Chamber and committees

The Scottish Government believes that custodial sentences should be reserved for those individuals whose offences are so serious that prison is the only appropriate form of punishment, and for those who pose a risk of serious harm. We recognise however that for individuals who do not fall into these categories, short-term sentences do not help either to rehabilitate or to reduce the risk of reoffending.

The proposal to strengthen the presumption against short periods of imprisonment is only one part of our on-going and wide-ranging work designed to move away from a reliance on custody and focus on robust community sentences that promote rehabilitation. Evidence demonstrates that individuals released from a custodial sentence of 6 months or less are reconvicted more than twice as often as those given a Community Payback Order.

The Scottish Government remains in discussion with the relevant stakeholders on how best to address the concerns raised by respondents to the consultation in relation to the potential consequences of any extension to the presumption. It would not be appropriate at this stage to prejudge the outcome of those discussions.

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

SPS does not routinely publish such reports, and there are no plans to do so on this occasion.

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

The Scottish Prison Service does not anticipate that any posts will remain unfilled following the 2017-18 budget settlement, except for any normal vacancies which are associated with the balancing of workforce and operational demands.

I had regular meetings throughout 2016 with the Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to discuss a range of operational matters which would include workforce planning issues. These meetings will continue in 2017 and the last one took place on 12 January 2017.

Scottish Government Justice officials also meet with staff from Scottish Prison Service on a regular basis to discuss a variety of related prison policy and operational issues.

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

The Scottish Prison Service (SPS) does not have an issue with recruitment and retention of Prison Officers. SPS receive on average 1,600 applications for the role of Prison Officer each year with around 150 available jobs.

SPS use a variety of advertising approaches to increase the diversity of their applicant pool. Approaches include, engagement with higher and further education, close working with armed forces careers partners as well as local/national media advertising.

SPS attracts highly skilled and motivated individuals and with high levels of interest our approach has proved to be very successful.

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

Information relating to deaths in custody is published on the SPS website. A link to the website is provided here:

http://www.sps.gov.uk/Corporate/Information/PrisonerDeaths.aspx

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

The following table shows the occupancy levels of each establishment when measured against capacity.

Both the design capacity and operational capacity of establishments are different and can change for reasons of policy, maintenance and changing operational requirements.

Information on Scotland’s performance against the full spectrum of international human rights norms is available from a wide variety of sources.

These include reports prepared by the Scottish Government, national human rights institutions and civil society under United Nations and Council of Europe treaties. Information from other sources is also relevant, including public attitudes surveys, parliamentary proceedings, impact assessments, the Equality Budget Statement and reports on the progress made by public authorities to achieve Equality Outcomes.

The Scottish Government is committed to further enhancing the National Performance Framework. Both human rights and the UN Sustainable Development Goals are central to that work.

The Scottish Government’s position on matters arising in the context of the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) will be made public in due course. Views expressed by the Scottish Human Rights Commission contribute directly to the UPR process and are taken into account by the Scottish Government.

Active participation in the UPR includes the contribution of information to the state party report and participation in the interactive dialogue held by the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva. The Scottish Government is also committed to working closely with Scottish civil society. The UPR and other treaty reporting processes offer important opportunities to promote debate, exchange views and develop capacity. The Scottish Government hosted a UPR seminar for civil society organisations on
27 October 2016.