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5. PRISONER MANAGEMENT
Reception
5.1 The Reception is a relatively small area given the level of transactions which take place. It consists of a reception counter with staff office, a small corridor with 16 cubicles (eight on each side), and adjacent to that a WC. Outwith the cubicle corridor there is a telephone, which is available to prisoners throughout the time spent in reception. This is an area of good practice. There is a small interview room, a store for the reception cleaner, communal waiting room and adjacent to it a WC and separate shower. There is also a small nurse's station and a second area comprising four cubicles and a small communal area usually used for prisoners requiring some form of separation from the main prisoner population. Cubicles are used for search and dressing/undressing purposes only, with prisoners then being held within the communal waiting room prior to their escort.
5.2 Although the Reception has a small interview room for one-to-one prisoner interviews, staff indicated, and it was observed, that most interviews took place at the door of the cubicles while prisoners were changing. This is not acceptable, particularly for the assessment of prisoners who may have some degree of vulnerability. The interview room should be used for all prisoner interviews.
5.3 Above the Reception is an area which comprises the First Line Manager's office, two large storage areas for prisoners' property and clothing, and provision for clothing to be washed should that be required. This area was well organised and well maintained.
5.4 The Reception can be extremely busy. On one day of inspection 42 prisoners (more than 10% of the population) were listed for court. The atmosphere is very relaxed, with staff maintaining good levels of control while managing a generally informal relationship with most prisoners. Prisoners' questions and issues were dealt with quickly and efficiently. It was indicated that the escort service provided by Reliance had resulted in prisoners being returned to the prison from the courts in a more even manner throughout the day. However there was an issue with larger numbers of prisoners arriving en masse at the end of the court day from the principal courts. The scheduling of escorts from the principal courts to the prison should be improved.
5.5 The main document used for prisoner escorts is the 'Prisoner Escort Record'. This is working well and provides a consistent hand-over from the prison to Reliance and vice versa. The documents viewed were filled in correctly and annotated appropriately.
5.6 A notice indicates that all hospital escorts from the prison, without exception, will be "double-cuffed". All prisoners, regardless of level supervision are having the highest level of security applied. The practice of "double-cuffing" all prisoners on escort should be reviewed.
5.7 Of concern was the fact that prisoners can wait in reception for up to six hours before a space becomes available in the prison. Prisoners who have been in the prison and are returned to it, normally return to the cell they were in. New admissions wait until a cell is available. It is not unusual for a new admission to come in during the course of the afternoon and not be allocated to a cell until the evening. Indeed, during the course of the inspection it was observed that an attempt was made to identify a long-term prisoner for re-location to Friarton Hall in order to free up a room which could, temporarily, hold two newly admitted prisoners. Such crisis management was identified as being routine and management and staff efforts in managing this deserve to be noted. However, the system for identifying vacant cells should be improved.
5.8 Despite the length of time prisoners may spend in reception, the provision of food is extremely poor. It was observed throughout the week of inspection that prisoners held in reception over the evening mealtime were offered, as their main meal, three sandwiches with a meat filling. The only option for a drink was water from a tap within the toilet area. There is no provision for hot food or hot drinks. Prisoners leaving the prison to go to court in the morning received a breakfast of two rolls with margarine and jam issued the night before. Milk is not issued to prisoners going to court because the halls are not staffed, consequently the breakfast cereal available can't be eaten. At court, provision is a micro waved meal. Consequently, a prisoner who was attending court for a week would receive no hot food at the prison. Provision should be made for hot drinks and hot food to be provided to prisoners who require to have their meal while in reception.
5.9 Prisoners going to court are escorted to reception by staff from the long-term hall. This is because they attend the prison earlier than staff from the short-term and remand halls. A result of this is that prisoners have no option to shower before attending courts. Prisoners should have the opportunity to shower before attending court.
5.10 Overall, the Reception is a well-run and purposeful area.
Induction
5.11 Induction takes place in the Links Centre. At the time of the last inspection, the Links Centre was managed by a dedicated Links Centre Manager who had responsibility for Links Centre staff and the Addictions and MDT officers. Induction in the Links Centre is now the responsibility of the Programmes Manager. Full time staffing has been reduced from three to two staff with backfill from other areas for four hours each day. Additionally, the administrative support, which was based in the Centre is no longer available. There are now less staff resources available for work, both within the Links Centre and for induction.
5.12 Induction in the Links Centre is geared towards meeting the needs of convicted prisoners and is not set up to reflect the needs of untried or short-term prisoners. Induction for convicted prisoners runs each day Monday to Thursday with a target that all convicted admissions will be seen within 72 hours. However, it is usual for convicted prisoners to be seen within 24 hours. There is no induction for prisoners admitted on a Friday or during the weekend until the Monday. This should be addressed. Induction consists of three presentations: the national harm reduction input from Phoenix House; a presentation from the Learning Centre on what is available; and a two-hour delivery of the national induction package by the induction officers. After induction, there is an introduction to PT.
