Tayside Short-Term Prisoner Protocols launched by Justice Minister
Last updated | 29/06/2010
A groundbreaking partnership project that aims to prevent
short-term prisoners at Perth Prison ending up back in jail after
their release was launched by Justice Secretary Kenny McAskill on
Friday 25 June.
The Short-Tem Prison Protocols have been agreed by the three
Tayside local authorities (Perth & Kinross, Dundee City and
Angus Councils), Tayside Community Justice Authority, NHS Tayside,
the Scottish Prison Service and Perth Prison. The initiative has
been led by Perth & Kinross Council and has been delivered
within existing budgets.
The Protocols see short-term prisoners attend
‘surgeries’ when they are six to eight weeks away from
release. Staff from local authority housing departments and
Shelter, local authority drug and alcohol teams, health workers,
and staff from employment and training agencies such as Jobcentre
Plus and Perth College provide help and support to prisoners to
ensure they have the best chance possible of getting on with their
lives after release.
Help is given to set prisoners up in short-term accommodation,
tackle substance abuse and health issues and to get them into jobs
or training. These are factors which divert people away from crime,
thus preventing people coming back into the prison system, thereby
saving money which can be reinvested.
The Short-Term Prison Protocols have been developed over the
last three years following initial discussions with senior Perth
& Kinross Council officials and managers at HMP Perth and the
Scottish Prison Service. It was then taken on by a multi-agency
working group chaired and led by the Criminal Justice Service
Manager for Perth and Kinross.
Areas of support
They identified four areas where better support was needed if
short-term prisoners were to be given a better chance of staying
out of jail after release –accommodation, health, substance
misuse and employment.
A Prisoner Community Integration Group was set up to see what
could be done to help the situation, and began discussions with
other partnership agencies to eventually reach agreement on the
protocols.
Tayside Community Justice Authority has also been active in
sharing the benefits of the Protocols across Scotland, with a great
deal of interest being generated.
The Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill officially launched the
Protocols at an event at Perth Concert Hall, where the agencies
involved in their development and provision explained their value
to him.
Mr MacAskill said: ȁC;I am grateful for all the work done
by all the agencies involved to help short-term prisoners
re-integrate more successfully into the communities they come from.
We are all aware of the ‘revolving door’ of prison and
the need to tackle re-offending more effectively. Helping with
employment, housing and health issues in this innovative initiative
illustrates what can be done.ȁD;
Perth & Kinross Council’s Executive Director of
Housing and Health, David Burke, said: "This is the first scheme of
its kind in Scotland and is an excellent example of partnership
working and collaboration with neighbouring local authorities.
Every agency involved has made a lot of changes to the way in which
they provide services so that the Protocols could be agreed.
"The project will give short-term prisoners the best possible
chance of getting their lives back on track after release and keep
them away from crime. It will save taxpayers’ money and will
also ensure that our communities are safer places for all
residents. Short-term prisoners do not have the same level of
support upon leaving jail as longer-term prisoners, and often find
themselves homeless, without a job and with a substance misuse
issue. This scheme aims to address these problems so that people do
not just end up back in the prison system."
'Improving chances' for prisoners
Mick Stoney, Governor of HMP Perth, added: "Every member of the
team at HMP Perth welcomes this initiative. We see on a daily basis
the problems that returning prisoners unprepared to the community
can cause. This initiative will improve the chances of prisoners
returning to their families and communities, staying out of
trouble, and not returning to custody."
Bailie Helen Wright, Convener of Tayside Community Justice
Authority, added: "This demonstrates the real benefits of working
in partnership to achieve shared outcomes. Tayside CJA and its
constituent partners pride themselves in developing innovative
first-class services for the management of offenders, making the
communities of Tayside safer.
"Our colleagues across the country have expressed great interest
in replicating these protocols in their own areas. The sharing of
good practice in this way represents one of the many benefits that
the CJA Partnerships bring to Scotland’s criminal justice
system, and to the communities they serve."
