Prisons (Proposed Statutory Monitoring Service)

– in the Scottish Parliament at on 7 June 2012.

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Photo of Lewis Macdonald Lewis Macdonald Labour

5. To ask the First Minister whether members of the existing prison visiting committees will have a role in the statutory monitoring service proposed by the Scottish Government. (S4F-00740)

Photo of Alex Salmond Alex Salmond First Minister of Scotland, Leader, Scottish National Party

Under our proposals, independent monitoring of prisons will be carried out regularly by professional monitors who will report directly to the chief inspector of prisons. Many opportunities will remain for people who wish to volunteer to work with prisoners, including mentoring, community mediation and restorative justice, as well as the potential to be involved with the new prisoner support service that the Government is establishing as part of the movement forward.

Photo of Lewis Macdonald Lewis Macdonald Labour

In relation to Scotland’s international obligations on independent visiting of prisons, I think that that answer means “No.” The answer is disappointing for people who have given their time and effort on prison visiting committees.

Does the First Minister really believe that replacing 240 unpaid volunteer members of visiting committees with three former prison governors or other senior people with prison experience as full-time Government inspectors is the right way to respond to the public service commitment of prison visitors, including councillors of all parties? Is it the right way to meet Scotland’s international obligations on independent monitoring of our prisons?

Photo of Alex Salmond Alex Salmond First Minister of Scotland, Leader, Scottish National Party

Lewis Macdonald is being less than fair. As he probably knows, we revised our proposals to reflect concerns about the independent monitoring of prisons that were expressed in Parliament on 2 February. The Cabinet Secretary for Justice wrote to key stakeholders on 24 May to set out his proposals on monitoring, which were sent to the Howard League for Penal Reform, the Scottish Human Rights Commission, the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities, the Scottish Independent Advocacy Alliance, the Association of Visiting Committees for Scottish Penal Establishments and the chair of the United Kingdom national preventive mechanism.

Lewis Macdonald should not underrate the importance of some of the things that I mentioned. The mentoring service offers support for offenders who want to reduce their offending and to lead healthier lifestyles, travel services provide a regular transport service to many of Scotland’s prisons, and restorative justice is hugely important in addressing the harm that is caused by crime and helping to work out practical solutions for the future.

As I said to Malcolm Chisholm on 2 February, many opportunities remain for interested parties to feed in their views, including the three-month consultation that the justice secretary is progressing. Lewis Macdonald is being less than fair about the range of mechanisms that are available to allow people to participate in that vital and valuable service.

Photo of Alison McInnes Alison McInnes Liberal Democrat

The Government has stated that a criterion for the recruitment of the new prison monitors

“will be that they possess previous high level experience of working within a prison service”.

To be blunt, the justice secretary is proposing that the Scottish Prison Service be monitored by former senior employees of the Scottish Prison Service. How independent is that? Can the First Minister explain why that criterion is necessary when it is not required for HM Chief Inspector of Prisons or his staff?

Photo of Alex Salmond Alex Salmond First Minister of Scotland, Leader, Scottish National Party

It is reasonable to ask for significant expertise, qualifications and experience, but I will ask the justice secretary to look at that question in detail and to give Alison McInnes a fully considered reply. We should not diminish that request. There are many people in Scotland who fulfil the criteria, and we want the very best people available for the institutions that are being established. However, I will ask the justice secretary to reply specifically in order to allay Alison McInnes’s concerns.

Photo of Annabel Goldie Annabel Goldie Conservative

How much more expensive is the proposed new system?

Photo of Alex Salmond Alex Salmond First Minister of Scotland, Leader, Scottish National Party

We are confident that the move to the new system will fulfil not just our statutory requirements but other requirements, and we believe that it will deliver substantial value for money.