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5. CONTACT
Family Contact
5.1 Polmont provides the opportunity for prisoners and families to maintain contact in a variety of ways. The primary one is through visits in the prison. There are also home leaves for prisoners who progress to Beechwood. Occasionally, Exceptional Escorted Days Absences ( EEDA) will also occur. These allow the prisoner to visit a close family member who is unfit to travel to the establishment.
5.2 An induction visit for the families of new prisoners is particularly impressive. The first session consists of presentations from staff covering different aspects of the prison. Visitors are then escorted to some parts of the prison to see what it is like for themselves.
5.3 Convicted prisoners book their visits in the halls. Visitors book visits to remand prisoners by telephone. Convicted and remand sessions are run separately. There are two afternoon sessions and one evening session during the week. At the weekend there is one session in the morning and two in the afternoon.
5.4 The system for managing the arrival and departure of visitors works very well, and officers manage the process sensitively and professionally.
5.5 Closed visits are used only when strong evidence exists of a drugs incident, or the potential for one, or where there has been a violent incident related to a visit. Visitors are told in writing if they are banned and will be told the length of their ban.
5.6 When prisoners are being transferred the prison expects them to tell their visitors. This can cause problems when the transfer takes place at short notice because of overcrowding. Management should improve this system to avoid visitors coming to Polmont when the prisoner has been moved to another prison.
5.7 In response to a point of note made in the 2004 inspection report, management introduced a subsidised shuttle bus to transport prisoners' visitors from the railway station to the establishment. This service is no longer in place and management should consider re-introducing it.
The Visits Room
5.8 Inspectors observed visitors arriving in the prison and the visits sessions; and spoke to visitors. It was clear that staff manage the balance between security and a positive environment very well. Visitors were very complimentary about the attitude and behaviour of officers.
5.9 Visit sessions are at set times. Visitors are encouraged to arrive early so that the necessary security procedures do not encroach on their visit time. The system works well and waiting time is kept to a minimum. The close proximity of the waiting room to the visit room helps with this.
5.10 The waiting area is comfortable and welcoming. There are notice boards and leaflets available. There are good toilet and baby changing facilities in the waiting area. The Family Contact Development Office is located in the waiting area. It was pleasing to see the office door open during visit sessions so that visitors could ask questions or just have a chat before their visit. However, the office is staffed as an out of hall activity and may not be open if there are staff shortages in the halls. This should be addressed.
5.11 The visits room itself is small, drab and dated and it would be easy for the supervision of visits to be obtrusive. Through the use of CCTV and the strategic placement of the officers this is avoided. Visits will not be taking place in this room for much longer and that means that there has been little recent investment in decoration. Rising prisoner numbers means that the basic entitlement is sometimes not met and staff have to be flexible in moving remand and convicted visits around. Polmont needs a new visits room.
5.12 A parental bonding visit scheme is in place. There is a play area for children adjacent to the visit room and parent and child can play together during these sessions.
Information
5.13 The information for visitors online about Polmont is excellent. It provides almost everything a visitor would want to know before coming to Polmont. There are details about visiting the prison as well as very detailed information about the regime available to prisoners. It contains contact details of staff who anyone is likely to need to contact in any situation. A direct dial telephone contact number is also available. This is an area of good practice.
5.14 This information is supplemented by an induction session for new visitors which goes a long way to allaying the fears of parents, partners, family and friends in that it covers all aspects of life in the prison and includes a walk through some of the prison during a patrol period.
5.15 A protocol exists for communicating with a named family member or partner after an incident involving a prisoner. The prison handles this sensitively and the wishes of the prisoners are a primary consideration. The FCDO is also an excellent information resource to visitors.
Searching
5.16 The searching procedure for visitors is appropriate. A walk-through metal detector and an x-ray machine are used to monitor people and possessions going into the visits room. Anything more obtrusive in the way of searching is carried out only when intelligence information exists to indicate the need for that. This is often undertaken in partnership with the police or the SPS Dog Unit.
5.17 Inspectors observed the admission procedure. Officers were courteous and professional. Families understood the need for the searches and complied with the procedures. The atmosphere observed during the process was one of quiet efficiency. The searching procedures are thorough but compatible with human dignity.
Communications
5.18 There are sufficient telephones in each section to meet the demand, even in the most overcrowded areas of the prison. Prisoners are told that their calls will be monitored and there are notices posted next to each telephone making this clear.
5.19 The telephones are located in the sections within each hall and are used mainly during recreation sessions. The area is very noisy and it is difficult to conduct a conversation in these circumstances.
5.20 Telephones in Monro have canopies fitted. Those in Iona had canopies fitted but most of these have now been taken down or vandalised. Even with the canopies, background noise is very intrusive. The prison needs to either relocate the telephones to a quieter area or create more effective "telephone boxes" to reduce the background noise.
5.21 There is no limit to the number of letters prisoners can send (subject to finances) or receive. Outgoing letters are collected and posted every day. Incoming letters are sorted and transported to the halls as soon as possible and distributed at meal times or during association periods. When letters are opened it is in the presence of the prisoner. There were no issues around written correspondence.
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