Chamber and committees

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.

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.

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.

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.

This is a matter for the Scottish Police Authority. The Scottish Government does not hold this information centrally.

The day to day delivery of policing, and operational decisions about the allocation of policing resources across Scotland, are a matter for the Chief Constable, under the oversight of the Scottish Police Authority (SPA). However, the Scottish Government is assured that Police Scotland and the SPA are committed to delivering a high level of service to Scotland's rural communities. Police Scotland and the SPA's ten year strategy, 'Serving a Changing Scotland' recognises the distinct needs of rural and remote communities. This is reflected in the current Annual Police Plan (2019-20) which commits Police Scotland to 'implement local policing approaches, aligned to demand, reflecting the differing needs of rural, remote, island and urban communities'.

Police Scotland has a dedicated Rural Crime team, and chairs the Scottish Partnership Against Rural Crime - a multi-agency group committed to tackling crime in Scotland's rural communities.

As required by the Police and Fire Reform (Scotland) Act 2012, the SPA carries out an Annual Review to assess all aspects of Police Scotland's performance. The SPA Review of Policing for 2018-19 will be laid before Parliament in the coming months. As part of the Review process the SPA will seek feedback from all local authorities in Scotland.

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.

Our vision, as set out in the Restorative Justice Action Plan https://www.gov.scot/publications/restorative-justice-action-plan/ , published in June, is to have restorative justice (RJ) available across Scotland to all those who wish to access it, and at a time that is appropriate to the people and cases involved.

The Plan also explains that RJ is offered as a further option in how justice can be experienced across the communities of Scotland.

In line with the Scottish Government Guidance for the Delivery of Restorative Justice https://www.gov.scot/publications/guidance-delivery-restorative-justice-scotland/ , risk assessments must be carried out throughout the RJ process and will take full cognisance of the role of the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS) as the independent public prosecution service for Scotland. In that respect, RJ will not impinge on any ongoing criminal proceedings. Decisions relating to the prosecution or diversion of a case from prosecution are matters solely for COPFS.

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 .

Police Officer Quarterly Strength Scotland (POQS) gives the number of full-time equivalent police officers employed by Police Scotland. Since the first edition of the quarterly series (Published December 2008), POQS has held the status of “Official Statistics”, emphasising that figures are:

• Produced independently by professional statisticians and published by a recognised producer of “Official Statistics” as set out in the Statistics and Registration Service Act 2007.
• Are prepared in compliance with the Code of Practice for Statistics and are subject to scrutiny by the UK Statistics Authority.

The Office for Statistics Regulation (OSR) determine what to prioritise for assessment within the context of their developing vision and mission. OSR consult the Chief Statistician on their Regulatory Work Programme, which is published online:

https://www.statisticsauthority.gov.uk/osr/our-regulatory-work-programme

Currently this includes a programme of work seeking to improve the ‘Use of Policing Statistics in Public Discourse’;

https://www.statisticsauthority.gov.uk/publication/use-of-policing-statistics-in-public-discourse/

The Chief Statistician considers the principles of the Code of Practice for Statistics in determining priorities and whether to formally request an assessment.

The statistics in the POQS release are based upon quarterly returns made by Police Scotland to the Scottish Government, and are a by-product of live administrative processes, generated directly from the HR systems. The published police officer figures are sourced from Police Scotland’s personnel records and as such the quality and reliability is good. Further information on POQS can be found in the Statistical Release Notes that accompany each publication. A link to the latest officer numbers publication is given below:

https://www2.gov.scot/Topics/Statistics/Browse/Crime-Justice/PublicationPoliceStrength/POQS2019Q2