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5. PRISONER MANAGEMENT
Reception
5.1 The Reception is a modern purpose-built area. There are two holding rooms (one general and one for those requiring to be separated from other prisoners); an open reception counter where warrants are checked; a search area with three cubicles; a variety of offices; and a store with mechanical racking. At the rear of the Reception there are further holding areas and separate cubicles. On admission, prisoners are held in communal holding rooms, which are relatively bright and have a range of information on display. There are also televisions within the rooms (although they were not in use when the Reception was inspected). When prisoners' details have been checked they are strip-searched, issued with clothing, individually interviewed in an office set aside for that purpose, and finally examined by a nurse (who is on duty from mid-afternoon until the reception closes).
5.2 A feature of Edinburgh is that prisoners waiting to be escorted to the halls can access a peer support worker who is also a prisoner. A small working area has been set aside where individuals may sit and speak with the peer support worker. As described elsewhere in this report the use of peer support workers is an area of good practice.
5.3 Prisoners leaving the prison are held in a communal holding area at the rear of the Reception. Although there are individual cubicles it is not practice to use these. The system of laying out property and property cards on a table at the rear of the Reception where property can be issued or bagged and labelled is effective.
5.4 With the introduction of the escorting service by Reliance Custodial Services most prisoners leaving Reception do so in the custody of Reliance staff. Prisoners, having already been strip-searched, are routinely given a "rub-down" search and are checked with a hand-held electronic detector. All prisoners exiting are handcuffed to a member of Reliance Custodial Services and led to the escort vehicle. It is unclear why prisoners require to be handcuffed to be moved the short distance from the Reception to the vehicle. The need for this practice should be established.
5.5 Generally, the relationships between SPS and RCS staff are relaxed and business-like. However, two issues regarding escorts arose while the Reception was being inspected. In the first, a group of prisoners were being escorted from HMP Edinburgh to HMP Durham to the custody of HM Prison Service England and Wales. As the vehicle was ready to leave it was identified that a prisoner had not been escorted from Cornton Vale to Edinburgh. Consequently, a decision was taken that the vehicle would go from Edinburgh to Cornton Vale to collect the missing individual and then proceed to Durham. The net effect of this was to increase the journey time spent in cubicles within the escort vehicle by up to two hours.
5.6 The second issue arose when RCS staff were due to escort a prisoner to hospital and did not have a set of handcuffs with a chain long enough to allow individuals to go to the toilet whilst still being in the custody of the officer. Arrangements were made by Edinburgh to provide the chain, however this was a piece of equipment which the escorting staff should have had.
5.7 The Reception operates with a First Line Manager and three staff operating in two shifts from 7.00 am until 9.30 pm (or later when demand is heavy). The staff work in a very flexible way to ensure that the Reception is cleared as early as possible each evening. Changes to staffing practices mean that the untried hall unlocks at 7.00 am giving a fairly tight timescale for prisoners to have their breakfast, and for those on medication to receive medication and/or detoxification, to be collected and transferred to reception, strip searched, clothing issued and handed over to Reliance. It is the case that many prisoners will not have the opportunity to have a shower before attending court. It is recommended that a shower is offered to all prisoners prior to departure for a court appearance.
5.8 The situation for prisoners who may require to be collected from the convicted halls can be difficult, since the staff in these halls now start their shift later than the staff in Reception and in the untried hall. Anecdotally, staff indicated that the times for handing over to RCS have occasionally been breached. Reception staff are reliant on other staff to assist them in collecting prisoners in order to ensure that escorts depart on time. A further issue around escorting is the time which can elapse between prisoners receiving a disposal at court and them returning to the prison. Periods of three to five hours are not unusual and periods in excess of six hours have occasionally been recorded. Since these times are predominantly from local courts it would appear that there may be an issue, either with the routing of escort vehicles or the scheduling of prisoners being uplifted from the court. It is recommended that processes are put in place to minimise the time spent, either in court, or in escort vehicles after individuals have been disposed of by the courts.
