Question reference: S5W-36075
- Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
- Date lodged: 11 March 2021
-
Current status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 24 March 2021
Question
To ask the Scottish Government what the average number of hours per week that prisoners were engaged in purposeful activity has been in each of the last 12 months, broken down by institution.
Answer
I have asked Teresa Medhurst, Interim Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS), to respond. Her response is as follows:
In response to the Covid-19 pandemic, SPS introduced a number of significant restrictions on prison regimes to protect the health and well-being of all those who live and work in our prisons. These restrictions have impacted on the number of Purposeful Activity (PA) hours that each establishment has been able to deliver.
The table below details the average number of PA hours that individuals in custody engaged in each public sector establishment, between March 2020 and January 2021. Data for February 2021 has not yet been verified.
Establishment | Mar 20 | Apr 20 | May 20 | Jun 20 | Jul 20 | Aug 20 | Sep 20 | Oct 20 | Nov 20 | Dec 20 | Jan 21 |
Barlinnie | 10 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 10 | 11 | 10 | 10 | 9 | 10 | 10 |
Castle Huntly | 17 | 16 | 15 | 17 | 16 | 16 | 24 | 27 | 23 | 21 | 19 |
Cornton Vale | 17 | 11 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 26 | 26 | 25 | 24 | 22 |
Dumfries | 12 | 7 | 7 | 9 | 10 | 10 | 11 | 11 | 8 | 9 | 6 |
Edinburgh | 10 | 6 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 5 | 11 | 10 | 11 | 11 | 10 |
Glenochil | 13 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 9 |
Grampian | 20 | 18 | 18 | 18 | 18 | 16 | 21 | 23 | 24 | 22 | 19 |
Greenock | 20 | 15 | 15 | 18 | 17 | 18 | 21 | 21 | 21 | 21 | 17 |
Inverness | 17 | 17 | 24 | 29 | 28 | 27 | 26 | 29 | 27 | 25 | 22 |
Low Moss | 19 | 14 | 14 | 16 | 16 | 16 | 17 | 17 | 17 | 16 | 15 |
Perth | 11 | 7 | 8 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 7 | 9 | 12 | 12 | 14 |
Polmont | 14 | 3 | 5 | 15 | 18 | 20 | 21 | 16 | 17 | 16 | 13 |
Shotts | 18 | 9 | 5 | 10 | 6 | 6 | 7 | 9 | 12 | 15 | 10 |
HMP Addiewell and Kilmarnock are privately operated prisons and are not required to provide PA hours on a monthly basis. The delivery of PA hours within these 2 establishments is monitored through contractual arrangements with SPS Controllers and Contract Managers to ensure compliance.