Latest news with #KaitlinDryburgh
The National
07-05-2025
- Health
- The National
What do we want from our prison system: rehabilitation or punishment?
However, before we think about operational and structural changes required, such as providing more rehabilitation or more prisons, we should consider the basics of prison life: food, shelter, exercise, work. READ MORE: One cell in Alcatraz prison could certainly be put to good use There are no legislative minimum nutritional standards for food served in prison. If everyone else is encouraged to eat healthily and consume five portions of fruit and vegetables a day, the same should apply to prisoners. They are limited in what additional foods they can buy (assuming they have the money to do so) and so they are dependent on the prison providing them with enough food each day to meet their calorific and nutritional requirements. There is no legislative basis for mattress quality. This may seem a trivial issue – to someone who is not a prisoner. Try sleeping on a 10cm-thick foam mattress for years on end and see how that affects your own sleep quality and so your physical and mental health. READ MORE: John Swinney's Programme for Government – all you need to know There is a requirement that prisoners get access to the outdoors for an hour a day, weather permitting. There is nothing about ensuring they have access to sunlight for Vitamin D intake, nor even to have access to nature, such as a patch of grass and a few trees, and so the usual routine is access to a concrete yard only, and only at the one set time each day fixed by prison staff. Work should involve meaningful training for work outwith prison. That means training in skills required for today's job market and, crucially, that means access to computer skills. Very few prisoners gain full training for employment outwith prison and even fewer gain computer-based training. By not ensuring prisoners get adequate and wholesome food each day, by not caring that their sleep is affected, by not allowing them full access to the outdoors, and by not providing full training for them for employment once released, we are already letting them know they are in prison to be punished. They are not like us. If we are serious about rehabilitation then the only major loss a prisoner should experience should be their loss of liberty. That is the fundamental question we all need to ask ourselves. What is it we want of our prison system: rehabilitation or punishment? As Kaitlin Dryburgh states, we already know that the existing system does not work. The reconviction rates show this. So are we prepared to increase spending on rehabilitation services, knowing that by spending more now we will save by having fewer prisoners in the long term? The answer, at least for me, is yes! David Logan Milngavie MARIE Curie Scotland strongly endorses the Scottish Parliament Health Committee's statement in their report on the Assisted Dying Bill (Assisted Dying Bill needs 'further consideration' before becoming law, Apr 30) that everyone who needs it should be able to access good quality palliative care at the end of their lives, and that there must be a concerted focus on achieving this regardless of whether the Assisted Dying Bill progresses or not. This acknowledges that too many people are not getting the care and support they need at the end of life. READ MORE: Palestinians in Gaza speak out as Israel starves them Your readers may be surprised to know that they are spending – via public funding – more than six times the amount supporting people in the final year of life as hospital inpatients than supporting them with primary, community health and hospice care. People dying in hospitals is not what they – or their loved ones – want. This why Marie Curie Scotland is campaigning for a Right to Palliative Care. We need the law to make sure that everyone has the right to get the care and support they need in their final months, weeks, days, and hours of life. There is only once chance to give someone a good end-of-life experience. Marie Curie takes a neutral position on assisted dying, but we are far from neutral on the need for everyone to get the care and support they need when they are dying. 90% of us will need palliative care, far more than the number who might ever want an assisted death. We urge MSPs to consider carefully the full implications of their decisions about the Assisted Dying Bill. But they should, too, take very seriously their responsibility to make sure that access to good quality palliative care is improved for all who need it in Scotland. Amy Dalrymple Associate Director of Policy and Public Affairs, Marie Curie Scotland HOMES Under The Hammer is credited as a BBC Scotland production, yet each month only about one property in Scotland is featured. The presenters are all very interesting but only one is a Scot. There is concern over the cost of costume dramas. To my recollection there haven't been any Scottish ones for many years. River City, which gives pleasure to many people, must cost a fraction of what EastEnders does, and should be spared. Margaret Pennycook Glasgow
The National
