Abroad Thoughts from Home

6.1 We thought it sensible to consider practice and policy outwith Scotland on the basis that failure to make any external comparisons would properly be regarded as remiss and, more positively, because we hoped to discover approaches to and regimes for female prisoners, from which - allowing for difference in size and culture - we might develop ideas for change in Scotland. Insofar as that plan was successful we have had no hesitation in considering or recommending adoption or modification in Scotland of practices culled from elsewhere - although not, we hope, without appropriate recognition of the source.

6.2 The countries selected for comparison were England, Denmark and Sweden, each presenting geographic, demographic or cultural contrasts, but all recognising, as in Scotland, the need to have regard to the special requirements of female prisoners. This chapter is accordingly devoted to recording our experiences in these three countries. These accounts are not intended to be comprehensive ie they are not reports on the establishments visited. Rather they are selective, looking primarily at what was new, imaginative or at least different in each case. We wish to record here our gratitude to all those officials, officers and prisoners in the three countries who gave of their time to furnish us with facts, figures and opinions which were invaluable in supplementing our visual impressions and helping us to form views on recommendations later in this report.

ENGLAND

General

6.3 South of the Border, there are 12 penal establishments for females accommodating about 1,700 prisoners. Some of these establishments, particularly those at Pucklechurch, Risley and Durham, are or were in effect units for females at male prisons. The distribution is, however, skewed both demographically and geographically. For example 25 per cent of the female establishments are located in the north-east of England but none is located in Wales although the system applies over both countries. One consequence of the skewing factor is that, although official policy is to locate female prisoners as close to home as possible, many prisoners - whether on remand or convicted - find themselves a considerable distance from home.

6.4 Four of the 12 establishments were visited by a member of the Inspectorate and a description of the main features, especially those of interest to us, is given below.

HM PRISON HOLLOWAY

6.5 This is the largest all-female prison in the country, with a capacity of 517 and a daily average population (in the latter part of 1993) of between 450 and 480 which facilitated effective running. Holloway is a national training and local prison; and also a national psychiatric prison for females. The liberal regime offering self responsibility meant that the prisoners frequently did not want to leave Holloway because they regarded the regimes available even in open prisons as inferior. Additionally only fit prisoners could be moved on to open establishments so that Holloway was left with more than its proportionate share of the unfit.

Regime

6.6 Every effort was being made to ensure that, unless for good reason - eg medical - prisoners would be engaged in 'purposeful activity' and those who chose not to be so occupied would not be paid.

6.7 Visit arrangements were adequate and steps had been taken to improve such arrangements. Special children's visits - for which prisoners had to make application - were possible on alternate Sundays between 0930 and 1530 hours.

6.8 Other activities such as education, PE and library were similar to those found in Scottish establishments.

Medical

6.9 The prison hospital had accommodation for 90 patients and in addition included a pregnancy ward which could hold up to 24. There was also a separate mother and baby unit which had the capacity to hold twelve mothers and their babies. No deliveries or operations were carried out at Holloway; these were all done in local hospitals. However, ante-natal and post natal treatment were available within the prison and there was also one general gynaecological session per week. A visiting psychiatrist provided up to seven sessions per week and a visiting psychotherapist provided three sessions per week. Dental, optical and chiropody services were also available.

6.10 Within the mother and baby unit mothers were allowed to retain their babies until nine months old - that being judged the important period for bonding (although at Styal and Askam Grange babies could be kept until 18 months old). Baby food and terry towelling nappies were supplied on demand although the baby grant for which mothers were eligible went to the prison authorities in exchange for which items were issued free from the prison stock.

HM PRISON COOKHAM WOOD

6.11 Situated at Chatham, Kent, Cookham Wood was opened in 1978. In the south of England it is the main closed prison for long and medium term sentenced adult females (about 20% of prisoners belonging to the former category, including those on life sentences). As such the prison holds a (small) number of difficult prisoners. Releases do not normally take place from Cookham Wood (although some pre-release courses may be introduced). Capacity was 120 in two blocks each of 60 cells all with integral sanitation and within the prison there was a free flow movement system: ie, prisoners were not escorted from point to point.

Regime

6.12 This had previously been very restricted compared with that available for comparable male prisoners, with (below Governor level) a predominantly female staff. Recent changes had seen the appointment of the first female Governor-in-Charge and the introduction of six male officers in a total staff of 42. Changes in the regime were directed towards purposeful structuring with as much relaxation and progression as was compatible with the needs of security. The principle of the responsible prisoner was recognised in that, judging each case on its merits, the Governor was prepared to consider prisoners being allowed to make town visits in the company of their visitors. Personal officers had now been introduced with each officer being responsible for three prisoners and with a back up officer on a mutually supporting basis.

