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2. POPULATION, ACCOMMODATION AND ROUTINES
Population
2.1 Perth holds male adult convicted long-term prisoners, male adult and under 21 remands, and a small number of male adult short-term prisoners. The prison has a design capacity of 449 and is contracted to hold 461.
Accommodation and Routines
'A' Hall
2.2 'A' Hall is the main remand facility for the prison. It also houses a mix of protection prisoners: remand, short term convicted and long term convicted. The hall capacity is 171 and 169 prisoners were held on the first day of inspection.
2.3 The hall was upgraded in 2000 and now includes integral sanitation and Electric Power in Cells ( EPIC). It has 75 cells spread over four floors. There is cell sharing throughout the hall. Fifty cells hold two prisoners and 23 hold three. There is one disabled cell and one anti-ligature cell.
2.4 The cells holding two prisoners are quite cramped. Those with three are extremely cramped. There is no privacy in the three bedded cells and prisoners said they are claustrophobic and the air quality bad, especially when cell mates smoke. Smokers and non-smokers regularly share although staff did say they tried to keep them apart whenever possible. The prison should stop the practice of holding three prisoners in a cell in 'A' Hall.
2.5 The cells on floors 2, 3 and 4 are in a dreadful condition. There is graffiti on the walls and ceilings, chunks of plaster have fallen off and the standard of decoration is poor. There is little or no furniture in most cells. Many mattresses are old, soiled and out of shape. All cells have kettles and televisions.
2.6 Efforts are being made to try and improve conditions, starting on the ground floor and working up. Walls on the ground floor have been painted, mattresses changed and furniture acquired from 'C' Hall, which was closed earlier in the year. Although the furniture is second hand, the difference between the cells on the ground floor and the cells on the other floors was striking. All remand and protection prisoners in 'A' Hall should be held in decent conditions.
2.7 On the week of inspection prisoners had started to collect their meals from a servery on the upper two floors. This is much better than the 'plated meal' system in operation in the rest of the prison. Work was underway to install serveries in the other halls: the total cost for all of the serveries is around £312,000. Prisoners in 'A' Hall still have to take their meal back to their cell to eat it. If there is no table or chair in the cell meals are eaten sitting on the bed. There is no communal eating in 'A' Hall.
2.8 There are eight telephones in the hall, two on each floor. The level of privacy for prisoners on the telephone is not good: the telephones are in communal areas and the canopies around them offer little insulation from background noise. Recreation facilities are provided in two side rooms adjacent to the main accommodation areas. The recreation facilities are basic: pool tables, table tennis and a large screen television. The walls are drab and in need of decoration. The telephone and recreation facilities in 'A' Hall should be improved.
2.9 Prisoners said it was difficult to maintain a decent standard of personal hygiene in 'A' Hall. Most had to wash their underwear in their sink because there was never enough from the laundry for everyone. Some also said that this situation was made worse by the fact that it could take more than a week to have personal items which had been handed into Reception returned. Although there are sufficient showers, prisoners said it was difficult to get to them because of regime restrictions. Arrangements for maintaining basic hygiene should be improved.
2.10 Rather than all prisoners going outside for exercise at the same time, as they did until recently, there is now a sessional system in place. Prisoners exercise in smaller numbers. Time spent out of cells has also been reduced: staff say that this is a result of inter-personal rivalries and feuds from outside being carried over into the prison. CCTV has been been installed in the hall to help tackle this. The prison has also started using an Inter Personal Violence Report and intelligence gathered inside and outside the prison to predict high-risk situations. The prison should continue to monitor levels of inter-personal violence.
'B' Hall
2.11 'B' Hall holds a mix of male remand and convicted prisoners. Until quite recently the hall held long-term prisoners in single cells, but the closure of 'C' Hall led to the current arrangements. The hall capacity is 93 and 75 prisoners were held on the first day of inspection: 61 remand prisoners, 13 short term convicted and one disabled long-term prisoner (for health reasons).
2.12 The hall is the bottom two galleried floors of a large hall which was refurbished in 1997 to include integral sanitation and EPIC. (The upper two floors house 'D' Hall). It has 63 cells. Thirty three cells are singles (including one disabled and two high risk cells), and thirty cells are doubles. The single and double cells are the same size. The cells holding two prisoners are cramped.
2.13 The standard of decoration and cleanliness throughout 'B' Hall is better than in 'A' Hall. However, the prison will have to work to maintain standards if the current mix of prisoners is to continue. Anecdotally staff said that remand prisoners cause more damage and care less about maintaining standards of cleanliness.
2.14 Recreation facilities are located in a room adjacent to the hall. The room is functional. It has pool tables and table tennis as well as a large screen television. There are two telephones in the recreation room that can only be used during recreation. There is also one telephone on each of the two floors. There is little privacy on the telephones.
2.15 There are six showers on each floor. These were clean and in good condition. The hall itself was also bright and clean. This is helped by a light colour scheme. Although there was building work taking place in the hall, (fitting a new servery), this work had not had an adverse effect on the cleanliness of the area.
2.16 Prisoners collect their meals from a central point and return to their cells to eat. Not all cells have a chair and in double rooms space is very limited. Prisoners therefore have to sit on the bed to eat their meals. There is no communal eating. At the time of inspection 'B' Hall prisoners were served their meals in plastic trays ('plated meals'). The standard of the food was criticised by prisoners.
