Chamber and committees

I have asked Teresa Medhurst, Interim Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS), to respond. Her response is as follows:

SPS is working with a mobile phone provider to deliver a service to all those currently in the care of SPS.

It is anticipated that mobile phones will start to be distributed to individuals from mid-June 2020.

In addition to the initiatives mentioned above a range of other actions have been taken to encourage positive family contacts, including;

• The extension of the email a prisoner scheme across the whole prison estate’
• The extension likewise of the voicemail a prisoner service.
• The provision of additional phone credits (£2.50 a week) to prisoners.
• Staff are working to ensure that individuals have as much access as possible to the PIN phone system.
• SPS have suspended charges for in-cell televisions to ensure people have access to cash for making phone calls.

I have asked Teresa Medhurst, Interim Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS), to respond. Her response is as follows:

A Children’s Rights and Wellbeing Impact Assessment was not carried out for the Prisons and Young Offenders Institutions (Scotland) Amendment Rules 2020.

The changes to the Prison Rules were taken forward in a very limited timeframe to support an immediate response to the exceptional pressures facing prisons during the COVID19 outbreak. The changes were designed to help SPS: (1) reduce the risks of the virus spreading within prisons; (2) to support operational stability; and finally (3) to protect the health of those living and working in our prisons.

The changes introduced by these current amendments to the Prison Rules will only be in force for the duration of the Coronavirus outbreak.

I have asked Teresa Medhurst, Interim Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS), to respond. Her response is as follows:

Work on the provision of ‘virtual visits’ across the entire Scottish prison estate has been underway since 24 April 2020. SPS has signed a short term contract with a private service provider to deliver a managed service via a web based portal and 3 priority pilot test sites have been identified at HMP&YOI Cornton Vale, HMYOI Polmont and HMP Shotts. The system will ‘go live’ from 15 June. The first three sites to go live will be HMPYOI Cornton Vale, HMPYOI Polmont and HMP Shotts. The system will then be rolled out across the prison estate and it is anticipated that all sites will be operational by the end of the month.

We have recently announced we are providing £105,000 to support Young Scot to develop enhanced digital content and resources on mental wellbeing. This will ensure that children and young people have a central place which will provide them with information, advice and signposting to support their mental health and wellbeing during, and after, the current lockdown.

We want to make sure anyone who has been identified as needing support can get services that are appropriate to their needs. Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) continue to support children and young people in need of specialist support, although there will be adjustments in how that is delivered to accommodate coronavirus restrictions.

We have established regular contact and communication with all NHS Boards and are speaking to them on a weekly basis . On 1 May, a set of principles to guide the delivery of mental health services throughout this period were issued to all NHS Boards. The principles answer some key questions that have been raised by mental health service leads around referral processes, collecting data and managing existing waiting lists.

We will continue to monitor surveys and research that provide us with an understanding of how children and young people are feeling during the coronavirus pandemic to ensure that the right help and support is available.

We have committed £350 million of additional funding to support councils, charities and others that help people most at risk during the pandemic, this includes those organisations who provide mental health support to children, young people and their families. Fifty million pounds has been allocated directly to local authorities and an additional £30 million has been provided to councils for locally coordinated responses to food insecurity including supporting over 150,000 children to access Free School Meals.

In addition to this, On 3 May, we announced a new funding package to support the population’s mental health, with a focus on children, young people and families. This investment included:

• £768,000 for a relationships helpline to be delivered by The Spark counselling service
• £105,000 to support Young Scot to develop enhanced digital content and resources on mental health for children and young people
• £205,000 to support 47,000 autistic people across Scotland. This consists of funding to increase capacity at the Scottish Autism Helpline, and help for the National Autistic Society to keep people in touch online during lockdown.

Furthermore we are providing up to £1 million through The Perinatal and Infant Mental Health fund which opened on the 5 May to support third sector organisations that support new parents and families with services such as peer support, parenting support and perinatal counselling services.

The Scottish Government wants everyone with a long-term condition, such as lymphoedema, to be able to access the care and support they need to live well, on their own terms. We are determined to improve access to mental health services for all those who need them. The Scottish Government is taking action to improve access to psychological therapies by investing in workforce development, recruitment and retention, and service improvement support. Additionally, we support NHS 24 to provide a number of other services designed to expand access to treatment, including computerised Cognitive Behavioural Therapy, and we support NHS Education for Scotland to provide training to staff about managing the distress associated with living with a long-term condition.

Section 107 of The Criminal Justice (Scotland) Act 2016 was intended to require Scottish Ministers to ask prisoners whether they are a parent or have child caring responsibilities. Where a prisoner indicated that they had such responsibilities SPS was required to ask them for information to help identify the child’s named person service provider (in terms of Part 4 of the Children and Young People (Scotland) Act 2014 and to notify the service provider of the person’s imprisonment.

In November 2019, the Deputy First Minister announced that the Scottish Government will seek to repeal parts 4 and 5 of the Children and Young People (Scotland) Act 2014 on named person and child’s plan, and we are currently considering the implications that this will have for section 107 of the Criminal Justice (Scotland) Act 2016.

The Criminal Justice (Scotland) Act 2016 does not place an obligation on the Scottish Government to collect information on the information of children of prisoners. Section 107 of the Act once commenced was intended to place an obligation on Scottish Ministers to ask a prisoner whether he/she has child caring responsibilities and to pass appropriate information to the child’s named person service provider.

The Scottish Prison Service (SPS) ensures all reasonable steps are taken to protect children and young people from harm and abuse who visit or make contact with anyone in their care. SPS have a child protection policy which is in line with the Scottish Government’s National Guidance on Child Protection and all relevant staff are trained in child protection and wellbeing issues.

In accordance with the National Guidance, when there is a child protection concern, SPS share information with the relevant local statutory services such as Police Scotland and social work provided it is necessary, proportionate and lawful to do so.

The Scottish Government is currently developing revised National Guidance and will put this to consultation from April to June 2020. This will provide guidance and support on inter-agency information sharing in circumstances where there is a child protection concern.

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

I refer the member to the previous response in PQ S5W-26383 on 26 November 2019.

No targets have been set regarding the provision of Virtual Family Visits.

The Virtual Family Visits pilot underway within the HMP Inverness Visitors’ Centre is being facilitated using spare capacity from our Scottish Courts and Legal Aid Board Agents Visits Initiative.

Discussions with the Shetland Islands Council about partnership working in this area are continuing.

We see a key role for technology in keeping family contact for those in prison.

All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at: http://www.parliament.scot/parliamentarybusiness/28877.aspx

As indicated in response to S5W-27480 on 2 March 2020, we are currently considering what implications the decision to repeal parts 4 and 5 of the Children and Young People (Scotland) Act 2014 have on section 107 of the of the Criminal Justice (Scotland) Act 2016.

All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at: http://www.parliament.scot/parliamentarybusiness/28877.aspx