5.9 For those prisoners arriving in the prison who do not speak English, the telephone translation service is available. Charts are available in a range of languages, prisoners identify the language which they speak and telephone contact with the central translation service is then made. This is carried out within the Reception Manager's office and to ensure that both the prisoner and the manager are aware of any issues a speakerphone has recently been installed. This is an example of a simple but effective idea to ensure good communication and is an area of good practice. When a prisoner has been identified as having a poor grasp of English, Reception immediately notifies the relevant manager within the prison. There is no stock of information leaflets in languages other than English within the Reception although these are available within SPS. It would appear that the introduction of the translation system has taken over from the provision of such information. However, as a back up for individuals, information leaflets in the most common foreign languages should be available for prisoners within the Reception.
Induction
5.10 The very good induction process, which was identified at the time of the last follow up report has been maintained or improved. All prisoners serving over 30 days are identified from a local database and are offered the Induction Programme, which runs from Monday to Friday. The cut-off for the following week's course is admissions on the Tuesday evening. To cover the intervening period there is an induction booklet available in each area. Additionally, each prisoner will receive the SPS Core Screen Assessment which is administered in the residential areas, and will also be assessed for level of security supervision. As a result of this Core Screen Assessment, the prisoner may be referred to a range of interventions while they are waiting to be placed on the Induction Course.
5.11 A feature of Edinburgh is the use of "peer support" workers, prisoners who are able to provide support to other prisoners. In Reception, prisoners can access a peer support worker who is based in the area and has, in addition to the induction booklet, a range of information about the prison. The peer support worker approaches prisoners in order to ensure that they understand what is likely to happen to them in the near future. In addition to this, the support worker will make contact with individuals in the untried hall within 24 hours of admission. This is an excellent system, which allows prisoners to receive information from other prisoners, which they may be more able, or ready, to accept. It is of specific help to those with poor literacy skills and it provides a number of prisoners with the opportunity to do some work designed to help their fellow prisoners.
5.12 The induction booklet provides information for prisoners who may have to wait up to seven days to begin the induction programme. Although other work will happen in this period, the induction booklet is the main source of information. The books are specific to each area where a new admission may be located and contain a wide variety of information about prison routines and what is available. The booklets are extremely comprehensive, but would pose difficulties for those with reading difficulties. A review of the format of the induction booklet should be undertaken. The first few days in prison can be extremely difficult and may be a time when people are beginning to recover from fairly chaotic episodes in their life, or feeling particularly vulnerable. A process should be put in place to ensure that a nominated member of staff sees admissions within each residential area to ensure that they understand the key information in the induction booklet prior to the individual attending the induction programme.
5.13 The Induction Programme takes place in a dedicated classroom and resource area. The room itself is bright and has information displayed on all boards and available to prisoners. The interaction between staff and prisoners is relaxed and informative. The programme allows key agencies and individuals within the prison to meet with the prisoners and explain the various sources of assistance available to them during their time in prison. Additionally, the programme provides an opportunity to double-check that the Core Screen Assessment has been carried out and that referrals have been made. It also ensures that prisoners understand what is available to them. There are formal and informal contacts with the Links Centre, given that the Induction Manager is based within the Links Centre.
5.14 One of the most imaginative aspects of the programme is the Friday morning Family Induction/Awareness Visit where families are invited to attend the prison, receive a presentation from the visits manager and the Family Contact Development Officer, then have a one-hour family visit including refreshments. This provides families with an opportunity to raise questions and concerns and also provides a very relaxed and informal setting for a family visit at the start of the sentence. An examination of the evaluation sheets completed by those involved reveals that these visits are clearly highly valued. Family Induction Awareness visits are an area of good practice.
5.15 At the end of the induction course itself, prisoners also complete an evaluation sheet, from which changes to the programme are regularly made. These suggestions and comments during induction have led to a number of initiatives being put in place. These include: the creation of Prisoner Information Points round the prison, the development of the "Bullying Shirt": a very graphic anti-bullying message; the development of induction booklets; changes to the Family Awareness Visit arrangements; the very imaginative use of the prisoner canteen sheet as an information sheet highlighting significant changes or information to prisoners; and the development of the peer support approach. The induction process at Edinburgh is an excellent model for SPS, the enthusiasm and commitment of the staff involved is to be commended, and it is an area of good practice.
