(S1O-4160) Prison Service

10. Stewart Stevenson (Banff and Buchan) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to ensure provision of a world-class prison service. (S1O-4160)

The Deputy First Minister and Minister for Justice (Mr Jim Wallace): At the end of last year the Scottish Prison Service launched a new, five-year vision committing itself to the pursuit of correctional excellence, thereby contributing to the Executive's commitment to a safer Scotland.

Stewart Stevenson: Has the Minister for Justice noted that on 22 November the First Minister said:

"We will build a better Scotland when we build the best services that we can".—[Official Report, 22 November 2001; c 4154.]

In light of that, does the minister accept, as Dr Richard Simpson did when he signed a motion supporting HM Prison Peterhead earlier this year, that Peterhead prison is a success story in the public services and that it leads the way in excellence, value for money and quality outcomes, and not just in the Scottish Prison Service?

Mr Jim Wallace: I visited Peterhead prison in February, and I give proper credit to the work that is done there and to the commitment of the staff.

Indeed, I am surprised that in the long list of things that Stewart Stevenson read out he omitted to mention that Peterhead prison has been awarded beacon site status. That is welcome. It is a tribute to the efforts of the staff in the pursuit of excellence at Peterhead prison.

I take this opportunity to pay tribute to Prison Service staff in other prisons in Scotland, where there is a considerable amount of effort in circumstances that are often very difficult.


Roseanna Cunningham (Perth) (SNP): Is the Minister for Justice aware that the number of prisoners in Scotland has increased sharply in 2001? That applies particularly to women prisoners in Cornton Vale prison, which is still overcrowded, despite the reopening of Skye hall. On Friday 23 November, 250 women were in that prison. Is he also aware of the concerns about the situation, particularly the recent suicides, in Cornton Vale? Will he say when Labour will fulfil its 1998 commitment to

"limit the female population at Cornton Vale ... to 100 or less on a daily basis by the end of the year 2000"

Mr Wallace: As an eminent member of the Scottish bar, Roseanna Cunningham will know that the number of people in prisons is not entirely within the Executive's remit, given that the sheriffs who sentence them are not ministers. However, the Executive has made considerable efforts to ensure that alternatives to custody are available to sheriffs in the courts. The drug courts, which started this month, can make a contribution to that and the ministerial working group on women offenders, which has been under the chairmanship of my colleague Iain Gray over recent months, will make its final report in December.


Lord James Douglas-Hamilton (Lothians) (Con): Will the Minister for Justice say when the prison estates review, which is eagerly awaited throughout Scotland, will be published?

Mr Wallace: I had hoped that the prison estates review would be published by now. However, as Lord James Douglas-Hamilton has perhaps noticed, there has been a change of First Minister so it is only right that the proposals and the detail that goes with them should be brought to the new cabinet.