the costs associated with the management of chronic hepatitis C disease and around £9 million for the costs of antiviral therapy. (These costs do not take account of inflation and were calculated based on 2005 prices).

A study led by the University of the West of Scotland and published in 2012 (Hepatitis C Prevalence and Incidence among Scottish Prisoners and Staff Views of its Management, Taylor et al), included an assessment of awareness raising activities within Scottish prisons. The study reported that a confidential blood borne virus service, incorporating hepatitis C (HCV), is available to all prisoners within the Scottish Prison Service. This service includes immunisations, HCV testing and counselling, HCV treatment and harm reduction awareness-raising such as awareness sessions regarding HCV (and other BBV) risk behaviour awareness training

The report also concluded that the Scottish Prison Service “is to be congratulated for having introduced a comprehensive range of interventions…. designed to reduce injecting, prevent transmission of infection and provide treatment, care and support for those already infected with HCV.”

The majority of prisoners at risk of hepatitis C infection within Scottish prisons are people who inject drugs (PWID) carrying out short sentences and who may also have been made aware of HCV through community based awareness programmes.

The Scottish Government does consider that the investment of £7.6 million in the building of Broxden Dental Centre represents a sound investment.

It is not the case that Broxden Dental Centre is massively underused. It is the only Public Dental Service Clinic serving a population of more than 150,000 people in Perth and Kinross. It also carries out undergraduate outreach work, provides vocational training for young dentists unable to obtain positions in independent practice; caters for patients with special needs or requiring special care; and delivers Childsmile.

Table 1 and 2 provides the available data for hepatitis C and hepatitis B.

Table 1: Number of individuals estimated to be infected with chronic hepatitis C and the estimated number diagnosed and living with chronic hepatitis C, by year 2007-2013*

* Source: UK Hepatitis C report 2013

* Source: Schnier C, Hutchinson SJ, Epidemiology & Infection 2014 (in press)