Education

6.13 Although there was concentration on the traditional subjects such as English - and necessarily so because of the large number of foreign nationals - there were plans to develop the programme. With three full-time teachers and a pool of 16-20 on a sessional basis, many being retired professionals, classes included Dressmaking, Leather Craft, Fabric Painting, Silk Painting, Print Making, Pattern Cutting and Design. There were evening classes to the extent of eight sessions per week and a varied PE programme was available in a well-equipped gymnasium; there were also supervised visits to the local swimming pool.

Employment

6.14 The work programme was regarded by the new Governor as too heavily orientated towards 'girlie' jobs such as sewing machine operation. She therefore hoped to develop courses in such subjects as plumbing and electrical maintenance. (One prisoner had undertaken a joinery course to NVQ standards and one had attended a bricklaying course.) In the visits area there was a canteen which was managed by a prisoner.

HM PRISON AND YOI EAST SUTTON PARK

6.15 East Sutton Park is one of three open prisons for females in England and Wales. It is located near Maidstone, Kent in lovely countryside and with an ambience strongly reminiscent of HMP Penninghame at Newton Stewart. This similarity extended to dormitory accommodation about which the female prisoners clearly felt more strongly than, in our experience, is normally the case with male prisoners. These objections related mainly to the lack of privacy.

Regime

6.16 A fairly comprehensive and relaxed regime operated in which prisoners could participate in a wide range of educational courses to NVQ standards, with beauty care courses in the pipeline. In addition there were a number of evening classes and a range of physical activities (some of which such as cycling or jogging were unsupervised). Visits were generous and although prisoners looked forward to the weekend leaves escorted by their visitors they admitted to difficulty in coping with the traumatic effect of returning to the prison. They also lamented the expense, not so much for themselves as for their visitors whom they were not always in a position to repay. A home leave programme was also in place for adult prisoners serving 18 months or more or YOs serving 12 months or more, there being in each case a requirement to have served one third of the sentence. Home leave eligibility occurred every two months and was applied over a weekend period.

Employment

6.17 The farms and gardens section of the establishment included a cheese factory with an outside civilian manager on contract. The primary product was mozzarella cheese suitable for pizzas and a soft cheese was also made as a by-product and sold to local hotels. Employment was limited to five or six of the prisoners and at the time of the visit three female prisoners were being employed in the factory. Each received wages at £3.45 per hour or £134 per week enabling them to allocate significant savings to their personal cash account. The work was therefore popular but was restricted to applicants who showed a degree of aptitude approved by the manager.

6.18 Other interesting areas of employment were soft furnishings, dressmaking and upholstery. Some prisoners were employed in an outworker party working with the disabled.

HM PRISON ASKHAM GRANGE

6.19 Located in a mansion house in the village of Askham Richard some six miles South West of York, this prison can accommodate 130 female prisoners although at the time of our visit there were only 80 in residence. Except for the mother and baby unit, which had single rooms, accommodation was in the form of small dormitories, which were bright and airy and in which there was much evidence of personalisation. There was also a pre-release (TFF) hostel which held 16 prisoners for whom there appeared no difficulty in finding employment. Also provided within the confines of the mansion were a gymnasium and swimming pool, both of which were extensively used. Mothers and their babies (up to 18 months) were located in a specific unit which had pleasant, bright individual rooms and also had access to well equipped creche and play areas.

Regime

6.20 There was a comprehensive programme which was flexible, ie full or part-time, and individualised to meet the training or educational needs of prisoners. There were accredited courses in Business Administration, Hairdressing, Dressmaking and Home Economics. Other courses - to brush up on skills, to follow a particular interest or to take an examination - could be negotiated with a member of staff. In addition there were evening classes each of six weeks duration and mainly of a recreational nature. These included Dressmaking, Soft Toys, Keyboarding, Cookery (budget, continental and cordon bleu) Art and Crafts and Jewellery Making. Extra activities included visits from the Careers Service and theatre groups and from time to time visits to the theatre were organised.

England Summary

6.21 Allowing for the advantages which female institutions in England naturally enjoy as a result of much greater size in terms of population, resources and geographical dispersion - for example, diversification of employment as demonstrated at East Sutton Park - we found aspects of the regimes worthy of note and others worthy of further consideration as to their applicability in the Scottish context. For convenience the main points are summarised as follows.

