This item was published during the term of a previous administration that ended in April 2007
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Three new prisons planned
18/04/2002
Proposals for a prisons estate fit for the 21 st century were outlined today.
It follows recent publication of the Executive's consultation paper 'Scottish Prison Service Estate - Proposals for the Future of the Scottish Prison Service Estate'.
Justice Minister Jim Wallace told Parliament the prison population was forecast to rise significantly over the next decade. The Executive proposed to modernise existing facilities while using the private sector to build three new prisons.
Jim Wallace said:
"The Executive is committed to creating a safer Scotland. A wide variety of policy initiatives have been introduced to tackle not only the causes, but also the effects, of crime in our communities. More resources have been put into policing. Clear-up rates for serious crime are rising. But we are far from complacent. We must do more.
"Imprisonment may not be the answer for many less serious offenders. That is why we have extended the range of options of alternatives to prison that are available to the courts. However, whilst prison may not be the best solution to some types of offending, those who commit serious violent or drugs offences must expect substantial prison sentences for their crimes. I will never apologise for a criminal justice system that locks up serious and violent offenders for a long time.
"Society rightly demands that offenders who need to be kept in prison are held securely. The record of Scottish prisons, both public and private, is second to none in this respect. However, it is not enough just to lock up offenders. We must also do all we can to prevent people becoming victims of crime in the future. For prisoners to be less likely to re-offend when they've served their sentence, they have to be housed in decent conditions that allow for the delivery of appropriate programmes for rehabilitation. Our proposals for improving the prison estate are radical and wide-ranging. They have to be.
"Prisoner numbers are projected to rise significantly. It is prudent to plan on the basis of an increase of around 1,000 in the number of prisoners, from the present level of around 6,200 to around 7,200, over the next 10 years. I should point out that the projections are not my figures, nor even the figures of the Scottish Prison Service, but those of impartial statisticians. Any plans for the future of Scotland's prisons must take account of these figures.
"It is not just an issue about numbers. There is also a pressing need to improve the quality of the existing estate so that prisoners are held in decent conditions. Many prisoners are still held in conditions that should have no place in a modern prison system. Over a quarter of prisoners, including all of the prisoners at Peterhead and most of the prisoners at Barlinnie, still have no access to night sanitation. Slopping out is unacceptable. Not only is it highly undesirable in itself, but it also takes up staff time that could be better spent on delivery of programmes for prisoners. How can we expect prisoners to reform and to become valued members of society if we don't even provide them with a toilet? We must end this practice, and we must end it as quickly as we can.
"Taking into account both the projected increase in prisoner numbers and the need to improve conditions, we have concluded that around 3,300 new prisoner places are needed How those places are to be provided, and how quickly, has been fundamental to our thinking in developing Ministers' proposals. We need to modernise public sector provision of prisoner places. We are already made significant investment, including £35 million this year alone for two houseblocks, one at Edinburgh and one at Polmont. We have also spent over £2.5 million at Barlinnie to provide access to night sanitation for one house block, with work due to start later this year on another.
"Even after taking into account refurbishment and new build within the existing estate, we estimate that around 2,200 of the required new prisoner places will need to be provided by the construction of new prisons. At the optimum size of around 700 places for a new prison, this means that 3 new prisons would be needed.
"The options open to us have been carefully costed, but independent verification has confirmed that the public sector option would be very expensive for the taxpayer. It would cost twice as much as the private sector option, with difference being around £700 million in Net Present Value terms. That is £700 million that we would not have to spend. More importantly it is £700 million that could be spent on other things. Ministers must act responsibly in considering best value for the public purse. We owed it to the people of Scotland to think long and hard before publishing these proposals.
"Taking the public sector route would also affect the time required to deliver a prison estate fit for purpose. It would take at least 11 years to deliver the necessary prisons under either of the public sector options, because the public sector does not have the resources or expertise to deliver design and build projects of this scale. The last public sector prison build in Scotland, HMP Shotts which was opened in 1987, took 13 years from start up to opening. By contrast, the decision on HMP Kilmarnock was taken in 1996 and the prison opened in 1999. It is estimated that to procure the number of prison places we require would take 5 to 6 years using the private sector. Following the public sector route would mean, therefore, that slopping out would take twice as long to eliminate. I believe such a delay is unacceptable.
"Consequently, the proposal on which we are consulting is that the new prisons we need should be provided by the private sector. As the material clearly shows, this route offers significant advnatages, both in time and in costs. There are those who believe on idealogical grounds that the private sector should not be responsible for those who have been sent to priosn by the courts. Let me be clear. We can delegate to the private sector the custody and care of those offenders. What we cannot and what we will not delegate is the states' responsibility for those prisoners.
"There has been a lot of comment about our proposals, and in particular about the costings of the options open to us.
"A lot of attention was generated this week by publication of a report on privatised prisons by Phil Taylor and Professor Christine Cooper.
"We have evaluated the report with some care, and whilst I could make many observations, let me simply say that it is not a balanced analysis. It is an ideological critique. And while they are entitled to hold that opinion, I am astonished - indeed disappointed - that two academics appear to have confused Net Present Value and cash cost per prisoner.
"Our initial scrutiny indicates that there is nothing in it to question the validity of the detailed work on which our proposals are based or of the proposals themselves.
"Much has been said about the value of the work with sex offenders that is being done at Peterhead. I fully support that work, and would again commend the staff there for the excellent job they are doing. However, we must accept that that work is being done under difficult conditions. The poor quality of the buildings, and in particular the absence of adequate toilet facilities, or access to night sanitation, is a major issue which cannot simply be addressed by refurbishment. The buildings are at the end of their useful lives. Moreover, around 85% of the prisoners at Peterhead come from other parts of Scotland, mainly the Central Belt, and Peterhead's location makes rehabilitation more difficult. The remoteness of the location is an obstacle to the development of support mechanisms by receiving local authorities and voluntary support groups for prisoners after their release.
"While acknowledging the good work done at Peterhead, it must be recognised that the most important elements in that work are the quality of the prisoner programmes and the quality of the staff delivering those programmes. The location is less important than what is being done and by whom. The STOP 2000 sex offender programme was expressly designed to be capable of delivery at a range of establishments, and is already being delivered at Barlinnie and Polmont. Indeed, less than half the staff trained to deliver this programme are based at Peterhead.
"However, I can announce today that Richard Simpson and I have instructed the Director of Rehabilitation and Care, Alec Spencer, to take forward an additional review of the future management of sex offenders.
"I appreciate the concerns that have been expressed about the implications for the local economy if Peterhead were to close, and I can confirm that Enterprise officials are being involved in developments. However, our responsibility is to ensure that the decisions taken about the future of the prisons estate are the right ones to ensure that we get the prison system we need. Those decisions must be driven primarily by the need to deliver a prisons estate that plays its full part in delivering a safer Scotland.
"Finally, I would emphasise again that no final decisions have been taken about where the prisoners in Peterhead will be housed if the prison closes. But I will say it again. We do not plan to house sex offenders from Peterhead as a group in any new privately run prison.
"Prisons are a vital element of our criminal justice system. More than that, they are a reflection of how civilised a society we really are. I believe that our proposals would produce a modern and efficient prisons estate which would be fit for purpose and well placed to meet the challenges that will be placed upon it, and I commend them to the Parliament."