Question reference: S6W-27210
- Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
- Date lodged: 2 May 2024
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Current status: Answered by Angela Constance on 13 May 2024
Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide details of any risk assessment process that is undertaken before detaining multiple prisoners in single cells in prisons and custody suites, and how many "high risk" prisoners are currently housed alongside "standard risk" prisoners across the prison estate.
Answer
I have asked Teresa Medhurst, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS), to respond. Her response is as follows:
A Cell Sharing Risk Assessment is conducted on every occasion where two (or more) individuals are required to share one cell.
The process is an individualised approach where the following overarching areas are considered based on the information held on each individual;
- If they are likely to cause injury or harm to each other
- If they are likely to cause damage to property
- If they are likely to otherwise prejudice the good order and running of the prison
SPS do not determine individuals as ‘high’ or ‘standard’ risk through this process as it is a dynamic process used to assess each individual’s suitability to share with another or others.