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Clear Agenda for Action on Women offenders - McLeish moves on 'watershed' report
13/05/1998
The Government will act quickly and decisively on the seven recommendations of a major report into women offenders which was published today.
Home Affairs Minister Henry McLeish said the report - A Safer Way - would be the catalyst for change in the way Scotland's criminal justice system dealt with females. In his response to the findings of the Chief Inspector's of Prison and Social Work the Minister particularly highlighted:
* The setting up of a steering group under the chairmanship of Sheila McLean, professor of Law and Ethics in Medicine at Glasgow University, to direct an inter-agency project in Glasgow aimed at resolving at local levels issues identified in the report;
* A possible phased programme to end the use of prison for female offenders under the age of 18.
* The re-shaping of Cornton Vale, through more shared accommodation for inmates; improved and increased training of staff; a drug harm reduction strategy; and possible expansion of facilities for women in Inverness and Dumfries.
* A commitment to build on existing initiatives, such as Supervised Attendance Orders for fine defaulters, the Turnaround Project for drug dependent women offenders and bail services including accommodation and;
Mr McLeish said:
"The origins of this report lie, tragically, in the sad loss of life in recent years of seven young women prisoners at Cornton Vale. Our sincere sympathy for the families of these women and all suicides in custody is as strong as ever and underpins our commitment to address the important issues raised in this report.
"This is a watershed report, not just for women offenders but for our entire criminal justice system. Scotland is leading the way and this unique and highly detailed piece of work is a huge contribution to public understanding of the issues which surround offending by women, including relevant health, social and economic factors, and how the cases of these women are dealt with within the criminal justice system.
"This is about collaboration and partnership - the high-level collaboration between the two powerful inspectorates in putting together this excellent piece of work, and the partnerships that will now be forged across all agencies to take forward the recommendations. This will change the whole nature of how women are dealt with in the criminal justice system.
"There are important lessons for all agencies within this report - lessons that must and will be taken on board. We will use the findings and recommendations from this report as the basis for a new, fully integrated approach to dealing with women's offending. The report sets the context for action up to and beyond the millennium.
"I find it particularly interesting that the main finding is that women's offending and the needs of women offenders are different from those of men. To some, that may seem an obvious point, but others would say that there should be no difference in approach to male and female offenders. This report gives us, for the first time, the basis for taking forward future policy and practice in relation to women in the criminal justice system which is geared to their specific situation.
"The issues raised in the report go much wider than the criminal justice system and it is appropriate, wherever possible, for the Government to adopt a comprehensive approach and to ensure that all relevant policies are brought together so that the underlying causes of offending as well as the immediate consequences are dealt with as effectively as possible.
"The main focus of the recommendations and our response is on alternatives to custody, but we must also ensure that we are fully committed to following up ways of further improving the support for those women who are sentenced to a period in custody.
"I particularly welcome the report's focus on the position of women offenders in the West of Scotland, where numbers are highest and where there is a clear concentration of imprisonment on remand, direct sentence or for fine default. We must build upon initiatives already in place, or recently introduced, such as Supervised Attendance Orders for fine defaulters, the Turnaround Project for drug dependent women offenders and bail hostel provision.
"A steering group will be set up for the Glasgow inter-agency body, and I am delighted that someone with the experience, knowledge and profile of professor Sheila McLean has agreed to chair this important body. The steering group will harness existing services, in criminal justice and social and health provision, to ensure that the issues covered in the report are dealt with in a fully co-ordinated way.
"We now have a very clear agenda for action. We cannot turn back the clock and wipe out the tragedies which have occurred. But we can learn and we are determined to do that. For the first time we have a distinctive focus on the position of women in the criminal justice system and the Government is absolutely committed to using this heightened awareness to match policy need."
BACKGROUND
1. A comprehensive list of the seven recommendations and the government's response to them is contained in a separate news release issued today (news release number 0975/98).
2. The review of community disposals and the use of custody for women offenders in Scotland was announced by Henry McLeish on December 4, 1997 (news release 1943/97 refers). The remit of the study was announced on December 21, 1997 ( 2097/97).
3. Professor Sheila McLean is the first holder of the International Bar Association Chair of Law and Ethics in Medicine at the University of Glasgow. She was educated at Glasgow High School for Girls and did her first Degree in Law at the University of Glasgow. She was a reporter to a Children's Panel and completed a study of the Children's Hearings System in the 1970s. Since moving to Glasgow University she has published extensively on contemporary issues in law, medicine and ethics and contributed widely to intellectual and public life in Scotland.
4. Copies of the full report are also available from The Stationery Office, price £7.00 (ISBN 0 11 495881 5), while the summary is available free from The Social Work Services Inspectorate, James Craig Walk, Edinburgh, EH1 3BA.
News Release: 0976/98
May 13, 1998