COVID-19

HMIPS Annual Report 2022-23

On 13 September 2023, HMIPS published its Annual Report 2022-23. It included frustration at the need for oft-repeated concerns around over-crowding; the poor condition of the prison estate; deaths in custody; staffing levels impacting the daily regime; and lack of access to healthcare, especially mental health support. It also noted that “despite lifting of restrictions Scottish prisons have not as yet managed to return to pre-pandemic activity levels”. It referenced a new inspection framework for the women's community custody units (CCUs), although no other details appear to be available on this.

Court Backlog Modelling

On 22 September 2022 the Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service (SCTS) published updated modelling on the pandemic related court backlog. It suggested that the summary                      criminal court backlog will be cleared by March 2024; the High Court backlog by March 2025 and Sheriff Court solemn trials by March 2026.

COVID-19 in Scottish Prisons: Update #1

We were supportive of the announcement that, following the lead of other countries such as Ireland, Iran, Argentina and Italy, the Scottish Government was actively exploring measures for the executive release of some prisoners and the expansion of Home Detention Curfew (HDC). We were also pleased to hear that solutions to maintaining family contact, such as restricted dial mobile phones and video-conferencing facilities would be put in place in the coming days.

If self-isolation is difficult within a prison, social-distancing is almost impossible. Widespread doubling-up, and sometimes, tripling-up of cells means that those with COVID-19 are already likely to have passed it on to their cellmates. With reports of inevitably rising tensions across the prison estate, there are extreme risks to the health and safety of prisoners and staff within every establishment.

The right to healthcare is a human right which remains in the face of a pandemic. If we do not decrease the prison population now, we are also putting the health of the general public at risk: prisoners may take up a disproportionately high number of Intensive Care Unit (ICU) beds, which would otherwise be available to the general public. Prison health is public health, and the best way to keep everyone safe is to carefully, but quickly, release some prisoners who are low risk and have somewhere to live.

This is not an easy process to implement, but the decision to do so, needs to be taken now.

COVID-19 in Scottish Prisons

In response to the severe threat to prisoners and prison staff posed by COVID-19, we wrote to the Cabinet Secretary, Humza Yousaf MSP, on 19 March 2020. Our letter was as follows:

Dear Cabinet Secretary,

Scottish Prisons: Covid-19

On Tuesday 16 March 2020, we learnt from media reports that two people in prison at HMP Kilmarnock were in self-isolation in response to the first suspected cases of Covid-19 in Scottish prisons.

A brief statement released from SPS on Wednesday 17 March 2020 advised that 12 individuals were self-isolating and that “robust pandemic plans [were] in place”. This has been superseded by another brief statement today advising that two people have tested positive for Covid-19 in HMP Kilmarnock and that SPS is following advice from Health Protection Scotland. It also advises there are “no restrictions on movement in place therefore establishments are continuing to operate visits as normal”.

The latest information posted on the SPS website is dated 11 March 2020 and advises against visiting a prison establishment if you have been to a place affected by Coronavirus in the last 14 days; if you are displaying symptoms of the Coronavirus; or if you have come in contact with someone who is known to have the Coronavirus.

Thus, 18 days since the first reported case of Covid-19 in Scotland, and one day after it was confirmed that the first prisoner in the UK has died of Covid-19, this is the only prison-specific information which has been made publicly available.

As we know, the current prison population of 8,094 (as at 13 March 2020), includes areas of significant overcrowding, where many single cells are doubled up, and in some instances where double cells have been found to be accommodating three people: creating conditions in which the virus could spread rapidly amongst a population known to be in physically poorer health than the general population. The pressures of space would suggest that self-isolation will also pose particular logistical problems.

We are therefore calling on the Scottish Government to provide a clear Covid-19 specific plan of action to protect the physical and mental health of those working and living in our prisons, including a detailed explanation of how the Chief Medical Officer’s ongoing advice will be applied – particularly around ‘social distancing’ – with regular updates being made available without request.

We would expect that some of the wider measures being considered include an immediate expansion of Home Detention Curfew (HDC) and restrictions on the use of remand, and thus look forward to hearing which proposals will be implemented as a matter of extreme urgency.

Yours sincerely

Howard League Scotland Committee

 

 

Archive

2024

2021

2020

Subscribe to COVID-19