Questions and answers

Question reference: S3W-24817

Asked by: Richard Baker, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 12 June 2009
Current Status: Answered by Kenny MacAskill on 23 June 2009

To ask the Scottish Executive what its assessment is of the comments in HM Chief Inspector of Prisons for Scotland: Annual Report 2008-09 that “sex offenders receive the worst preparation for release” and that “only a relatively small proportion … of long-term sex offenders will have completed the Sex Offender Treatment Programme before they are released” despite the report noting that this type of prisoner causes the most public concern and what action it will take to address this.

I have asked Mike Ewart, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS), to respond. His response is as follows:

Sex Offenders get some of the best preparation for release of all prisoners held in Scottish prisons in terms of access to prisoner programmes and preparation of supervision and support for eventual release. The preparation for these release arrangements reflect the priority SPS places in managing these offenders, the level of risk this group of offenders represents and the recognition by SPS of the public concern. These arrangements include:

Case Management - all sex offenders serving six months and over are managed on the enhanced version of the Integrated Case Management (ICM) process. As such they are subject to initial and annual case conferencing and closer case management. This increases the likelihood of identifying issues regarding the management of the risk they represent which informs appropriate arrangements for their eventual release from prison.

Sex Offender Treatment Programmes (SOTPs) “ provided a sex offender is prepared to engage on these programmes, the majority of sex offenders are able to access SOTPs prior to release from prison. The number of SOTPs delivered by SPS equates to a higher percentage of sex offenders having the opportunity to attend offence specific programmes than is the case for prisoners with other types of offending behaviour. The SPS recognises that further work can be done to motivate sex offenders to participate on SOTPs and is currently developing a new SOTP which will have a motivational element to encourage participation on appropriate interventions. There is also the option for sex offenders to attend the Community Sex Offender Group Programme (CSOGP) in the community once released.

Statutory Arrangements “ under the terms of the Sex Offenders (Scotland) Act 2006 there is a statutory requirement that sex offenders are supervised by social services (prison or community based) during the course of their sentence. Consequently, the preparations of throughcare and supervision arrangements for eventual release are well developed and actioned during the custodial sentence. Other issues such as appropriate accommodation (either a local authority house or hostel accommodation) are also prioritised before liberation.

Multi Agency Public Protection Arrangements (MAPPA) - all sex offenders held in the Scottish prisons are subject to MAPPA. Whilst other prisoners can have some supervision requirements attached to their liberation license conditions, MAPPA will normally have additional supervision requirements. These arrangements are over and above the requirement of notification under the terms of the Sex Offences (Scotland) Act 2003. SPS is actively involved in planning the MAPPA supervision arrangements.

Testing in the community prior to release - as with other prisoners, sex offenders have the same opportunity of transfer to open conditions, community placements, home leave (subject to a suitable home/hostel being available) and special escorted leave (SEL) provided that the risk that they represent can be appropriately managed in this way.

The primary concern of SPS has to be their responsibility for public protection which explains why comparatively fewer sex offenders gain community access prior to their formal release date. However, SPS continues to explore options with appropriate partner agencies.

Question reference: S3W-24825

Asked by: Richard Baker, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 12 June 2009
Current Status: Answered by Kenny MacAskill on 23 June 2009

To ask the Scottish Executive what proportion of prisoners engage in work while in prison, broken down by (a) average number of hours per week and (b) prison.

Question reference: S3W-24818

Asked by: Richard Baker, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 12 June 2009
Current Status: Answered by Kenny MacAskill on 23 June 2009

To ask the Scottish Executive what its assessment is of the comment in HM Chief Inspector of Prisons for Scotland: Annual Report 2008-09 in relation to the Sex Offender Treatment Programme that “for those convicted of the most serious crimes, serving long sentences, the number of spaces available on the programme is too small - even for those who are eligible for the programme” and what action it will take to address this.

I have asked Mike Ewart, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS), to respond. His response is as follows:

Provided a sex offender is prepared to engage on these programmes the majority of sex offenders are able to access Sex Offender Treatment Programmes (SOTPs) prior to release from prison.

In terms of eligible this appears from the question and statement by HM Chief Inspector of Prisons to mean all sex offenders. Access to SOTPs is subject to a programme specific assessment to determine suitability, and consequently not all sex offenders will be deemed suitable, or eligible, to participate on SOTPs. A number of factors determine suitability which was detailed in our answer to question S3W-19242 on 15 January 2009. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament''s website, the search facility for which can be found at:

http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/Apps2/Business/PQA/Default.aspx.

