Scotland has radically reformed the conditions and treatment for remand prisoners. It is an example of what could be done in England and Wales. Clive Fairweather, HM Chief Inspector of Prisons for Scotland from October 1994 to October 2002, describes the changes in Scotland.

On Wednesday, 24 September 1997 the London BBC Television News made the unusual, if not unprecedented step of reporting on prison conditions in Scotland. This followed inspection of HMP Barlinnie, Scotland’s largest and arguably most notorious prison, where the Victorian conditions for remand prisoners were described by the Prisons Inspectorate as “a national disgrace”.

It is heartening then to report here on recent changes in those conditions. Remand prisoners in Barlinnie are no longer in overcrowded cells, enduring the demeaning and unhygienic practice of slopping out. This is the final step in a remarkable chain of events which was set in train by Alec Spencer, the Governor of HMP Edinburgh, when in December 1998, he made the bold decision to house remand prisoners in a new state of the art building, Glenesk Hall, see photograph below.

Many said he would regret this, as the cells would be “trashed”. In fact the opposite has happened – prisoners have treated decent conditions, perhaps not unsurprisingly, in a fairly scrupulous fashion.

Death Toll
In these same years, the relentless wave of tragic suicides amongst young male and female prisoners, many of whom were on remand, was also exacting its own separate pressures, which in April 2000 led to the closure of Longriggend Prison. Its remoteness, indifferent conditions and mounting suicide rate amongst young male remands could no longer be tolerated. At much the same time a burgeoning suicide rate at Cornton Vale, Scotland's only female institution, led its Governor, Kate Donegan, to totally redesign the conditions for female remand prisoners.

A similar line was also taken by Rod MacCowan, the then Governor of HMP Greenock and later his successor Audrey Park. His establishment had a particularly grim suicide record, largely associated with drug taking in the West of Scotland. Like Cornton Vale, its induction system was totally redesigned and the remand block extensively refurbished. Further to the north, in a long overdue move, remand prisoners at HMP Perth were transferred out from one of Scotland’s most “disgraceful” halls (‘C’ Hall see photograph below).

Remands at Perth, Scotland’s oldest prison, are now held in a totally refurbished wing. The prison is also going from strength to strength in many other areas. Finally, in March 1999, Scotland’s first private prison, HMP Kilmarnock, was opened to include a totally new houseblock for remand prisoners.

"This “completed the circuit” and thereby established the principle that all remand prisoners in Scotland would be placed in the best available conditions."

Previously this marginalised and often disadvantaged group were invariably kept in the poorest conditions. Similar arrangements are now the order of the day at other remand establishments such as Inverness, Aberdeen and Dumfries. And change has also taken place at Barlinnie. Following delays and several ECHR challenges, conditions have been transformed, with adult remand prisoners being moved into the refurbished ‘B’ Hall.

In a separate move, in-cell television sets have been introduced across the entire prison estate. Starting with female remands in Cornton Vale, this has quickly extended to all prisoners. In parallel, the suicide rate has begun to fall and the question is being asked whether the provision of televisions means there is less time for morbid reflection?

So ends a most unhappy chapter for countless remand prisoners over the years. Some 45 per cent of these prisoners will not receive custodial sentences, hence the title of the Inspectorate’s 1999 review of remand prisoners – ‘Punishment First, Verdict Later? – A Review of Conditions for Remand Prisoners at the End of the Twentieth Century’.

"Thanks to the efforts of many pressure groups, and above all the vision and courage of individual Scottish governors, remand prisoners will now be housed in the conditions which their status entitles them to."

Nevertheless, the impact of those many tragic suicides, which helped to bring about change, must not be forgotten (cold comfort though this may be for relatives).

Imprison fewer people in the first place
On a broader front, more still needs to be done about the huge numbers who are remanded in custody (over 15,000 in 2001). In 1999 there was cross party Scottish Parliamentary support for halving the number of women in custody by the end of the year 2000. Despite this pledge, however, the female population has steadily increased.

Above all Ministers, managers and governors must always remind themselves about the purpose of remand. On the one hand, the public must be protected from alleged violent criminals and given relief from persistent offenders. However, this must be balanced against the horrific loss of young lives in custody and the generally negative experience of imprisonment. Top priority ought, therefore, to be given to remands to enable them to engage more effectively with the criminal justice process – particularly in contacting agents and lawyers. Further training of wing staff to help prisoners access and understand legal books etc., would be most helpful. One solution would be to appoint legal contact development officers. Being on remand should be about making time in prison as normal as possible, i.e. regular contact with relatives, friends, and the provision of good social work and health care – as should be available in the community.

The Prisons Inspectorate and many other bodies and individuals believe that remand prisoners ought to be treated in a radically different way to those who have been convicted (irrespective of whether private or public prisons are involved). The key to further improvement in Scotland will rest on the Scottish Prison Service’s ability to select and properly train its prison officers, thereby matching the vision governors have shown.    top