6.22 In the sphere of Child Care both Holloway and Askham Grange made particular arrangements for children's play and creche facilities, with Holloway also having special children's visits which could be taken on alternate Sundays between 0930 and 1530 hours. 6.23 At Holloway and Cookham Wood prisoners were able, through the main prison shop, to sell items which they had made to staff and visitors. 6.24 We also noted the impressive ante-natal, post-natal and gynaecological services at Holloway although appreciate that such services would in demand terms not be viable at Cornton Vale.

DENMARK

General

6.25 Danish prisons have an absolute capacity of about 3,800 prisoners, with some 3,500 actually in prison, and about 200 being female. There was no overcrowding for prisoners of either sex because this was not permitted; if space was not available then, depending on the nature of the crime or other circumstances, the prisoner joined a queue of about 3,000 awaiting admission. Under this system prisoners were sentenced, temporarily released and then called up, normally within three months, to serve their sentence. The general policy of the Danish Prison Service was to assimilate life in prison as closely as possible to conditions in the outside world - which implied extending the concept to normal relationships between the sexes as far as practicable.

6.26 Most prisons were open, it being the practice for sentences to be served in open conditions if at all practicable. Most female prisoners were held in mixed prisons but they had no special programmes. There were very few prisons purely for women and none in the closed section which meant that some women requiring closed conditions had to be held in Copenhagen Prison.

6.27 All prisons envisaged conjugal visits at least weekly, the only limitation being the capacity of the visit centre. In open prisons conjugal visits sometimes took place in the prisoners' own cells. In addition there were frequent home leaves, usually at three weekly intervals.

6.28 The basic wage was 7 Kroner (70p) per hour for a 37 hour week. In some establishments prisoners, irrespective of sex, got a 40 Kroner (c. £4) per day allowance from which they had to provide their own food.

Copenhagen

6.29 Copenhagen Prison functions as a local prison and has a capacity of 550 places. There was one exclusively female wing and one mixed wing, although most prisoners (80%) were male. The main work for the remand and short term prisoners was in general work parties. Spouses or established partners could have adjoining rooms and could stay together during the day but not overnight (although interconnecting adjacent cells were planned for 1996). Each prisoner was allowed a visit of one hour's duration each week. Unless there was suspicion of illegal activities such visits were conducted in unsupervised, separate rooms. Exercise and the use of the multi-gym were on a single sex basis. Education was limited to basic level. Food was prepared in a central kitchen but served in cell.

Ringe

6.30 Ringe, which is a closed mixed prison, is located on the island of Fyn, in the middle of Denmark. It comprised six living units, five with 16 and one with 10 single rooms, all on ground level. In each section one of the rooms was a family room suitable for a parent and child. Each section also had a small kitchen, where prisoners cooked their own meals, two common rooms and a garden to which prisoners have ready access. Each room/cell was fitted with electric power points and prisoners, if they so wished, might have their own television, refrigerator, etc.

6.31 The prison accepted women of all ages and men between the age of 15-23 from all over the country. On the day of our visit the population was 60 men, 22 women and two babies.

6.32 Staff fulfilled a generic role in that they undertook duties of security, casework and instruction. In particular they accompanied prisoners to their respective work stations at 0800 hours and remained with them until the end of the working day at 1530 hours. During this time they instructed, supervised, shared meals - which were cooked in each work place - and engaged in group and individual discussion. The range of work covered light engineering, joinery, painting, crafts and packaging of goods for a private contractor.

6.33 Prisoners of both sexes associated freely throughout the day and where a husband and wife were both in custody they were located in adjoining rooms.

6.34 Visits were held in private rooms and were supervised only if there was any concern over breaches of security.

Amstrup

6.35 Amstrup is a small all-female prison with accommodation for 21 prisoners. All prisoners were located in single rooms which they were allowed to personalise to a high degree. Employment was mainly in packaging work although some prisoners were engaged according to their capabilities on the small prison farm. Apart from the Secretary, all other staff were male - a situation which did not appear to have presented any difficulties.

6.36 Catering was provided by Horsens prison which was located a few miles away, food being transported in cans from the main prison kitchen. However, we were advised that the prison was moving towards self catering, an idea which - a little surprisingly - the prisoners did not favour.

6.37 Home leaves at weekends were available every three weeks after the prisoners had served specified qualifying periods in addition to which prisoners serving sentences of more than 30 days were entitled (with no qualifying period) to eight hour visits outwith the establishment. Any searching of prisoners after visits would be done by female officers from Horsens. Although the prison was small, isolated and single sex, the prisoners to whom we spoke did not feel deprived in any way, in fact quite the contrary. Two members of staff were on duty on each shift and one member on night shift slept on the premises for emergency unlock.

