Current status: Answered by Angela Constance on 6 August 2024
To ask the Scottish Government whether it plans to ask the Scottish Prison Service to undertake ligature audits at all prisons, and, if this is not the case, what the reasons are for its position on the matter.
My deepest thoughts and condolences are with those families affected by a death in prison custody. The Scottish Prison Service (SPS) cares for and supports some of the most complex and vulnerable individuals in our society, often at times of personal crisis.
Ligature prevention is an operational matter and ongoing priority for the SPS. The SPS Estates team consider ligature prevention in the design of cells, which continues to evolve, in order to minimise ligature points.
Following every death in prison, the SPS undertake a Death in Prison Learning Audit and Review to learn from the incident. Any learning in relation to ligature points is reported to the National Suicide Prevention Group, a multi-disciplinary group, which consider the high-level policy implications of tackling ligature risks and agree on any changes to be implemented.
There are ‘safer cells’ throughout the prison estate, which are specifically designed to reduce, as far as possible, opportunities for individuals to cause injury to themselves. Anti-ligature clothing and bedding is available where it is considered appropriate. Safer cells are used as a short term measure when the SPS believes they are necessary to safeguard the health and wellbeing of someone in their care.
Designing a prison that is considered to be entirely ligature point free would create a sterile living environment, incompatible with the aspiration of the provision of a normalised space for those in the care of the SPS. Placing individuals in the care of the SPS in restrictive, depersonalised environments as a matter of course could negatively impact on mental health, as well as indicating a lack of trust or acknowledgement of their needs.