Chamber and committees

Temporary release is an important part of the rehabilitation process which helps the Parole Board assess whether someone is ready to be released back into the community. It is one of a number of considerations taken into account in assessing the person’s risk to the public. A rigorous risk assessment process is undertaken by the Scottish Prison Service before any offender is granted any form of unescorted leave. This involves psychological assessment, social work reports and reports on their time in prison. Home leave is an important part of the reintegration process and allows an individual to be tested on how they adapt to living in the community. Furthermore, individuals who have joined the Victim Notification Scheme, and have expressed a desire to make representations in relation to licence conditions under section 17 of the Criminal Justice (Scotland) Act 2003.

The Scottish Government has commissioned Healthcare Improvement Scotland and the Care Inspectorate to develop Scotland-specific standards for Barnahus. Draft standards will be shared for consultation at the end of 2019 and publication of finalised standards is timetabled for summer 2020.

Our Restorative Justice Action Plan https://www.gov.scot/publications/restorative-justice-action-plan/ , published in June, sets a desired outcome of having high quality restorative justice services delivered by trained facilitators.

The Plan also sets out a suite of actions to deliver this outcome, including commissioning a national training needs analysis by Spring 2020, which will identify the skills required and the scale of the requirement for training.

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

SPS has a zero tolerance approach towards violence. SPS staff are trained to recognise and respond to the precursors of violence and manage any incidents when they do occur. Violent incidents are always reported to Police Scotland.

CCTV cameras operate within all Scottish prisons to deter violence and assist in any post-incident investigations. Violence Reduction meetings also take place across Scottish prisons on a monthly basis to discuss all notable incidents, drivers, trends and preventative actions. SPS facilitates a number of national search operations to support the recovery of contraband and weapons which can lead to, or can be used in, violence.

Before any person in our care is allocated to a residential area, a Cell Sharing Risk Assessment (CSRA) must always, firstly, be conducted. The CSRA is used to inform the decision as to whether an individual is suitable to share a cell with another and reduces the risk of harm, including interpersonal violence from the outset.

The CSRA process is dynamic and records are continually updated in response to changes in circumstance which may impact upon the level of risk presented. Where any person is identified as presenting a risk to others, then this is recorded and will inform all subsequent management decisions.

SPS continues to seek understanding of the changing nature of the prison population profile and the subsequent impact on violence, particularly in relation to Serious and Organised Crime Groups (SOCGs). SPS has in place measures to prevent individuals identified as enemies from encountering each other.

Finally, in order to safely manage the increased prison population a Population Management Plan has been developed by SPS and implemented in response.

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

SPS does not utilise a system of sanction and reward as a means to encourage engagement with drug treatment. SPS views problem drug use through a public health lens and adopts a therapeutic approach in dealing with the issue of drug misuse.

Prisoner healthcare is the responsibility of the NHS and addiction services in prisons are provided in line with local NHS Board strategies. All clinical addiction treatment and support is delivered by NHS Health Boards.

All individuals entering prison are assessed for healthcare needs, including addictions. Where concerns are raised in relation to substance misuse during a person’s time in SPS care, then a referral for NHS services will be made.

The Scottish Government is in regular contact with Police Scotland and a range of issues are discussed.

We are protecting Police Scotland’s revenue budget during this Parliament to deliver a £100 million boost by 2021 and total Scottish Government funding for the SPA in 2019-20 is increasing by £42.3 million meaning the annual policing budget is now over £1.2 billion. We also continue to press the UK Government for a refund of the £125 million paid by Police Scotland in VAT between 2013 and 2018 – money that could be used to support transformation.

The precise allocation of resources is a matter for the Chief Constable, but Police Scotland has specialised Offender Management Units within each of its 13 territorial divisions. Currently they have access to 49 dedicated vehicles which allow them to undertake their operational duties and manage offenders.

It is not solely the responsibility of a police unit to protect the public. In Scotland, MAPPA – our Multi-Agency Public Protection Arrangements – brings together the Police, Local Authorities and other agencies, in partnership as the Responsible Authorities, to assess and manage the risk posed for certain categories of offender.

Police Scotland has been subject of a joint HMICS and Care Inspectorate Thematic Review of MAPPA in Scotland, which was published in 2015 and a 2017 progress report by HMICS acknowledged the progress made against the 10 recommendations in the original report.

I refer the member to the answer to question S5W-21680 on 1 March 2019.
In addition, the Restorative Justice Action Plan https://www.gov.scot/publications/restorative-justice-action-plan/ , published in June, sets out in more detail the analysis which underpinned its development and the actions planned to achieve our vision of having restorative justice available across Scotland to all those who wish to access it, and at a time that is appropriate to the people and cases involved. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.parliament.scot/parliamentarybusiness/28877.aspx .

The Cabinet Secretary for Justice has regular discussions with the Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to discuss a range of prison policy and operational matters.

This information is not held centrally.

Police Officer Quarterly Strength Scotland (POQS) gives the total number of full-time equivalent police officers employed by Police Scotland. First published as Official Statistics in December 2008, POQS was designed to measure the implementation of the 2007 manifesto commitment to increase officer numbers by 1,000. As such, figures include all police officers appointed by the Chief Constable of Police Scotland and senior police officers appointed by the Scottish Police Authority, excluding those on career breaks.

The latest edition of POQS was published on 6 August 2019, and reports that there were 17,259 full-time equivalent (FTE) police officers in Scotland on 30 June 2019, up 87 police officers (+0.5%) in the last year, from 30 June 2018 and up 1,025 police officers (+6.3%) from the position at 31 March 2007.

Deployment of police officers is a matter for the Chief Constable of Police Scotland. Police Scotland publish sub-national police officer numbers on a quarterly basis in parallel with the Scottish Government’s Police Officer Quarterly Strength Statistics. A link to Police Scotland’s latest sub-national officer numbers publication, providing information on the number of police officers deployed nationally, regionally and within the 13 local policing divisions, is given below:

https://www.scotland.police.uk/assets/pdf/138327/212520/police-scotland-officer-numbers-quarter-1-30th-june2019?view=Standar .

The independent jury research commissioned by the Scottish Government is due to be published on Wednesday 9 October 2019.

The Scottish Government is planning to host a launch event for the research on that day, with attendees invited from the legal profession, third sector, justice organisations, the Justice Committee, defence agents, and other key stakeholders.

After publication the Scottish Government will engage widely to seek views on the findings and any implications for future criminal justice reforms.