Chamber and committees

Eighteen Dementia Champions graduated in NHS Tayside in March 2012. We expect a total of 42 Dementia Champions in NHS Tayside by 2013.

The majority of the Dementia Champions are drawn from nursing and all carry out their duties in hospitals in NHS Tayside. The primary focus of the Dementia Champions programme in hospital settings reflects the prioritisation of this key care setting in Scotland’s first National Dementia Strategy, which runs to summer 2013.

The Dementia Champions programme complements the improvement work with boards and others in respect of older people’s care, including those with dementia, being led by The Chief Nursing Officer, and the ongoing programme of inspections of older people’s care in hospitals by Healthcare Improvement Scotland.

In addition, the Scottish Government is providing substantial funding to support Alzheimer Scotland in the appointment in every NHS board of a Specialist Dementia Nurse for general hospitals. This appointment process is now complete.

As set out in the Scottish Government’s response to the report by the Commission on Women Offenders (the Commission), I accepted the recommendation that I report progress on implementing the report’s findings to the Parliament this month and annually thereafter. I will be writing to the Justice Committee by the end of October and my letter will be made available to all members via the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (Bib. number 54390).

I have also accepted an invitation to attend the sitting of the Justice Committee scheduled for Tuesday 6 November, where I look forward to discussing progress against the Commission’s recommendations further.

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

The Scottish Government’s response to the Commission on Women Offenders (the Commission) on 25 June 2012 advised that over the summer the Scottish Prison Service (SPS) would consult with stakeholders on the size, nature and location of a new national prison to replace Cornton Vale and that the SPS would bring forward proposals in the autumn for the development of a new national prison. In August 2012 I issued a consultation paper and held a series of seven stakeholder events across Scotland on the new national prison. I am now considering the consultation findings and will shortly put recommendations to the Cabinet Secretary for Justice. The Cabinet Secretary will update the Parliament on progress in October 2012, as recommended by the Commission.

Only senior representatives of those organisations with a statutory or clear role in enforcing the law, raising awareness with frontline staff, or delivering care and support to victims have been invited to the summit. Following the summit I shall write to the cross-party group outlining the actions agreed.

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

In his annual report the Chief Inspector did not make specific recommendations in relation to these areas, describing them as main issues which SPS should review and address. I can confirm, however, the following in relation to these main issues:

(a) Access to purposeful activity

Prisoners are engaged in purposeful activity across all prisons and this includes work, education, vocational training and a range of interventions and approved activities. Commercial enterprises exist across various sites.

The amount of hours a prisoner is engaged in purposeful activity hours varies depending on facilities available, individual prisoner needs and therefore differs between sites and prisoners. Overcrowding can also be a significant influence. Remand and civil prisoners and those excluded on medical grounds are not legally obliged to undertake work.

During HMIP’s reporting year 2011-2012 SPS delivered 6,655,985 purposeful activity hours which was over 500,000 more than the previous year.

SPS will continue to develop a regime for prisoners that maximises the range of purposeful activities available to them such as work, education and offender programmes to address their offending behaviour. The new facilities at Low Moss offer the opportunity to provide a comprehensive package of employment and educational interventions and we are monitoring Low Moss with a view to sharing best practice across the rest of the prison estate where possible

(b) Female Offenders

The Cabinet Secretary in his response to the report by the Commission on Women Offenders in June 2012 confirmed that the six recommendations that relate directly to women offenders in a custodial setting had been accepted by him.

He also confirmed that over the summer the Scottish Prison Service (SPS) would consult with stakeholders on the size, nature and location of a new national prison to replace Cornton Vale and that the SPS would bring forward proposals in the autumn for the development of a new national prison. This consultation took place during August/September and I am now considering the consultation findings. I will shortly put recommendations to the Cabinet Secretary for Justice as well as provide an update on all six of these recommendations and the Cabinet Secretary will update the Parliament on progress towards the end of October 2012, as recommended by the Commission.

(c) Preparation for Release

HMIP’s comments regarding preparation for release (for male and females) mirror to a large extent some of the recommendations by the Commission on Women Offenders around preparation for release and throughcare. SPS is committed to working with Scottish Government and local authorities in implementing the Commission’s recommendations around community integration for women and to exploring how this could be extended for male offenders. SPS is also currently working with justice partners on piloting new community reintegration practice as part of the Reducing Reoffending Programme. Pilots are being conducted at Perth Prison with local partners for male prisoners and at Cornton Vale with local partners for females.

Also, a pilot project in HMP Greenock is underway to recruit and implement two Throughcare Support Officers with a view of providing ‘through the gate’ support for male and female prisoners.

(d) Family access

Maintaining and encouraging links with families and communities can make a valuable contribution to better reintegration for offenders leaving custody. The SPS is adopting a strategic approach to building positive relationships, under a strategy known as ‘Promoting Positive Relationships’. This approach aims to build on and enhance the work already underway in supporting the children and families of offenders, as well as developing policies and programmes around the areas of child protection and parenting.

Family contact at integrated case management (ICM) Case Conferences is actively encouraged by both the SPS and Criminal Justice Social Work Departments under the ICM process. However, despite these efforts, families do not always engage in this process. The SPS will continue to pursue options with a view to increasing both family attendance at ICM conferences and the quality of family involvement.

We also expect that a visitor’s centre will open in Cornton Vale early in the New Year.

In addition, the SPS continues to explore with community partners how to deliver appropriate visitor centres in the prison estate. In the forthcoming National Parenting Strategy we have made a commitment to work with Scottish Government and community partners to continue working to create more positive visiting experiences, including exploring the feasibility of family-friendly visitor experiences.

The summit will discuss the common themes from reports on human trafficking, including raising awareness; training for frontline professionals; data collection and analysis of trends; victim care and support; and legislation, enforcement and prosecution.

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

The Scottish Government Draft Budget 2013-14, which was published on 20 September 2012, provides the Scottish Prison Service with a budget of £22.4 million which will be used to:

complete the construction of HMP Grampian and prepare for the new prison opening in winter 2013-14 as a replacement for the existing HMPs Aberdeen and Peterhead;

implement improvements to the management of women offenders in Scotland in line with the accepted recommendations from the work of the Angiolini Commission on Women Offenders. This work will be supported by the provision of additional capital funding of £20 million in 2014-15;

take forward the construction of HMP Inverclyde, and

acquire a site for HMP Highland, the planned replacement of the existing HMP Inverness.

Universal Newborn Hearing Screening is delivered and managed locally by individual NHS boards.

While NHS boards record and monitor the number of children diagnosed with hearing loss locally, this information is not routinely collated nationally and is therefore not held centrally.

The impact of early diagnosis of hearing loss is different for every child. Support for each child is provided depending on need from a number different agencies including education, social work and speech and language therapy.

It is therefore not possible to centrally monitor the impact of diagnosis or support services for each individual patient and family.