« Previous | Contents | Next »
Listen
4. THE DUTIES OF THE CHIEF INSPECTOR OF PRISONS
Following a recommendation contained in the May Report of 1979 1, a new Crown appointment of Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Prisons for Scotland was created and the first incumbent took up post on 1 January 1981. The new appointment was announced by means of a circular issued to Governors of all Scottish prisons by the Director of Prisons for Scotland 2.
The May Report of 1979 also recommended that its proposed "distanced" inspectorate should be headed either by a person who was entirely independent of the civil service or by a former senior prison governor. The Secretary of State for Scotland and more recently the Scottish Ministers have always taken the first of these options, with one exception when a retired senior civil servant was appointed. These "lay" appointments, as they are sometimes described, are generally seen to have been helpful in establishing the independence of the Chief Inspector.
The Chief Inspector is assisted by a Deputy Chief Inspector, an Assistant Chief Inspector, an Inspector, and a Personal Secretary. This core team is augmented by experts from other specific areas: HM Inspectorate of Education, the Social Work Inspection Agency, and NHS Quality Improvement Scotland. Other experts and lay inspectors are involved as required.
The role of the HM Chief Inspector of Prisons ( HMCIP) was placed on a statutory basis by the Prisons (Scotland) Act 1989. Section 7 of the Act 3 states:
7. (1) Her Majesty may appoint a person to be Chief Inspector of Prisons for Scotland.
(2) It shall be the duty of the Chief Inspector:
4[(a)] to inspect or arrange for the inspection of prisons in Scotland and to report to the Secretary of State on them 5 [; and
(b) to inspect the conditions in which prisoners are transported or held in pursuance of prisoner escort arrangements (within the meaning of section 102 of the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994) and to report to the Secretary of State on them.]
(3) The Chief Inspector shall in particular report to the Secretary of State on the treatment of prisoners and conditions in prisons.
(4) The Secretary of State may refer specific matters connected with prisons in Scotland and prisoners in them to the Chief Inspector and direct him to report on them.
(5) The Chief Inspector shall in each year submit to the Secretary of State a report in such form as the Secretary of State may direct, and the Secretary of State shall lay a copy of that report before Parliament.
(6) The Chief Inspector shall be paid such salary and allowances as the Secretary of State may with the consent of the Treasury determine.
(7) In this section, references to prisons include legalised police cells within the meaning of section 14(1) of this Act.
Within the Scottish Prison Service there are 15 6 individual prison establishments and it is the aim of the Inspectorate to carry out a full inspection of each of these establishments once every three years. Each full inspection normally lasts one week. Following each inspection a report is prepared, which is submitted to the Scottish Ministers and published. In addition to the programme of full inspections, follow up inspections - which normally last one or two days - are undertaken.
Since 1985 HMCIP has also carried out a number of cross-cutting inspections on themes or areas of concern which are common to several prisons. The ten thematic inspections have covered issues such as female prisoners, children in prison, remand prisoners, visiting arrangements, social work in prisons, persons detained under immigration legislation and ethnic minority prisoners and staff training. The Chief Inspector also produces an Annual Report which is presented to the Scottish Ministers and laid before Parliament.
HMCIP also undertakes inspections of legalised police cells. These are cells in a number of police stations, usually distant from a prison, where prisoners may legally be held for short periods while awaiting trial or immediately after conviction. They are unique to Scotland.
HMCIP has responsibility for the inspection of the treatment of and conditions for prisoners under escort.
In 2004 HMCIP and the Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service agreed an updated set of arrangements for the process and conduct of inspections 7. This included the following arrangements for inspecting prisons:
HM Chief Inspector will conduct regular inspections of individual prison establishments and legalised police cells in Scotland. The scope, focus and content of any inspection will be decided by HMCIP, taking into consideration the particular circumstances relating to any given establishment at the time of inspection. It is expected that any inspection and subsequent report will cover:
- Physical conditions prevailing in an establishment;
- Treatment of prisoners;
- Facilities, services and opportunities available to address offending behaviour and the accessibility of these;
- Preparations in place for returning prisoners to the community;
- Any other relevant matter as the Minister for Justice may direct or HMCIP may choose.
The agreement listed the following general principles of inspection:
- In carrying out inspections and in preparing reports, HMCIP will be independent of political influence, the Scottish Executive Justice Department, the Scottish Prison Service and Governors-in-Charge of establishments.
- Inspections and the reports resulting from them will be balanced, fair and open.
- In inspecting and reporting upon the treatment of prisoners and the conditions within prisons, inspections will make assessments against standards which have been clearly defined.
- Strategic and relevant documentation will be provided by Governors-in-Charge and SPS Headquarters to HMCIP on request.
- Confidential information supplied will be treated as such.
- Each inspection should be responsive to an establishment's individual circumstances.
- HMCIP will attempt to keep disruption to normal regime activities to a minimum.
- The inspection team will give clear oral feedback to senior management.
- A report to the Minister for Justice will be produced which will identify main points for action by the individual establishment and/or SPS, and highlight areas of good practice.
« Previous | Contents | Next »