5.16 Protection prisoners are seen separately and receive a condensed version of the induction programme on a Thursday afternoon.
Sentence Management
5.17 Prior to the opening of Ingliston House there were two significant groups of long-term prisoners at Edinburgh: those held in mainstream accommodation who would usually move on to long-term prisons and the very long-term prisoners in the national top end (Pentland Hall) who were at the stage of their sentence when they would be assessed for community placements and who would move to open conditions prior to release.
5.18 With the opening of Ingliston, the prison has committed itself to being a "Community Prison" for prisoners from Edinburgh, the Lothians and the Borders. This means that significant numbers of long-term prisoners will now be held at Edinburgh and may well spend the bulk of their sentence there until they are ready to move, either to liberation or to open conditions prior to liberation.
5.19 All long-term prisoners are subject to the SPS Sentence Management Scheme. This has meant that the provision of Sentence Management at HMP Edinburgh has had to be expanded rapidly in order to meet the increase in the long-term prisoner population. The growth in the long-term prisoner population poses problems in providing sufficient staff trained both in the Sentence Management process and in the personal officer role, both of these previously being confined mainly to Pentland Hall.
5.20 As a temporary measure, the prison has created a temporary Sentence Management Unit staffed by one First Line Manager and one Sentence Management Officer. They are responsible for initiating the Sentence Management casework for those prisoners who are not part of the national top end. The Sentence Management Unit is responsible for ensuring that all initial assessments are completed and that an Action Plan is prepared, the Action Plan then becomes the responsibility of the Personal Officer. There are gaps in this part of the process at present while plans for training sufficient Personal Officers are put in place. The system is also temporary since a review of the national Sentence Management System is underway. A development into an integrated case management approach is being planned by SPS. An examination of the Sentence Management files, within the Sentence Management Unit, reveal that these are in the main being completed to a consistent and acceptable standard. Edinburgh has a high completion rate against Sentence Management targets.
5.21 The area where the former Pentland Hall prisoners are now held continues to keep and manage its own Sentence Management files. An examination of a sample of these files revealed considerable variation in content, style and level of completion. There may be some case for considering that all files are kept within the Sentence Management Unit; given the Unit currently has accountability for managing the Sentence Management process within Edinburgh. It is recommended that a system of audit is put in place to ensure that all Sentence Management files are completed to the same standard.
5.22 The additional demand on Sentence Management provided by the increase in long-term prisoners should not be underestimated and, while the current Sentence Management Unit is seen as a temporary measure consideration should be given to formalising this arrangement.
Throughcare
5.23 The most striking aspect of the links area is that it is located in the new purpose-built 'Hub'. Throughcare and Pre-Release are located together on one floor. What had previously been an MDT area has been converted to an area used by the Chaplaincy Team, a Living Skills Area, two Waiting Rooms and an Office. One side of the floor provides an open plan staff office with three meeting rooms of various sizes. Adjacent to the staff offices and facing on to the corridor are twelve interview rooms, which are available to the various agencies which attend the prison. There are eight rooms which are used as a variety of offices and classrooms and, in addition two waiting rooms. The area is bright and spacious although some of the rooms are small for group activities. Some 300 to 350 prisoners per month attend the Links Centre mostly on an appointment basis.
5.24 In addition to the prison's own Programmes Unit, which is also based in the Links Centre, thirteen external agencies are based there for anything up to five days per week. These include services for the homeless; for prisoners with addiction issues; and for debt and employment issues. This does not include the range of additional agencies who are accessed by the agencies attending the Links Centre and who will attend "as needed".
5.25 As indicated elsewhere in this report all prisoners are assessed using the Core Screen Instrument, and the completed Instrument plus its Action Plan is submitted to the Links Centre where administrative staff enter the information on the Prisoner Records System. From the information generated lists are made for referrals to agencies within the prison, agencies which visit the Links Centre and to the Prison's Programmes Unit. Depending on the length of time a prisoner is serving, Action Plans are reviewed after six months, although all Action Plans are reviewed within two weeks of release. This also coincides with the two weeks pre-release course during which Action Plans are reviewed and if required referrals made. The Links Centre is managed by the Social Inclusion Manager who also manages addictions. Additionally, there is close working with the Manager responsible for 'Restart Living Skills' and Induction. Consequently, there are clear and workable lines of communication between those working with the various elements of assessment and response to prisoner needs. The Manager responsible for the Links Centre also has responsibility for the Programmes Unit.