The SPS recognises that further work can be done to motivate sex offenders to participate on SOTPs and is currently developing a new SOTP which will have a motivational element to encourage participation on appropriate interventions.

Question reference: S3W-24824

Asked by: Richard Baker, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 12 June 2009
Current Status: Answered by Kenny MacAskill on 23 June 2009

To ask the Scottish Executive what its assessment is of the comment in HM Chief Inspector of Prisons for Scotland: Annual Report 2008-09 that “in nearly every prison many prisoners are not working”; what its position is on the comment that “nothing would better equip Scottish prisons for the task of rehabilitation than the daily provision of useful, stimulating, demanding, hard work for every prisoner”, and what action it will take to address this.

Question reference: S3W-24823

Asked by: Richard Baker, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 12 June 2009
Current Status: Answered by Kenny MacAskill on 23 June 2009

To ask the Scottish Executive what proportion of sex offenders it considers to receive adequate preparation prior to release from prison.

Question reference: S3W-24826

Asked by: Richard Baker, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 12 June 2009
Current Status: Answered by Kenny MacAskill on 23 June 2009

To ask the Scottish Executive how many hours per week on average a prisoner spends working, broken down by prison.

I have asked Mike Ewart, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS), to respond. His response is as follows:

The SPS does not record this information.

I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-24825 on 23 June 2009. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament''s website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/Apps2/Business/PQA/Default.aspx.

Question reference: S3W-24820

Asked by: Richard Baker, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 12 June 2009
Current Status: Answered by Kenny MacAskill on 23 June 2009

To ask the Scottish Executive what its position is on the comment in HM Chief Inspector of Prisons for Scotland: Annual Report 2008-09 that it is “time that research evidence was produced to support a programme which remains the principal resource for addressing the offending behaviour of sex offenders in Scottish prisons” and what action it will take to address this.

I have asked Mike Ewart, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS), to respond. His response is as follows:

SPS has monitored and researched its Sex Offender Treatment Programmes (SOTPs) since their introduction in 1994.

A study of the pre-2000 programme revealed a difference of 6% reconviction rate between those who have completed the programme and those who have not (at September 2006).

SPS is currently reviewing its approach to the evaluation of all its prisoner programmes including the SOTPs. In the meantime SOTP data continues to be collected and analysed.

Question reference: S3W-24827

Asked by: Richard Baker, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 12 June 2009
Current Status: Answered by Kenny MacAskill on 23 June 2009

To ask the Scottish Executive how many times per week on average a prisoner engages in work, broken down by prison.

I have asked Mike Ewart, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS), to respond. His response is as follows:

The SPS does not record this information.

I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-24825 on 23 June 2009. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament''s website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/Apps2/Business/PQA/Default.aspx.

Question reference: S3W-24829

Asked by: Richard Baker, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 12 June 2009
Current Status: Answered by Kenny MacAskill on 19 June 2009

To ask the Scottish Executive what its assessment is of the comments by HM Chief Inspector of Prisons for Scotland reported in The Press and Journal on 11 June 2009 that “inmates from the Aberdeen area are more likely to reoffend if the city is left without a jail” and that “family contact is essential to the rehabilitation process and that forcing visitors to embark on a 70-mile round trip to a new £140 million “superjail” planned for Peterhead after Craiginches Prison is closed would have a detrimental impact” and what action it will take.

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

It is widely recognised that family contact is beneficial to the rehabilitation process and it is undoubtedly the case that some people will have to travel further to go to Peterhead than is currently the case in visiting HMP Aberdeen. However, this has to be viewed in the context that at present, mid-June, within Aberdeen Prison there are 193 prisoners with an Aberdeenshire postcode and within the total prison population in Scotland there are 491 prisoners who come from the AB postcode area.

By providing a community facing facility in the north-east of Scotland, those prisoners who would otherwise serve sentences elsewhere in Scotland, currently almost 300, will serve their sentences nearer to the community they come from. This will better meet the wider needs of the north-east.

Question reference: S3W-24643

Asked by: Richard Baker, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 08 June 2009
Current Status: Answered by Kenny MacAskill on 18 June 2009

To ask the Scottish Executive how many black and minority ethnic police officers were serving in (a) 2006-07 and (b) 2007-08, broken down by (i) rank, (ii) gender and (iii) the percentage of all police officers that this represents.

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