01-05-2025
- The National
Scottish prison deaths are far too high
Good evening! This week's edition of the In Common newsletter comes from Kaitlin Dryburgh, policy and communication director at Common Weal. To receive the newsletter direct to your inbox every week click here. THE Scottish Centre for Crime and Justice Research (SCCJR) has found that deaths in Scottish prisons have risen to among the highest in Europe. From 40 in 2023 to 64 in 2024, with some of the most common reasons stated as health conditions, suicide and drug-related causes. Furthermore, the SCCJR found that the overall number of people who died while in custody or in the care of the state in 2024 was a staggering 244 people. While a Fatal Accident Inquiry is automatically provided for those who died while in prison or police custody, those who died under different custody circumstances or care of the state are not provided the same right. Which unfortunately means that we won't know how the majority of those passed away or if the state was to some extent responsible. This embarrassing finding is another example of how Scotland's prison estate is one of the worst in Europe, in so many different ways. Although we are set to build and replace the current Barlinnie prison in Glasgow, this just goes to show our under-funded prison estate is not capable of either rehabilitation or offering a safe place. The structures already in place are not working, and what that means is more people will die. The centre also found that sadly 16 children and young persons died while in the care of the state, including a person with disabilities residing in a hospital. Scotland has previously been scrutinised for its high number of young people dying while in the youth estate and a few high-profile cases in the media have highlighted the need for change. READ MORE: Aberdeen locals react to Michael Gove choosing 'Lord of Torry' title A report published at the start of the year found that the suicides of two youths at Polmont Young Offenders Institution (below) could have been avoided. Due to the nature of Fatal Accident Inquiries, no-one at a prison can be found criminally responsible for death of a person in their custody. So it is no surprise that recommendations made to the Scottish Government are slow to be implemented when there is little pressure from anywhere to see it through. Radical reform is needed in the prison estate if we are to improve and increase rehabilitation, provide people with a better standard of living on the outside, deliver true justice and actually help people. However, at the very least we should be keeping people alive. Prison should not be a death sentence. The data shows that those with mental health issues are more likely to die in custody. The suicide rate for those on remand in prison is untenably high, and yet our remand population is one of the highest in Europe, once again. There are two options that the Scottish Government can start putting in motion right now. No need to wait on another consultation or research, there is enough evidence out there to show the current model is a waste of time and ineffective. Either they enact a prison model that bears more resemblance to Norway, which emphasises rehabilitation and alternatives to the usual prison establishments. Looking at placements that remove troubled people from their usual tumultuous environments and give them stability, teaching them life skills that they've not had access to. With accountability and responsibility at the core of these environments, while treating crime as a public health issue. Something that isn't present currently. Or, they build bigger and better prisons that allow prison officers to offer better care so that we don't have another large increase of people dying while in the care of the state, and have a more streamlined healthcare and mental health service available in prisons. However, considering the high rate at which we throw people in prison, building bigger prisons should not be seen as an incentive to fill them, and more out-of-prison alternatives must be invested in. Either way, this is not the option that will enact the most positive change, but if that's what's needed to keep more people alive, so be it. READ MORE: St Andrews rector wins appeal after dismissal over Gaza comments Lastly, the prison officers and personnel that keep these prisons ticking over should stop being overlooked. Not unlike other public services, the bureaucracy and top-heavy management structure is producing an at-times demotivated workforce that should be more valued, listened to and trusted to make decisions concerning the people they interact with. What the findings from the SCCJR prove is once again we have one of the worst prison estates in Europe, one that is in desperate need of reform. We do not have the death penalty in this country for a reason; going to prison should not increase the likelihood of dying. Furthermore, if we want to explore a different way and do better, we must know how people are dying. Therefore, a Fatal Accident Inquiry is essential when anyone in custody or in the care of state passes away, no exceptions.