5.26 The Links Centre is purposeful and clearly provides a useful service to prisoners. The response from those agencies who attend the Links Centre is also enthusiastic. However, with all of the building work going on in the prison, it is sometimes difficult to arrange for prisoners to be brought to the Links Centre. Consequently, the Links Centre works through a series of appointments, with prisoners being brought in groups and returned to the halls by staff who then bring the next group of prisoners. With each transfer of prisoners time is lost to the agencies involved, as the links staff are not available to supervise prisoners, consequently no prisoners are in the area during the period of transfer. It is recommended that ways are found to allow the Links Centre to operate on a more continuous basis.
Pre-Release
5.27 As part of the Throughcare system, two weeks of pre-release courses are run. Week one is a Restart course; Week two is a Living Skills course. Three weeks prior to liberation staff from the pre-release course interview all prisoners who are due for liberation to encourage them to take part in the courses. If individuals do not wish to take part then an attempt is made to ensure that any basic needs they have have been met, or that referrals have been made. Prisoners are often critical of the fact that with two weeks left before liberation they may have issues which have not been dealt with. In many cases, this is because external agencies are only able to deal with individuals one week to two weeks prior to them returning to the community. The Restart Course has been running since January 2004; the Living Skills Course since March 2005. The Restart Course is relatively settled, the Living Skills Course is still being developed. The Restart Course includes input from a range of agencies and looks at such issues as finance; life choices; developing a CV; dealing with adverts and applications; telephone and communication skills; progress to work; interview preparation; and mock interviews. The sessions are presented both by Restart staff and by internal and external agencies including the learning centre. The Living Skills Course includes the National Harm Reduction Presentation by Phoenix House, issues around food and nutrition, debt management, managing the transition back to home life; safety; health promotion and a range of domestic skills including food and nutrition.
5.28 These courses provide a wide range of opportunities for individuals. However, it is not altogether clear whether the courses are based on a formal needs analysis, and there is no evidence that the two courses in themselves have a statement of purpose which the various elements have been assessed as meeting. With the creation of the Links Centre and with the involvement of so many agencies, including the Learning Centre, a review of the two courses should be carried out in order to ensure that a clear objective is being met and to provide a statement of outcomes.
Community Placements
5.29 There was one Lifer Liaison Officer ( LLO) and three deputy LLOs in post at the time of inspection. These duties were in addition to others held within the prison. During the inspection there were 244 long-term prisoners being held, of whom 81 were serving a life sentence.
5.30 Prisoners serving long sentences who are near the end of their sentences and who have been assessed as suitable may be given the opportunity to carry out work placements outside the prison. The prison is dependent upon the good will of the community as it tries to find appropriate placements. Such placements include churches, community centres, charity shops, hotels and golf clubs.
5.31 At the time of inspection sixteen prisoners were on placement at ten different places. Staff operating the scheme believe that the number of placements is sufficient for the present needs, but that it may need to be increased soon.
5.32 The preparatory work before a placement is good. Security checks are carried out and clear information is given to the placement supervisor and the prisoner about what is allowed and not allowed. Continuing support and supervision of the placement by the prison is not so thoroughly carried out: the number of regular visits to a placement has been reduced. Nevertheless it is clear that prison staff are very familiar with the placements and their supervisors.
5.33 Those placement supervisors interviewed were very enthusiastic about the opportunity. They expressed no reservation about the level of support received from the prison. There was no sense that the placements felt they were getting something for nothing: rather there was a creditable sense of social conscience: the placement supervisors felt they might be contributing to the reduction of re-offending.
5.34 The placements were valued highly be the staff who administer them; and very highly indeed by prisoners. Prisoners who have not been outside prison for over twenty years spoke of "learning to meet ordinary people in an ordinary way" and of the difficulties and the importance of being given some responsibility and being trusted. These placements are well administered at Edinburgh and form an important part of preparation for release for prisoners who are serving long sentences.
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