5.13 The day after induction, induction staff administer the SPS Core Screen Assessment Instrument to all convicted prisoners. Additionally, induction staff are responsible for administering the initial interview and psychometric testing as part of the long-term prisoner Sentence Management process. Following the Core Screen Assessment, a Community Integration Plan is drawn up for all prisoners serving 30 days or more. The induction staff are responsible for inputting this to the Prisoner Record System. Previously this was done by an administrator. The Core Screen material remains in the Links Centre. The induction at Perth is basic to say the least, particularly when compared to induction programmes being developed elsewhere. The responsibility for all aspects of induction fall to the two induction staff with minimum input from other agencies. A range of service providers should be involved in delivering induction.
5.14 The current focus on convicted prisoners does not take into account the fact that most short-term convicted prisoners will be transferred from Perth to prisons in the Central Belt within a very short space of time. It has been observed in other inspections (for example Low Moss 15-16 August 2005) that these prisoners will go through the SPS Core Screen Assessment again at the receiving prison: this is unnecessary duplication. During the period of building and renovation at Perth, if the plan is to continue to keep the short term population to a minimum, the practice of administering the Core Screen Assessment to prisoners who will be held in the prison for periods of less than one week should be reviewed.
5.15 There is no structured induction for remand prisoners and the SPS Core Screen Assessment is not used with this group. Within 'A' Hall, which has traditionally been the remand hall, two officers carry out a fairly basic induction programme as part of their duties. This includes delivery of the national harm reduction session by Phoenix House staff. The induction covers basic information and ensures that both visits and telephone record sheets are issued to individuals. While the First Line Manager provides a list of admissions for induction staff in the hall, there are no records kept. The staff within 'A' Hall also cover the untried prisoners within 'B' Hall, although on a much more ad hoc basis. At the time of inspection, Phoenix House did not deliver the harm reduction session to 'B' Hall prisoners. There is clearly an issue at Perth that the remand population has expanded to a point where 'B' Hall has in effect become another remand hall, which also holds a small number of convicted prisoners. However, the regime within that hall is geared almost exclusively to convicted prisoners. All remand prisoners including remand prisoners on protection should receive a structured induction programme.
Sentence Management
5.16 Sentence Management is the responsibility of the First Line Manager for Programmes and Interventions. He in turn is part of the wider Risk Management Group, chaired by the Deputy Governor, which meets monthly to review the management of prisoners causing concern. Additionally the Risk Management Group will consider prisoners who have been subject to a licence recall and those who have been downgraded, mainly from the Open Estate. At the time of the last inspection, the Sentence Management paperwork, assessments and planning were carried out by officers within the Programmes Group with some support from trained risk and needs officers elsewhere. Sentence Management is now carried out by residential staff who do this as part of their other duties: with the exception of the initial interview and the psychometric testing which is done by the two Links Centre/Induction Officers.
5.17 Perth had previously shown good compliance with Sentence Management targets and it is encouraging to note that this was largely being maintained, although there had been some slippage. Six weeks prior to compliance with target dates, individual cases are allocated to the residential areas for risk and needs assessments or any action planning which may be required. Previously, prisoners at Friarton underwent the full Sentence Management process, but over the past two to three months the volume of prisoners passing through Friarton has been such that little Sentence Management work has been done. Consequently, prisoners are moving to the Open Estate with little or no Sentence Management work to help them adjust to a less structured environment. The speculation over the future use of Friarton is such that this may not be an issue for Friarton in the future.
Throughcare
5.18 Amongst the external agencies which attend the Links Centre are Jobcentreplus; Shelter; Career Scotland; representatives of various criminal justice local teams; and a number of agencies on a one-off basis. However the Links Centre has not progressed much in the past year: the agencies participating being mainly those who participated at the time of the last inspection. There has also been a reduction in administrative support within the Unit. With the SPS focus on working with external partnerships it is disappointing to see a Links Centre going backwards. Activities in the Links Centre should be developed.
Pre-Release
5.19 Induction staff are responsible for dealing with prisoners due to be liberated. Unlike the approach which is now becoming more common in other prisons, there is no structured pre-release programme. Prisoners due to be liberated are seen one week prior to liberation to ensure that any issues in the Community Integration Plan have been dealt with. A previous system which involved 16 key workers who had responsibility for monitoring the Community Integration Plans and ensuring that interventions and follow-ups were carried out, has been discontinued. At present there are fewer short term prisoners in Perth and consequently a lower number of liberations than has been the case. Nevertheless, consideration should be given to developing a more structured approach to pre-release.
Life Sentence Prisoners
5.20 There were 42 life sentence prisoners being held at time of inspection. They are managed by a Lifer Liaison Officer ( LLO) who is a First Line Manager. A further three FLMS were undergoing training for this role. The LLO handles all of the casework as well as having personal contact with families. He meets all lifers on admission and explains processes and procedures to them. Work carried out with life sentence prisoners has been commended by Parole Board.
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