ANNUAL REPORT 1995-96

SPS Mission Statement

'To keep in Custody those committed by the Courts: to maintain good order in each prison: to care for prisoners with humanity and to provide prisoners with a range of opportunities to exercise personal responsibility and to prepare for release'.

INTRODUCTION

1.1 Whilst there was a number of escapes and absconds last year and mainly from outside escorts, there were no instances where dangerous criminals were able to break free from closed prison conditions in Scotland. Thus it can reasonably be concluded that the primary interest of the general public and the core directive of the SPS mission statement had started from a firm basis. Nor were there any riots, major disturbances or hostage taking north of the border, which made 1995-96 the second major incident free year in succession - a position which had not been achieved in the previous decade. Good order was thereby maintained and this not only represented a significant improvement in the quality of daily life for the combined total of 10,000 prisoners and staff involved, it also meant that a very considerable financial burden was spared the community at large.

1.2 We found that care of prisoners was invariably exercised with the appropriate humanity and dignity despite the poor physical conditions which are to be found in many of Scotland's prisons - refurbishment and upgrading programmes notwithstanding. There were, however, 15 deaths in custody of which eight were apparently due to suicide and included the tragic deaths of three young women. The number of serious assaults amongst prisoners showed a marked and disturbing increase for which no underlying cause has yet been identified. However there is likely to be a connection with the drugs culture, which is spreading through society and some, though by no means all prisons, like a fast corrosive. Overcrowding reduced a shade, mainly due to changes of use in parts of the prison estate, but it is still an acute problem for six establishments. Meanwhile, not all prisons were able to find sufficient and meaningful work to keep the majority of convicted prisoners occupied at all times, though this was not from lack of effort, but rather because of a combination of commercial pressures and the absence of enough work places to go round. A major review of industries is, however, underway - a task which it is to be hoped will go some considerable way towards addressing the employment shortfall.

1.3 Remand prisoners represent almost 20% of the daily total in custody and Prison Rules exclude them from the requirement to work. Theirs is therefore an extremely monotonous and some might say demeaning existence, which can last for weeks or months on end and often in overcrowded conditions. The quality of their care poses a major challenge for the SPS both in policy terms and in the allocation of resources.

1.4 Efforts to provide and expand the opportunities for convicted prisoners to exercise personal responsibility and to prepare for release continued at an impressive pace. The aim is to make best use of prison time by addressing offending behaviour thereby reducing the number of potential victims of crime. However, our observations lead us to conclude that in this area, there could be much better coordination to ensure that there are common standards across the Service in terms of programme integrity, evaluation and outcomes.

1.5 Coordination is indeed a watchword we would suggest as a result of all our inspections this year. The challenge for management at various levels was how best to coordinate and consolidate disparate changes, whilst at the same time maintaining focus on all the tenets of the SPS Mission Statement. A wide variety of initiatives continued to be introduced throughout the prison service last year, including the introduction of random mandatory drug testing, significant health care changes, adjustments to conditions for Home Leave, amendments to the Prison Rules, the establishment of operating standards, a major review of psychology services and phase 3 of the market testing of Works services. A security review was also conducted and at the same time, communications were revolutionised by the commendably swift introduction of a computerised information system (SPIN). The entire SPS staff also underwent sweeping changes in organisation, membership, pay and working conditions, which generated considerable anxiety in the process.

SPS PERFORMANCE MEASURES AND KEY TARGETS 1995-96

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