This item was published during the term of a previous administration that ended in April 2007
Listen
Kilmarnock Prison report
26/04/2005
All prisoners in Kilmarnock live in decent accommodation
according to the latest report from the Chief Inspector of
Prisons.
Dr Andrew McLellan's report describes a full inspection
in October/November 2004 and praises the prison for the
fact that:
- All prisoners live in decent accommodation
- Staff treat prisoners with respect
- Arrangements for family contact are good
- Improvements have been made in the development of
programmes for addressing offending behaviour.
However, the report also draws attention to the fact
that:
- There are few activities available to prisoners
when they are out of their cells
- Children under the age of 16 are regularly held in
the prison
- Improvements have been made to the Sentence
Management Scheme, but it still suffers from a lack of
integration and consistency
- There is a lack of proper provision for basic
education in reading, writing and numeracy.
- There are recruitment and retention problems.
Dr McLellan said:
"Kilmarnock Prison, which opened in 1999, does not face
the accommodation problems old buildings have. There is a
separate toilet cubicle in every cell (with the exception
of two cells in the Segregation Unit), the prison is clean,
and prisoners keep their cells clean and tidy. The
advantages of good living conditions are clear to see.
"The most impressive finding of this report is that
Kilmarnock is a safer prison. There were no escapes in the
year leading up to the inspection and the number of
assaults has reduced considerably. The Prisoner Survey
shows that prisoners feel safe in Kilmarnock.
"Improvements are noted in the development of programmes
for addressing offending behaviour, and in the Throughcare
Centre. The Throughcare Centre was recognised by prisoners
and prison staff as welcome and important.
"However, there are are problems that need to be
addressed. Lack of proper provision for basic education in
reading, writing and numeracy is a serious concern. Despite
a daily budget considerably greater than that in SPS
prisons food is not good. There has been no improvement in
opportunities for remand prisoner. Healthcare has improved,
more progress must be made. Vocational training and
addictions work are all in need of improvement.
"In relation to staffing this report shows three things.
First, staffing levels are lower than in SPS prisons. This
means that prisoners' access to facilities and
opportunities for activity designed to reduce offending
behaviour are limited. Secondly, until recently there has
been a considerable turnover of staff resulting in a high
proportion of staff being relatively inexperienced.
Thirdly, however, relationships between staff and prisoners
are good.
"There are two features of the prison which are not in
the control of Kilmarnock, but cannot be ignored. The first
is that it regularly finds itself forced to contain
children. None were present during the inspection period
and there is no reason to believe that are not treated
properly, but there are strong arguments against children
being detained in prison. Secondly, prisoners and
management alike are concerned that prisoners do not get
the opportunity to move to less secure conditions as part
of their preparation for release."
Scotland's prisons are subject to regular inspection. A
full inspection normally takes place every three years and
examines all aspects of the establishment. Follow up
inspections are carried out in years where a full
inspection does not take place and these examine points of
note raised in previous inspections, examine significant
changes since then, and explore issues arising from the
establishment's own assessment of itself.
The inspection of Kilmarnock was a full inspection with
a focus on conditions in which prisoners live and on the
way prisoners are treated.