Independent monitor call for female offenders

Ministers are being urged to appoint an independent monitor to ensure the implementation of wide-ranging measures for dealing with female offenders. 

Howard League Scotland has written to Cabinet Secretary for Justice Michael Matheson outlining areas where immediate action must be taken to reduce the female prison population.

The organisation proposes the appointment of a “champion” to oversee the delivery of recommendations flowing out of Dame Elish Angiolini’s landmark 2012 review.

The Scottish Government should also consider following England and Wales’ lead in implementing restrictions around the use of remand, the letter seen by Holyrood adds.

It comes as an expert group met this week for the first time to map out future arrangements for dealing with female offenders following the decision to abandon a new women’s prison at Inverclyde.

Plans for the new prison had been mired in controversy with opponents insisting the facility flew in the face of what the Commission on Women Offenders had called for, a suggestion that the Scottish Prison Service refuted.  

Dame Elish’s report recommended that an independent non-executive member of the Scottish Prison Service Board be appointed “with a specific remit for women offenders, championing and driving through change”.

“With the benefit of hindsight, and given the way in which this agenda has developed since the publication of the report, we believe that it would be better for the Scottish Government to appoint an individual to oversee the implementation of all the report’s recommendations, not only those that relate to the prison estate,” says the letter written by Howard League Scotland convenor John Scott QC.

“Such an individual should be truly independent, without any ‘baggage’ or affiliations.”

A Scottish Government spokesman said consultation was ongoing with all interested parties following the decision on Inverclyde and as part of that process ministers are willing to listen to the views of all stakeholders.

A group set up to prepare proposals for the future shape of the female custodial estate met for the first time on Monday of this week.

Concerns have repeatedly been raised over the use of remand among the female prison population with Dame Elish pointing out that fewer than one in three go on to receive a custodial sentence.

Recent amendments to the Bail Act 1976 south of the border are intended to remove the option of remand in custody in most circumstances where there is no real prospect of the defendant being imprisoned if convicted. 

“There is already evidence to suggest that this is beginning to have an impact on the numbers of prisoners on remand,” writes Scott. “Pending further analysis, this might be an initiative worthy of consideration here in Scotland.”

The Scottish Prison Service had planned to shut Cornton Vale in favour of a new prison at Inverclyde that could manage a women’s population of 300, capable of expanding to 350 if necessary.

However, Matheson last month elected to scrap the proposal, which he said “does not fit with my vision of how a modern and progressive country should be addressing female offending”.

The Falkirk West MSP, who replaced Kenny MacAskill in the post last November, said smaller regional and community-based custodial facilities across the country should instead be the focus of investment.

“The decision to cancel the new prison for women would be entirely negated if the Scottish Government were to make provision for the same number of custodial places for women, albeit in a different configuration,” adds Scott.

The organisation has also called for a move away from short-term funding cycles for community alternatives, labelling the timescales within which services are expected to demonstrate positive outcomes as “often unrealistic”.

“We are of the view that there must be long term, sustainable funding of community-based services by the Scottish Government. Drip-feeding community-based services for offenders on a one or two-yearly cycle is wholly inadequate if we are to see an increase in the use of these services.”