Seòmar agus comataidhean

I do not mind. It was a tough question.

They are not just challenges. It sounds as though they are almost breaching international law. I refer to the paper from HMCIPS, which stated:

“Staff prisoner relations and the tolerance of prisoners to the very restricted regime has been ... positive to date”—

perhaps not in every case, but that is the overarching situation—

“but the continuation of heavy restrictions risks an adverse reaction.”

That is a very real reaction, and we have already seen the consequence of that. We already know of attacks on prison officers, for example, and there is a distinct possibility that the levels of tension could rise. Is there any sense of the prison population questioning why the wider population of the world is moving forward while they are still under the restrictive measures that were imposed under the emergency?

On the correspondence from the SPS in response to our questions, my understanding is that the service gave us figures only for the four weeks following the changes to the rules on 13 December. That is only one month of data, so we should request continued updates. Also, because that was the Christmas period, there would have been abnormal volumes of mail throughout the month.

It is notable that 48 per cent of correspondence was photocopied and passed on. I do not know whether that is good or bad. I guess that some people understood that all mail would be photocopied and others thought that it would be selected depending on the evaluation of risk. It is hard to gauge whether the figure is good, bad or indifferent, so it would be helpful to have some context.

The more interesting figure is on how many pieces of mail tested positive. Because 12 per cent of mail that went through the Rapiscan machine tested positive, it sounds as though it would be a wise move on our part to push for photocopying. I would be keen, as we move forward, to see what effect that has on the number of items that test positive over the months, and whether the number goes down as people reduce the risk that they take in sending substances through the mail.

Equally, it would be naive to think that a reduction means that drugs are being eliminated from prisons. Will there be a change in the type of drugs that get into prison or the methods of getting them there? It is probably too early to say, and I appreciate that the Government needs more time, but when we hear from the Government—perhaps before the summer recess—it would be interesting to hear whether people in the illicit sector have found new and innovative ways of getting drugs into prisons, and to hear what those drugs are. As we know, methods and products have changed over the years. It is fair to say that that will continue to be the case, so we should keep a watching eye on that.

Good morning, everyone. My colleague Katy Clark has already covered this area quite well, and I get the impression that this is a necessary evil, given the two options in front of us. No one wants cases to be timed out, so there must be a mechanism for extending them. Historically, as you will know, people had to apply for an extension, whereas under the emergency procedure, the extension was automatic.

The bill makes permanent some of the temporary features that were brought in during Covid. Do you have any concerns about the extension of the limits to 17 or 18 months for solemn cases and the other extension for summary cases? Would you rather that they were time-limited automatic extensions and that the limits would revert back to their original 11 or 12 months? If so, at what point in the future would you like that to happen?

Sorry, yes—I should have made that clear.

That was a reactive measure in response to an emergency. There was not even a testing regime in place, so you were dealing with what you had within months of the pandemic starting. We are two years on from that now, of course, in a very different world, and the measures before us are being proposed for the future, not for today.

Referring to my original question, what criteria should be used in that respect? We have to go back to the Government and say what we think is right or wrong about the bill. If the measures are only about the pandemic, the health situation in the prison, the prison population or how many people are in a cell, and less about the type of prisoner or how long is left on their sentence, what sort of people were being released, from your point of view, and was it entirely appropriate that they were released early? Would we do something differently next time? Ultimately, the Government will have to rewrite the rules for future pandemics or for variations of this one.

I have a follow-up to Rona Mackay’s question. In its response to the consultation, HMIPS has said:

“this has been a long-term pandemic and HMIPS would like to see those powers where used reported on transparently and regularly with clear and sufficient justification.”

The inspectorate is asking for more transparency in reporting, as are we, but I get the impression that your response to that is that all the information is there if somebody wants it. The approach does not seem to be joined up. How do we make things much more proactive in that regard so that everyone’s needs might be addressed?

Thank you.

I will bring in Marsha Scott in a minute. The bad news, unfortunately, is that the numbers speak for themselves. Of the 348 people who were released early under the emergency power, 142 reoffended within six months. I do not know the specifics of the cases—I am sure that we can find that information—but I suspect that a chunk of them will involve domestic abuse or gender-based violence. That is a worry. There was a public health emergency, and we had to release people from prison, but they went on to reoffend when, in normal circumstances, they would still have been serving their sentences. In this instance, the proof of the pudding is in the eating, unfortunately. That said, I would be grateful if you could share with the committee any anecdotal evidence of such cases that you might come across.

Dr Scott, can you give us your views on the general concept of early release and use of the emergency power?

Good morning. My first question is for Emma Jardine from the Howard League. Do you feel that your organisation and the people whom your organisation assists or represents have been adequately consulted as part of the bill process?