Scottish Government

ISBN 978 0 7559 4771 3
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Dear Sir / Madam

REPORT ON THE REVIEW OF PRISON VISITING COMMITTEES

As part of the Scottish Executive's work on the management of offenders' reforms we carried out a review of the role and remit of prison visting committees. The review group made 39 recommendations to improve their role and operational arrangements.

I attach for your information a copy of the review report. This can also be found, along with the Executive response to the report, on the Scottish Executive website on www.scotland.gov.uk/publications/recent.

If you are unable to access the web versions, please contact David Scott on 0131 244 4259 or david.scott2@scotland.gsi.gov.uk.

Yours faithfully
Jackie Knox

Contents

FOREWORD
REMIT OF REVIEW
REVIEW GROUP MEMBERSHIP
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
SECTION ONE: INTRODUCTION
SECTION TWO: METHODOLOGY
SECTION THREE: ROLE, FUNCTIONS AND TITLE
SECTION FOUR: RECRUITMENT, APPOINTMENT, INDUCTION AND TRAINING
SECTION FIVE: VISIBILITY OF VISITING COMMITTEES
SECTION SIX: ACCOUNTABILITY AND PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT
SECTION SEVEN: FINANCE AND ADMINISTRATION
SECTION EIGHT: LEGALISED POLICE CELLS
SECTION NINE: SUMMARY OF RECOMMENDATIONS
SECTION TEN: IMPLEMENTATION PLAN
Annex A Legal Issues References
Annex B Prisoner Complaints Process
Annex C Prison Visiting Committee Literature Search (European)
Annex D Prison Visiting Committees Literature Search - Australia and New Zealand
Annex E Prison Visiting Committee Annual Reports
Annex F Abbreviations and Glossary