Horserod

6.38 Horserod is the largest open prison in Denmark with a capacity of 250 prisoners of whom 210 were men and 40 women. Apart from one section for women only, the prisoners were inter-mixed with the women applying for the section of their choice, subject to management's final decision. There was also a family unit where children of up to three years of age could reside with their parents and where children up to the age of seven were able to visit at weekends (Friday to Sunday) once per month.

6.39 There was a central kitchen which catered for all units with the exception of the family and all female sections. We were advised, however, that all prisoners would do their own catering from January 1995.

6.40 All prisoners wore their own clothes and although these were laundered centrally there did not appear to be any problems with loss or damage.

6.41 Prisoners could have television, refrigerator and telephone in their rooms but had to accept responsibility for all payments related thereto, excluding electricity costs. As in other establishments, visits were normally private and each prisoner was allowed a minimum of three hours per week. Home leave was granted every three weeks and personal cash could be held up to the equivalent of £150 at any one time.

6.42 Prisoners were given access to education within the establishment or could travel to any of the institutes of education in the wider community. In addition to the traditional prison occupations instruction was given in metal trades, furniture-making, dressmaking, laundry and gardening.

6.43 The rate of absconding was approximately 100 per year and approximately 250 per annum were returned to closed conditions.

6.44 One interesting feature was the existence of a Spokesperson (male at the time of our visit) for prisoners. He accompanied us on our tour and expressed views on aspects of the female regime.

Denmark Summary

6.45 During our visit we were impressed by several aspects of the Danish prison system. Our first area of interest was the queueing system which, unless there were particular reasons, allowed those sentenced to custody to return home until called up to serve their sentence. Although applied in Denmark regardless of sex and to avoid overcrowding, this policy seemed to us to have positive aspects of particular relevance to female prisoners by allowing them to organise their domestic arrangements to cover the period of absence. Additionally it placed on the individual convicted prisoner the responsibility of presentation at the prison on a specified date.

6.46 The second practice which impressed us was the generic role played by prison staff which meant that in addition to normal discipline duties they acted as instructor, counsellor and fellow worker during the working day.

6.47 The third interesting area was the arrangement at Ringe (due to be extended to other prisons) whereby prisoners took responsibility for the preparation and cooking of their own meals. This gave the individuals concerned the opportunity to vary both their choice of menu and time of eating as well as responsibility for managing their own budget. It also resulted in savings in catering staff costs which could then be re-distributed to other areas of the prison.

6.48 Although we see value in the first point, we do not recommend its implementation in Scotland. The queueing system would have the advantage of virtually eradicating at a stroke prison overcrowding, but it would require a major shift in policy and, perhaps even more significantly, in public opinion. In the female sector, there is currently no significant overcrowding, so the change would require to be justified purely in relation to additional domestic complexity facing female prisoners on imprisonment. As regards the generic role for staff, much is already being done in terms of counselling through the personal officer scheme but the nature of the Scottish prison system with, in general terms, much larger establishments than are to be found in Denmark, would in our view rule out greater staff involvement in the roles of instructor and fellow worker. However, it may be that, in the longer term, it would be possible to develop such a scheme at Cornton Vale and we suggest that this should be given some consideration. We also see some merit in the system whereby prisoners took responsibility for the preparation and cooking of their own meals. We suggest that this merits further consideration, at least for those female prisoners in the TFF hostel given that this practice is the norm in male TFF establishments.

SWEDEN

General

6.49 Historically Sweden had followed a policy of housing the majority of female prisoners in mixed prisons on the assumption that that would lead to overall improvements in language and behaviour, particularly on the part of male prisoners. However, it had more recently been recognised that that assumption had been too optimistic in that prisoners of both sexes were taking advantage of the situation.

6.50 Views on the way forward were, however, mixed. On the one hand many continued to hold the view that prison life should reflect the outside world as far as possible and that prisons should continue to be mixed, with the opportunity being taken to train male criminals in appropriate behaviour towards women. On the other hand it was held that the sexes should be separated, particularly following recent experience of women being abused by men for sexual gratification or drug smuggling. Certainly, we were given the impression that some members of senior management in the Swedish Prison Service would like to see the concept of mixed prisons abandoned.

Vangdalen

6.51 In this local, mixed open prison to the north west of Stockholm with a prisoner population of 30 men and seven women supervised by a total of 21 staff, the majority of prisoners were serving short sentences of up to six months although there were long term prisoners nearing the end of their sentence. Most of the offenders were in custody for drug related offences and had the opportunity, if they so wished, to participate in a drugs programme.

6.52 Separate accommodation was provided for female prisoners. This was locked at 2200 hours, prior to which time females could visit their male counterparts' recreation area but not, officially, their rooms.

