Reduce prison numbers in Scotland to stem coronavirus outbreak, warns watchdog

There must be a “concerted effort” to reduce the number of people detained in prisons and other facilities during the coronavirus outbreak, human rights groups have said.

Prisoners will only be let out of jails early as a last resort, the justice secretary said

Scottish members of the National Preventive Mechanism (NPM), a group of 21 bodies that have powers to inspect or monitor places of detention, have written to the Justice Secretary.

They urged Humza Yousaf to ensure the rights of detained people are protected during the Covid-19 epidemic.

The impossibility of social distancing in prisons puts both staff and inmates at increased risk of infection, the letter said.

Signatories include the Scottish Human Rights Commission, Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Prisons for Scotland and the Mental Welfare Commission for Scotland.

They recommend a number of steps including extra support for staff, ensuring detainees receive appropriate healthcare and setting up video systems such as Skype to allow families to keep in touch.

The letter said: “A concerted effort should be made to reduce the detained populations to mitigate the inherent risk of maintaining people in close confinement.

“This is particularly important for detainees with underlying health conditions, remanded population, children and those in other vulnerable categories, as well as in areas of the detention estate that are already overcrowded.

“This should be facilitated where risk assessment and the impact on other services in the community deems it feasible and by expanding the use of existing instruments or executive release under emergency legislation.”

Mr Yousaf outlined measures to ensure the continuity of the justice system on Wednesday.

Hearings in criminal and civil courts can take place remotely and the time limit for unpaid work has been relaxed.

The release of prisoners will only be considered as a last resort, he said.

Certain categories, such as those serving life sentences and terrorist offenders, will be excluded.

A Scottish Government spokeswoman said: “The wellbeing and safety of all those who live and work in our prisons as they respond to this unprecedented operational challenge facing our prisons is a priority for SG and the Scottish Prison Service (SPS) – and the Justice Secretary spoke with the Scottish Human Right Council about these matters earlier this week.

“A number of steps have been taken by SPS to ensure social distancing and public health advice is adhered to and measures introduced to mitigate the impact of social isolation for those in it care.

“SPS has set up a dedicated family support helpline to enable family members of those in SPS care with advice and support on the SPS response to COVID-19. We are working closely with SPS to look at alternative arrangements for family contact as a matter of priority.”

Meanwhile, Scottish Labour’s justice spokesman James Kelly has written to Humza Yousaf demanding that the Scottish Government begin releasing regular COVID-19 figures for the Scottish Prison Estate.

So far, figures have been released on an ad hoc basis by the Scottish Prison Service, in contrast to the daily updates being posted by the Ministry of Justice in England.