To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to address the needs and welfare of women prisoners, in light of the reported challenges arising from a growing prison population. (S6O-03524)

The needs and welfare of all those in our care remains a key priority for the Scottish Government and the Scottish Prison Service. The SPS continues to manage those in custody with a person-centred approach and, together with its partners, to deliver a range of trauma-informed support and services to women in custody to meet their specific needs.

However, I have been clear that the critical pressures that the Prison Service experiences and their impact on women and men in prison as well as staff require urgent action. That is why I laid regulations before Parliament last week to seek approval to use the emergency release power in the Bail and Release from Custody (Scotland) Act 2023.

It is welcome that the Scottish Prison Service is committed to becoming a more trauma-informed organisation. With that in mind, what steps is the service taking through the use of available technology to help create safe and secure environments, where doing so is viable?

The Scottish Prison Service has invested in technologies to support its commitment to safety and security and to becoming a trauma-informed organisation. Rapiscan machines, which are available in every prison, and body scanners, which are available in 11 establishments, further enhance our comprehensive suite of security measures that are deployed to keep our prisons safe. However, the SPS remains vigilant to the threat that is posed through the introduction of contraband and ensures that applied tactical measures complement the use of those technologies.

Advancements in technology have also allowed the SPS to roll out in-cell telephony throughout its estate. That facility supports positive mental health and wellbeing for those in the service’s care, creating a holistic approach to security and to being trauma informed.

Women are routinely being strip-searched in Scottish prisons, despite ministers saying, five years ago, that the practice would be reduced. The cabinet secretary will know that the practice is particularly retraumatising for female prisoners who have suffered abuse in the past. Only this morning, Wendy Sinclair-Gieben, the chief inspector of prisons, wrote to the cabinet secretary, asking for the practice to stop. Linda Allan , whose daughter Katie took her own life in Polmont prison, said that repeated strip-searching was a major factor in her death. How quickly does the cabinet secretary think that the practice can come to an end?

I have already been in correspondence with the chief inspector of prisons with regard to this very serious matter. I, of course, share the chief inspector’s concerns, although it must be noted that the chief inspector has acknowledged that there can be a legitimate role for body searching, if there is robust intelligence or robust reasonable grounds.

The member’s point about the importance of trauma-informed practice also relates to my answer to Ms Tweed about advancing the use of technology, because the use of body scanners, for example, reduces the need for body searches. I am committed to continuing to engage not just with the inspector, but with the chief executive of the Scottish Prison Service, with whom I have had a conversation on the matter. I have sought further assurances that body searching will be used only where there are robust grounds and robust intelligence, and I am due to have further discussions with the Scottish Prison Service on the matter.

Natalie Beal, the governor of HMP Glenochil, has said that it is becoming increasingly difficult to deal with prisoners in their 60s and 70s. In 2018, the Scottish Prison Service spent £636,000 on prisoner social care, but that had trebled to £2.1 million by 2022. Given the growing population in Scottish prisons, what action is the Scottish Government taking to deal with the increasingly complex needs of the prison population?

I am grateful to Ms Dowey for raising that important point. I have discussed the matter in a number of previous statements to the Parliament. Ms Beal is quite correct, in that the prison population is not just increasing but becoming increasingly elderly, and that comes with significant health and social care needs. As I have previously stated to Parliament, there is engagement with the SPS and the cross-Government prison healthcare group on how we can better address the needs of community safety and security in our establishments and ensure better care for elderly long-term prisoners.