Seòmar agus comataidhean

I have asked Colin McConnell, chief executive of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS), to respond. His response is as follows:

“As announced by the Cabinet Secretary for Justice on 29 October 2012, the SPS is now developing plans for an improved regime for women offenders. The planning will take full account of the required supports for all women offenders including how these interventions will be delivered in order to secure the best outcomes for the women.”

I have asked Colin McConnell, chief executive of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS), to respond. His response is as follows:

“As announced by the Cabinet Secretary for Justice on 29 October 2012, the SPS is now developing plans for an improved regime for women offenders. The planning will take full account of all the implications of the agreed policy and will fully involve everyone with an interest, including the appropriate health boards. Medical treatment in prisons is currently provided nationally by the NHS and this provision will continue.”

I have asked Colin McConnell, chief executive of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS), to respond. His response is as follows:

“Following the recommendations in the report of the Commission on Women Offenders the SPS consulted nationally over last summer on the proposal for the future management of women offenders in custody. Stakeholders and those with an interest in women offenders generally were all given the opportunity to input.”

I have asked Colin McConnell, chief executive of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS), to respond. His response is as follows:

“SPS consulted widely on the proposal for the future of HMP Cornton Vale in line with the recommendations of the Commission on Women Offenders. Staff were also given the opportunity to input.”

I have asked Colin McConnell, chief executive of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS), to respond. His response is as follows:

“SPS is committing a significant investment to improve the quality of facilities at HMP & YOI Cornton Vale pending the full implementation of its long term plans for women offenders announced by the Cabinet Secretary for Justice on 29 October 2012.

Improvements to Peebles, Bruce and Younger are currently anticipated to cost £2.177 million. This work takes account of the views of the Commission on Women Offenders and the helpful feedback from Hugh Monro, the Chief Inspector of Prisons that improvements to HMP and YOI Cornton Vale should continue pending the availability of a replacement facility.”

The Scottish Government’s official response to the Commission on Women Offenders (the Commission) report indicated its support for the Commission’s aim to reduce the numbers of women put on remand, or given short term sentences, where appropriate and robust alternatives could be made available.

We accepted the recommendation of the Commission that bail supervision schemes should be made available consistently across Scotland. Work carried out by the Scottish Government’s Justice Analytical Services has identified a number of key characteristics of the successful operation of bail supervision schemes, and in light of these findings work is in hand to enable corresponding best practice to be provided across the country. We remain committed to working with criminal justice partners and others in the wider public and third sectors to deliver these services consistently.

Potential sites for the Community Justice Centre (CJC) pilot referenced in the Commission’s report are in the process of being identified at the moment. They will provide a viable alternative to the use of remand when dealing with women accused of lower level offences, and to the imposition of a short term custodial sentence to those women convicted of an offence, when a sheriff feels that this would be appropriate. The CJC model offers the opportunity to deal with issues that can contribute to the offending behaviours of women offenders through a holistic, multi – disciplinary approach, delivering services appropriate to local needs and building on existing local good practice. We see the use of the CJC model as central to the successful delivery of many of the recommendations contained in the Commission’s report.

The Commission recognised that the profile of women offenders generally differs greatly from that of male offenders, and those women offenders tend to be characterised by a range of multiple and complex needs. When preparing the Criminal Justice Social Work Report (CJSWR), social workers must take these needs into consideration. It is then a matter for the court to decide the appropriate penalty, determined by the specific circumstances of the case, including whether the offender is affected by problems with substance or alcohol misuse.

The Commission’s report saw mentoring support as a key positive contributor in helping women offenders to address their offending behaviours and, ultimately, desist from crime. The Reducing Reoffending Change Fund (RRCF) is worth over £7.5 million between 2012 – 2015 and is one of three Change Funds that will be used to support the Scottish Government’s focus on preventative spend. The RRCF will be used to enhance the delivery of existing mentoring initiatives, and also to develop new mentoring initiatives for offenders across Scotland through the use of Public Social Partnerships between public sector and Third Sector organisations. Women offenders have been identified (alongside prolific male offenders) as the primary demographic to receive support. Fourteen of the twenty – nine initiatives that received Year one funding through RRCF will work with women offenders, and received £639,000 of the initial £1.5 million awarded.

I have asked Colin McConnell, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS), to respond. His response is as follows:

“As announced by the Cabinet Secretary for Justice on 29 October 2012, the SPS is now developing plans for an improved regime for women offenders. The planning will take full account of all the implications of the agreed policy.”

The types of place of death that are shown are the most relevant of the ones for which statistics can be produced from the categories that are used to classify the place of death.

I have asked Colin McConnell, chief executive of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS), to respond. His response is as follows:

“As announced by the Cabinet Secretary for Justice on 29 October 2012, the SPS is now developing plans for an improved regime for women offenders. The planning will take full account of the services and interventions required to support the particular needs of women offenders and identify how these will be delivered in order to achieve the best outcomes for the women.”

I refer the member to the answer to question S4W-12051 on 22 January 2013. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at:

http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/parliamentarybusiness/39875.aspx.