Hansard

Like others, I welcomed the cabinet secretary’s statement on Monday. I also welcomed his considered response to the Justice Committee on 16 December. Members might recall that he said:

“I intend to take the opportunity to understand all the different aspects that feed into our thinking about the future shape of that facility before any final decision is made on the matter. That will include looking at its size as well as the model and the approach that we will choose.”—[Official Report, Justice Committee, 16 December 2014; c 3.]

This decision was not taken overnight.

I have taken the opportunity to remind myself of the contents of the Angiolini report. Its section on prisons highlighted the inadequacies of Cornton Vale and called for its replacement with a smaller specialist prison for long-term offenders. It drew attention to successes such as the community integration unit at the then HMP Aberdeen and the 218 centre in Glasgow, which was highlighted as an example of good practice and which we have heard a lot about today.

Recommendation 227 makes it clear that

“Additional places for women offenders should be provided in local prisons to enable improved community integration and family contact … and supported accommodation should be commissioned as an alternative to custody and to support women on release.”

The report highlighted alternatives to remand and to prosecution, together with a commitment to community justice centres. As the cabinet secretary said, most important, it was stated that many of the recommendations could be achieved through the reconfiguration of existing funding rather than through significant new investment.

In his response to Dame Elish Angiolini in June 2012, the then cabinet secretary envisaged that HMP Inverclyde, which was not then designated solely for women, would accommodate 52 women plus a further five in the community integration unit. In addition, he accepted the need for pilot schemes for community justice centres. Following that, the Scottish Prison Service embarked on a consultation in August 2012. The response to that highlighted strong support for regional units for women on remand or serving short sentences as well as a debate about the best place for a new national prison.

Along the way, we perhaps became too focused on the building to replace Cornton Vale as a national prison and on the bricks and mortar, rather than the underlying issues, so I am pleased that we are now exploring a more local approach. Maintaining family and community links wherever possible while tackling underlying alcohol, drugs and mental health issues, for example, must be the way forward.

There can be no doubt that ease of access for those serving any form of custodial sentence or punishment is important. That allows contact between mothers and their families wherever possible, and it may have a preventative purpose, as approximately 30 per cent of children with mothers in prison develop mental health problems and there is a higher risk of those children ending up in prison.

In evidence to the Justice Committee on 26 June 2012, Dame Elish highlighted that mentoring is critical to successfully keeping women out of prison. The Government has embraced that fully, in particular through the shine mentoring service, which is delivered through a public-social partnership. Along with other mentoring services, the shine service continues to be funded through the reducing reoffending fund, which is worth £18 million over the five-year period to 2017.

Women who have experience of mentoring projects have responded positively. Former prisoners have responded positively to the difference that mentoring can make. Mentors can be role models who fulfil a role that social workers simply cannot and, in some cases, former mentees become mentors.

I hope that the new HMP Grampian will build on experience of community reintegration at HMP Aberdeen and HMP Inverness. For offenders who are completing custodial sentences, we need to recognise the importance of reintegration. Throughcare support is vital; statutory throughcare is limited, but extending support fully to short-term offenders is important.

Let us remember that a ministerial group on offender reintegration was established in October 2013 to assist integration between the criminal justice system and wider public services. Trials such as the one conducted at HMP Perth, which seeks to maintain existing tenancies for short-term offenders to help them to reintegrate into the community after release, are important. Community justice is still a work in progress but, with fully integrated community planning partnerships that have a focus on reducing reoffending and on alternatives to custody, there are grounds for optimism.

I am pleased that the cabinet secretary still plans to close the existing Cornton Vale facility, and I share his preference for possibly building a smaller prison on that site. However, a decision remains to be made on where to site a secure facility for the small cohort who are the most dangerous offenders. That will need to be consulted on further.

I accept that, in a diverse country of cities, small towns, villages and countryside, a uniform system for community justice centres might not be feasible. Dame Elish accepted that when she gave evidence in 2012. With the projects that are under way in Angus and Fife, for example, we recognise that. I await with interest the independent evaluation of the 16 projects that the Government has funded. I also welcome the cabinet secretary’s commitment to provide £1.5 million for community-based solutions, which is clearly a step forward.

We have a cabinet secretary who listens to interested parties and takes on board the comments of the Howard League for Penal Reform and others. The aims must be to reduce the number of women in prison wherever possible, to reduce numbers on remand, to look critically at any short sentence and to redouble efforts to reduce reoffending. For us as a society, having rising numbers of women in prison is not a sign of success. I am pleased that the trend has stalled and that numbers are now dropping, albeit in a small way. Scotland can do better; indeed, it must do better.