6.53 During the day females and males worked side by side in forestry/timber related work. Interestingly, some prisoners (five at the time of our visit) were able to retain the job they had prior to imprisonment and it was also possible for others to apply for jobs outside the prison. All such prisoners travelled daily to work and retained their salary except for a weekly deduction of 55 Kroner (approximately £5.00) for food.

6.49-50. Since its re-classification in 1989 to a female only establishment the type of work undertaken by prisoners had been of a domestic nature although there was a small group engaged in weaving and sewing machine work. Staff - who did not wear uniforms - worked side by side with the prisoners, which it was claimed resulted in positive relationships being developed in a relaxed atmosphere and ensured that serious problems were tackled expeditiously. Prisoners were paid the equivalent of approximately £25 per week but received no pay for days not worked.

6.55 Visits of 1½ hours per week could be taken in private, in lockable rooms, without supervision. However, should staff be suspicious that drug misuse was taking place they could supervise the visit and search the visitors (including body searches). Prisoners could be urine-tested and if found to be taking drugs were transferred to supervised visits.

6.56 Although there were no special facilities for children, mothers could retain babies under two years of age, although retention after one year was discouraged to reduce the risk of institutionalisation.

Ystad

6.57 This local, mixed, closed prison in the Malmo region had accommodation for 40 prisoners; on the day of our visit it was full, with 25 females and 15 males being in residence.

6.58 The prison was divided into single sex five cell units each with its own communal area including cooking facilities and television. The units were locked at 2000 hours but prisoners, who had keys to their own rooms, were able to circulate within their own units without the presence of staff. We were advised, however, that due to a concern over drug misuse those procedures were about to be changed so that prisoners would be locked in their cells at 2000 hours and there would be a staff presence. Thereafter, however, individual in cell televisions would be allowed.

6.59 Work programmes in Ystad involved both groups in working separately - men mainly in the mechanical workshop and kitchen and women mainly in the gardens. Education and drugs programmes were also run separately which meant that male and female prisoners were able to associate only at meal times and at the daily one hour exercise period if that was taken outside.

6.60 All prisoners qualified for home leave after they had served a quarter of their sentence. On return from such leaves all prisoners were urine-tested.

6.61 Visits were, as at Faringso, unsupervised unless there was concern over drug misuse.

6.62 One interesting point of note was that female staff could carry out body searches on male prisoners but the searching of female prisoners by male staff was not allowed.

Malmo Remand Centre

6.63 This new complex opened in October 1993 and was shared with the Police. The prison had accommodation for 120 prisoners although there was a second centre - with accommodation for 40 - located in another part of the town.

6.64 The centre held male and female prisoners, with females normally accounting for about 10% of the population. There were no separate units and so it was possible for males and females to be in adjoining cells. However, that fact was of little relevance as the prisoners were locked up 23 hours per day. Exercise, which was offered daily, was conducted in enclosed pens with an open roof and prisoners were supervised from a central control room. We were advised, however, that very few prisoners took up that offer.

6.65 The regime was strict, in addition to which, according to the nature of the crime, the court could introduce restrictions on individual prisoners, such as the denying of access to television, radio, newspapers or magazines or prohibiting visitors or telephone calls (other than to solicitors). Such restrictions were reviewed every 14 days but in some cases could be kept in place for the entire remand period.

6.66 Female prisoners were permitted to retain their babies in cell until one year old. Spouses in custody were - subject to any restrictions imposed by the court - allowed to take exercise together. The only other exception to the non-association rule was in a small working party for low security prisoners.

Sweden Summary

6.67 We were left with the very clear message that at least some members of senior management within the Swedish Prison Service were cooling in their enthusiasm for mixed prisons, perhaps as a result of the increase in drug abuse in society in general which, over the past few years, had spread into the prison environment creating problems hitherto unknown. From the information we received, it was clear that members of both sexes were abusing the situation within mixed prisons with perhaps the exception of Ystad. Here contact between the two groups was restricted to the communal dining areas and outside exercise periods, both of which were supervised by staff. Other factors might have been that, in general, the female prisoners were older than their male counterparts and were more likely to be serving a sentence for a drug related offence.

6.68 An arrangement with which we were impressed was that at Vangdalen where it was permissible for prisoners to retain their outside jobs after sentence or even to apply for vacancies outside the prison on the same basis. Such prisoners retained their 'outside' salary but then made a contribution towards their keep. (Interestingly, this is very much in line with a recommendation in our thematic study report on TFF and Community Placements in Scotland.)

6.69 We noted that, as in Denmark, private and unsupervised visits were allowed. These raise questions of security and propriety but also contribute significantly to maintenance of family relationships and to resocialisation.