Report/Recommendation

Ministerial Response

HM Young Offenders Institution Dumfries (published 2 September 1999)

For SPS HQ/Area Director

1. There should be a national policy for the management of young offenders, which should also recognise the need for staff to be selected on the basis of their suitability to work with adolescents and to receive the appropriate training.

Agreed and being implemented.

2. An induction process, on the lines of that available for adult prisoners at the National Induction Centre, should be developed for all long-term Young Offenders.

Agreement at local level only.

3. The liaison procedures adopted by long-term prisons who receive prisoners from the National Induction Centre should be extended to include transfers from Dumfries.

Agreed.

For Area Director/Governor I/C

4. There should be a complete re-invigoration of the entire routine in the Female Unit, on the lines suggested.

Agreed.

24 Points of Note were also recorded.

HM Unit Peterhead (published 17 December 1999)

For SPS HQ/Area Director

1. Consideration should be given to posting staff to small Units on a secondment basis for defined periods.

On 16 November 1999 it was announced that the Peterhead Unit would be 'mothballed' w.e.f. March 2000 as part of the rationalisation of the SPS estate. Some of these Recommendations may therefore largely be of academic interest (excepting numbers 1, 2, 3 and 4, which continue to apply to the NIC and Shotts Unit).

2. There should be an evaluation of policies, processes and practices in the operation of small Units.

3. Higher priority should be given to clarifying responsibilities for policy development, implementation and operational practices, and procedures put in place to ensure consistency and provide direction.

4. There should be a one month probationary period incorporated into the staff selection process.

For Governor/Area Director

5. MDT statistics for the Peterhead Unit should be provided separately from the main prison.

6. Urgent action should be taken to comply with SPS guidance on random drug testing.

7. There should be a significant increase and targeting of mandatory drug testing in the Unit.

8. The Unit should no longer be described as a drug free area.

One Point of Note was also recorded.

Thematic Review of Remand Prisoners (published 4 April 2000)

For consideration outwith SPS HQ

1. As a matter of priority, arrangements should be put in place to ensure that male and female under-18s who require a custodial remand should not be held in prisons or Young Offenders Institutions but rather that those who do require to be held in secure conditions should be the responsibility of local authority social work departments

Agreed in principle, considerable practical/resource difficulties in implementation.

For joint consideration by SPS HQ and other bodies

2. To coincide with the publication of Key Performance Indicators, regular joint reviews should be held at national and local level with relevant criminal justice agencies to consider performance and to co-ordinate improvements.

Agreed in principle.

3. The SPS should find an accurate means of identifying the costs of keeping remands in prison and these costs should be published annually; more up-to-date means should be found to identify the costs of alternatives to custodial remand; and a study should be undertaken to compare the alternatives.

Being reviewed by SPS.

4. Levels of care provided to remand prisoners by social work agencies should be at least equal to those in the community.

Accepted in principle.

5. Remand prisoners should have increased opportunities for access to the range of support services that would be available to them if they were on bail.

A matter for community-based agencies.

For SPS HQ

6. A senior manager at SPS HQ should be designated with particular responsibility for the remand system and with the specific remit to develop a coherent national policy for remand prisons within the Criminal Justice System.

Not accepted.

7. At local level, establishments should identify a senior manager with the responsibility to change and improve the conditions for remand prisoners.

Agreed in principle.

8. Arrangements for prisoners to meet with their legal agents should be afforded the greatest priority.

Agreed in principle.

9. Every remand establishment should have a supply of legal books to which remand prisoners should have full access, facilitated by a designated and trained Legal Contact Development Officer.

Legal books being reviewed but creation of LCDOs not agreed.

10. A range of Key Performance Indicators specifically relating to the remand system should be developed by 2001, published in the SPS's Corporate Plan and reported on annually.

Being reviewed.

11. The SPS should produce a set of Operating Standards specifically related to the regime for remand prisoners.

Agreed.

12. Consideration should be given to amending The Prisons and Young Offenders Institutions (Scotland) Rules 1994 to introduce rules specifically aimed at remand prisoners.

Not agreed.

13. The next Prison Survey should publish separately the views of remand prisoners.

Agreed.

14. Visiting Committees should be asked to consider the appointment of one member to oversee all contact with remand prisoners.

A matter for the Association of Visiting Committees.

15. All staff working in remand areas of prisons should receive training in the distinctive characteristics and needs of remand prisoners, starting with a clear understanding of how the principles of natural justice should be applied for remand prisoners.

Agreed.

16. Unless there are good reasons for allocating a higher security category, remand prisoners should automatically be allocated security category 'C' on admission.

Under review.

17. Every remand establishment should have a common, accredited induction programme.

Agreed.

18. Remand prisoners should be offered a continuance of prescribed medication and should have equitable access to detoxification facilities.

Agreed.

19. The conditions in which remand prisoners are held should be the best available in the relevant establishment.

Over time, accommodation for all prisoners to
be brought up to an acceptable standard.

20. Remand prisoners should have the opportunity to be held in drug-free areas.

Agreed in principle (but difficult to implement).

21. A system should be introduced that would enable remand prisoners to have a radio and television in their cell as well as having access to daily newspapers and regular visits to the establishment's library.

Agreed in principle.

22. There should be a doubling of the current level of visit entitlement for remand prisoners to at least 60 minutes per day and visits for such prisoners should be available every day.

Agreed in principle.

HMP Kilmarnock (published 20 July 2000)

For SPS HQ/Area Director

1. The SPS should consider introducing more widely the satellite tracking system for prison vehicles that is in use at Kilmarnock.

Agreed.

2. The SPS should consider how the performance management of its other prisons can be improved in the light of the experience at Kilmarnock.

Agreed.

3. The issue about prisoners' progression from Kilmarnock to other mainstream SPS prisons requires to be addressed at the earliest opportunity.

Agreed.

4. Consideration should be given as to how the roles of Investigations Officer and Contract Compliance Officer could be developed elsewhere in the SPS.

Agreed in principle.

For PPS/Director

5. Working conditions in the Communications Room should be significantly improved as a matter of urgency.

Agreed.

6. The establishment's drug strategy requires co-ordination, with the various elements integrated to a greater degree than has yet been the case.

Agreed.

7. There should be a review of the entire work of the social work unit, including staffing resources, in order to ensure their effective input.

Agreed

8. As a matter of priority, management should seek advice from HM Inspectorate of Fire Services regarding the fire escape route from the upper floor of the Gate complex.

KPSL satisfied that the area in question complies with all Building Regulations.

9. There should be a radical upgrading of staff facilities throughout the establishment.

Staff facilities have been improved and upgraded.

50 Points of Note were also recorded.