Jails chief at odds with SNP on prisoner rights

Chief Reporter

Monday 9 April 2012

SCOTLAND's chief inspector of prisons has expressed his disappointment that the Scottish Government took his comments out of context to support their proposals to disband the country's historic visiting committees.

CLASH: Hugh Monro said his remarks quoted by the Justice Secretary were seen as supporting only an advocacy service to replace prison visiting committees. Picture: Mark Gibson

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Lucy Adams Chief Reporter

Brigadier Hugh Monro, Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Prisons for Scotland (HMCIPS), has expressed some concern at the way he has been portrayed by ministers in their moves to end the committees.

Established in 1871, Prison Visiting Committees (VCs) were told in December by Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill they would no longer be required.

In a letter to the Justice Committee that month, he wrote: "HM Chief Inspector of Prisons, Brigadier Hugh Monro has welcomed the creation of a prisoner advocacy service saying it is a positive move, which reflects the needs of today's prison population."However, Brigadier Monro told The Herald: "My remarks were taken out of context and were seen as supporting only an advocacy service, and I have also supported the need for independent monitoring. I was not consulted on the decision to disband VCs and to replace them with an 'advocacy service'. "I did and do support the idea of an advocacy service, but we already have a prison complaints process, overseen by the Scottish Public Services Ombudsman. The VCs would argue they help prisoners with their complaints."My real concern is that in the future Scotland's prisons must continue to be regularly and effectively monitored by an independent service. "This view is supported by the National Preventative Mechanism (NPM), a group of 18 organisations that monitor places of detention across the United Kingdom in accordance with the Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (Opcat). Here HMCIPS is one of the five Scottish organisations which is part of the NPM."The Scottish Human Rights Commission has already said that, without independent monitoring, prisoners' rights could be breached and it called for visiting committees to be made fully independent – in line with England and Wales. Following opposition to the decision from the committees plus the Tories and Green Party, in February Mr MacAskill said he would conduct further consultations.The NPM wrote to Mr MacAskill on March 7 stating: "To comply with Opcat, it is essential that prisons in Scotland receive independent scrutiny. It is not sufficient that the Scottish Prison Service reviews its own performance or has in place its own monitoring mechanisms. "While it is true that HMCIPS provides independent scrutiny of the kind envisaged by Opcat, we are nonetheless concerned at the possible depletion in protection afforded to prisoners in Scotland compared to their peers in the rest of the UK." Brigadier Monro said he fully agrees with the letter from the NPM. He said: "VCs are not members of the NPM because their budget was controlled by the SPS and were not seen as completely 'independent'. That's one reason why we need a new, fully independent system, similar, I suspect, to the English Independent Monitoring Boards (IMBs). "I have advised officials in the Scottish Government that such an organisation is required in order to take over from VCs, so that they can work with me and the rest of the NPM. "This is not a plea to 'save VCs' but that a new and independent system is produced that is effective in terms of monitoring prisons. Frankly, the result will need to be something that does looks very similar to English, Welsh and Northern Irish IMBs."The Scottish Government has highlighted the case of Barlinnie Prison, which had 6400 admissions last year but only 14 requests to see the visiting committee. However, the committees point out that they made 226 visits to women in HMP Cornton Vale last year, responded to 165 requests and dealt with 426 issues raised.A Scottish Government spokeswoman said: "We consulted on the independent monitoring of prisons earlier last year and that process involved the publication of a consultation paper, prisoner focus groups and interviews with key stakeholders. "We agree that independent monitoring of prisons is an important function, however the consultation revealed that the current system for doing this is not as effective and efficient as it could be. "We have considered the evidence gathered and will shortly come forward with a set of proposals to establish a new independent prisoner advocacy and monitoring service. These proposals will be laid before the Parliament for consideration and public consultation."

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Jails chief at odds with SNP on prisoner rights

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