And we’re off with an all day scare story fed to BBC Scotland by the dread Jenny Marra. It’s a real crisis and urgent action is needed say….MSPs. Ah, no research? No figures that we can trust. Just the eminently untrustworthy Marra?
I’m not saying all is well in these prisons, but a bit of context might be informative. Informative? You know, so the audience can make an informed judgement on whether or not they need to buy new locks and board up the windows? I’ve got some:
Prison escapes?
Although our most recent report from FY 2018/19 is yet to be published I can confirm the figure is NIL, and for FY 2019/20 to date again, the figure is NIL. On each occasion the escape was from a hospital escort and not from the prison itself. To further clarify [BONEHEAD], for attempted escapes the figure is NIL.
http://www.sps.gov.uk/FreedomofInformation/FOI-6547.aspx
Assaults on prison staff?
- In Barlinnie and Polmont, serious offences plummeted to zero from 1 and in Grampian, to zero from 2.
- In Barlinnie, minor offences fell from 23 to 13, non-serious were static at 15 and hospital treatment cases fell from 6 to 3.
- In Grampian, minor offences fell from 15 to 3, non-serious fell from 17 to 12 and hospital treatment cases fell from 3 to 1.
- In Polmont, minor offences fell from 11 to 3, non-serious fell from 15 to 10 and hospital treatment cases fell from 3 to 0.
http://www.sps.gov.uk/FreedomofInformation/FOI-6528.aspx
Prison staffing?
18% higher than in England and Wales.
Click to access WA20190403.pdf
Scottish prisons less violent?
‘Scottish prisons are significantly less violent than jails in England and Wales, with lower rates of inmate aggression, according to statistics released by the Scottish parliament. Figures compiled by the Scottish Parliament Information Centre revealed that last year there were 73% fewer outbreaks of violence in Scottish jails than in prisons in England and Wales. For every 1,000 inmates in England and Wales, there were 32 recorded prisoner-on-prisoner attacks and nine directed against prison staff. Over the same period in Scotland, for every 1,000 inmates there were just 10 recorded instances of prisoners attacking each other and one incident of a violent assault on wardens. In total, there were 79 serious assaults in Scottish prisons last year, while in England and Wales, prison chiefs logged 3,553.’
SNP Government doing good job?
‘Compare that [England] fairly, and I think evidentially, with what’s happening in Scotland, and I think what we’ve benefitted from here…has been a consistent form of government. Some may disagree with that view, but I’ve been running the SPS for approaching six years now and no doubt, I have benefitted from a consistent requirement presentation from the Scottish Government in terms of what prisons should be doing, and that relationship, therefore, builds up over time.…I think we’ve had consistency and clarity of expectation. I think related to that has been, therefore, a consistent approach to the funding.’
I could go on.
Talking-up Scotland 'Albatraz' 
You are on the ball this morning John! I was just listening to good ol’ GMS Radio Scotland report on prisons in Scotland – they had some kind of vaguely sensationalising report on Barlinnie being atrocious and all Scottish prisons being overcrowded and terrible (no, I wasn’t listening, women can have selective hearing too).
But they had Humsa Yusaf, Scottish minister for justice-y things, on and you couldn’t have a more apposite way of thinking from the uk government and their draconian ‘lock em up’ policies while cutting all funding – the justice system and in particular prisons are in dire straits in England (hoorah for privatisation). So Humsa says, we are building a new Barlinnie and improving the prisons estate (Barlinnie is the most overcrowded, it’s a popular place, but 50% over-capacity?), then he says the main way to resolve the problem is to reduce the prison population overall.
Apparently short term sentences in custody can cause more harm than good – so I assume cutting these will be one of the main ways that they reduce prison populations. More rehabilitation can only benefit society as a whole in the long run. I have heard that some people with drug problems can only get help in prison – perhaps if drugs weren’t a reserved matter, or even, perhaps, if we were independent, this problem could be tackled outside the prison service?
(Gary on GMS is actually doing a good job with a bonkers woman on that is denying improvements in the prison service and any statistics, she’s convener of public audit committee)
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Isn’t it strange how as soon as I hear the name Jenny Marra I assume we’re going to hear a complaint against the Scottish Govt. set out in as lurid terms as possible.
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If you want to give yourself nightmares imaging the Scottish Prison Service being absorbed into one of those ‘UK-wide common frameworks’.
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