Chamber
Meeting of the Parliament 24 February 2016
24 Feb 2016 · S4 · Meeting of the Parliament
Item of business
Portfolio Question Time
Prison Estate Improvement Plans
Justice and the Law Officers
The cabinet secretary will be aware that the unacceptable conditions of the toilets for remand prisoners at Cornton Vale have been raised by members of the former prison visiting committee. Complaints about issues in the prison estate are now covered by the new independent prison monitoring service. Will the cabinet secretary comment on the reported problems with the new service, which include poor implementation of reforms and inadequate communication? Will he provide assurances that the Government will address those issues with immediate effect?
In the same item of business
2. Stuart McMillan (West Scotland) (SNP)
SNP
To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to improve the prison estate. (S4O-05575)
The Cabinet Secretary for Justice (Michael Matheson)
SNP
I recently announced plans for the redevelopment of the women’s custodial estate. In addition, the Scottish Prison Service will progress its estates developm...
Stuart McMillan
SNP
The cabinet secretary will be aware that we have had discussions in the past about replacing HMP Greenock. A substantial investment has been made in an initi...
Michael Matheson
SNP
The site at Inverclyde remains available to the Scottish Prison Service for the replacement of HMP Greenock, which is one of the prisons that the SPS has ide...
Margaret Mitchell (Central Scotland) (Con)
Con
The cabinet secretary will be aware that the unacceptable conditions of the toilets for remand prisoners at Cornton Vale have been raised by members of the f...
Michael Matheson
SNP
I presume that the member is referring to the recent HM inspectorate of prisons for Scotland report on HMP Cornton Vale. The report highlighted a number of a...
Graeme Pearson (South Scotland) (Lab)
Lab
The cabinet secretary has set out his general plans for improving the estate. What will the impact on his plans be of the Government’s continued commitment t...
Michael Matheson
SNP
The member is factually wrong, as the prison population has declined over the past couple of years. The level has stabilised, but there has been a decline in...