Women offender plans to include new 80-place prison

"Custody in the community" is to be the Scottish Government's approach in dealing with women offenders, under a programme announced by Justice Secretary Michael Matheson today.

Instead of the proposed 300 place all-female prison in Inverclyde, plans for which were abandoned in January, a new 80-bed facility will be built to replace the present women's prison at Cornton Vale, near Stirling. There will also be five smaller community-based custodial units around the country, each accommodating up to 20 women, and targeted support to address underlying issues and reduce the numbers of women receiving custodial sentences.

There are a further 50 places for women at the recently opened HM Prison Grampian.

Speaking as he visited the 218 rehabilitative centre in Glasgow, Mr Matheson said the community-based custodial units would provide accommodation as women served out their sentence, with access to intensive support to help overcome issues such as alcohol, drugs, mental health and domestic abuse trauma which often drive offending behaviour. The units will be located in areas close to the communities of female offenders so that family contact can be maintained.

The Government also seeks to achieve more use of community-based alternatives to short-term prison sentences, including restricting liberty through the increased use of electronic monitoring, combined with support in the community, with more funding being made available for community-based services.

A consultation will be opened shortly on proposals to strengthen further the presumption against short-term prison sentences.

Mr Matheson said: “Following a period of intensive dialogue with our own experts in Scotland as well as international experts from across the world, I’m pleased to announce a new approach to how we deal with female offenders.

“These are progressive proposals, they draw on the best available international evidence of what works, but they are tailored to specific circumstances here in Scotland.

“I’ve seen various justice policies labelled as ‘soft’ or ‘tough’ in recent years, but I think the time is right to move away from this kind of narrative – what we are doing here is taking a ‘smart’ approach, just as we’ve seen in our strategy for reducing youth offending which has proven so successful."

The Justice Secretary continued that simply locking women up in a large facility had a damaging impact on the women, their families and their communities. He added: “I believe that accomodating female offenders, where appropriate, in smaller units, close to their families, with targeted support to address the underlying issues such as alcohol, drugs, mental health or domestic abuse trauma is the way ahead.

“It is also in line with previous expert reports by Dame Elish Angiolini and Henry McLeish in which it is recommended that we should target the use of prison where it can be most effective – in punishing serious crime and protecting the public."

John Scott QC, convener of the Howard League for Penal Reform in Scotland commented: “Howard League Scotland welcomed the Cabinet Secretary for Justice’s decision not to proceed with plans to build HMP Inverclyde. His decision was another step towards meeting the recommendations in the 2012 report of the Commission on Women Offenders, which was clear that most women in prison in Scotland today do not need to be there for reasons of public safety and that their needs would be better met in the community.

“Since the Cabinet Secretary’s announcement in January, the Government has recognised that more needs to be done to reduce the size of the female prison population in Scotland and we welcome their efforts.

“The emphasis must be on preventing women from becoming caught up in the criminal justice system in the first place, diverting them at the point of arrest and prosecution wherever possible, and reducing the use of remand and short term prison sentences. There must too be sustainable funding for community-based services, and there are lessons to be learned from the success of work with young offenders and the reduction in numbers at Polmont.

“If we redouble our efforts and take a ‘whole systems approach’, there is no reason why the success in reducing the number of young people in custody cannot be replicated for women in custody in Scotland.”

Martin Cawley, chief executive for Turning Point Scotland, which operates the 218 centre, said: “Any plan to focus on the underlying issues of offending is to be welcomed.

“Community based alternatives to custody, like our 218 service, support women to make positive longlasting change in their lives. By provided a structured environment, in an area they are familiar with will help them to tackle the issues that they have struggled with.

“We know from our experience that many of the women using 218 have a range of complex needs such as addiction, poor mental health or physical health and trauma. By addressing these, it reduces the likelihood of them reoffending in the future.”