2.17 Prisoners in 'B' and 'D' Halls exercise together in a yard adjacent to the hall. The increase in the number of remand prisoners means that remand, short-term convicted and long-term convicted prisoners now exercise together. Although there have been no significant problems so far, the prison should review the appropriateness of this arrangement.
'D' Hall
2.18 'D' Hall houses mainstream long-term prisoners. The hall capacity is 69 and 68 prisoners were held on the first day of inspection.
2.19 The hall is located on the two floors above 'B' Hall. and was upgraded in 1997 to include integral sanitation and EPIC. It has 67 single cells. It also has two high-risk cells and one double cell which are not included in the capacity.
2.20 The hall is very similar in design to 'B' Hall (described above): six showers on each floor; two telephones in the recreation room and two in the hall; and pool, table tennis and a TV. There is little privacy when making a telephone call. The recreation room is spacious and was reasonably clean.
2.21 The colour scheme in 'D' Hall is much darker than that in 'B' Hall and it gives the hall a gloomy look. The hall was clean, although some of the cells were in need of redecoration. Old and unsuitable mattresses should be replaced.
2.22 Hall prisoners were still being served their meals in plastic trays. They are required to eat in their cell which at least had a chair and a counter. There is no communal eating in 'D' Hall. Building work had started to put a servery in the corner of the hall, and it is expected that this will be in use before the end of 2005.
'E' Hall
2.23 'E' Hall holds a mix of short-term and long-term prisoners who have progressed from the mainstream system and are waiting for a transfer to a 'top-end' or are approaching liberation. The hall capacity is 82 and 80 prisoners were held on the first day of inspection. The hall is due for demolition at the end of 2007 as part of the establishment's Development Plan.
2.24 The hall is old. It is situated on two floors at the south end of the prison. It is divided into three wings and has 73 single cells, one three person dormitory and one six person dormitory. The conditions in the two dormitories are dreadful. The short-term prisoners who act as wing cleaners live there. The dormitories are very old and cramped. The standard of decoration is very poor and the bedding and furniture is not in good condition. It is recommended that the poor conditions in the dormitories in 'E' Hall are improved as a matter of urgency.
2.25 The long-term prisoners live in the 73 single cells and have keys to their own doors so that they can access toilets and showers during the night. All cells have EPIC. Groups of cells of various numbers are separated by grille gates for control purposes.
2.26 Because of the proposal to demolish 'E' Hall there has been limited investment in the fabric and fittings over the last few years. However, prisoners still have to live and staff have to work there. It is recommended that the poor living conditions in 'E' Hall are improved as long as prisoners live and staff work there.
2.27 The one exception to this lack of investment was that the hall was having a servery installed while the inspection was taking place. The quality of food was highly criticised by prisoners. Some expressed confidence that things would improve in the move away from plated meals to the servery.
2.28 Prisoners are able to sit at a table in a dining room to eat their meals if they want. However, there is not a great take up of this opportunity. Prisoners prefer to take their meals back to their cell. At least they have the choice.
2.29 The hall has a large recreation room, which includes snooker and pool tables. Telephones afford better privacy than in other halls because they are in wooden kiosks. 'E' Hall prisoners occupy most of the better jobs in the prison. This means that the hall is fairly quiet during the day. Prisoners have the freedom to walk all around the inside of the hall except during patrol periods. One of the features of the hall is a large well-stocked aquarium, which is maintained by the prisoners.
Friarton Hall
2.30 Friarton Hall is a national 'top end' facility for long-term prisoners awaiting transfer to open conditions or approaching the end of a long sentence. It takes prisoners from Perth, Kilmarnock, Shotts and Glenochil. The hall capacity is 89 and 88 prisoners were held on the first day of inspection.
2.31 Friarton is located approximately one mile from the main prison and is almost self sufficient from the main prison as far as prisoners are concerned: it has its own workshops, visit room, gym facilities and education unit. It has 20 single cells, 33 double cells and one three person dormitory. All cells have EPIC and a television with access to terrestrial channels.
2.32 The cells are drab, and the double cells are cramped. Many of the prisoners who arrive at Friarton, particularly those from Perth, Kilmarnock and Shotts will experience cell sharing for the first time as a long-term prisoner.
2.33 There are four telephones in kiosks in the centre of the accommodation area. They are not accessible during lock up periods as grille gates are used to separate rooms into smaller zones. The recreation room doubles as the dining room. Satellite television is available in the recreation room, but not in cells.
2.34 The difference in prisoners' perception of the catering arrangements between the main prison and Friarton was dramatic. The quality and quantity of food in Friarton was good - despite the fact that the same staff prepared it and the same raw ingredients were used as in the main prison. This demonstrates the deterioration which takes place in the trolleys and plastic trays and the benefit of serveries in the halls.
2.35 As a result of a recent change to staff attendance patterns, prisoners now have 11 hours per week less time out of cell than they had before. This is very disappointing and not what one would expect in a regime prisoners have worked hard to get to. This should be addressed.
2.36 The visit room is spacious and well decorated. It was good to hear that in fine weather visits can be taken in the grounds next to the entrance to the prison. There are vending machines providing sweets and cold drinks. The prison should consider providing hot food and drinks to visitors: some will have travelled a long way.
2.37 There was some uncertainty amongst staff and prisoners about the future use of the site although this was not impacting on the very positive relationships observed.
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