§ 12. Dr. Godmanasked the Secretary of State for Scotland what is the current ratio of prison officers to prisoners in each of the Scottish prisons; and what was the corresponding ratio in 1980.
§ Mr. LangI shall arrange to have the figures for each establishment published in the Official Report. The overall ratio is 1:2.07 compared with 1:2.14 in 1980.
§ Dr. GodmanWhat effects do staff turnover rates have on those ratios? Is the Minister satisfied with the recruitment, selection and training of recruits to the service, and does he agree that there seems to be a thousand times more formal job security for a prison officer than for a shipyard worker, especially if the latter works at Scott Lithgow? I hope that his right hon. and learned Friend the Secretary of State will agree to a meeting with me to discuss today's announcement by Scott Lithgow concerning the massive number of people who are to be made redundant.
§ Mr. LangThe hon. Gentleman is very inventive in his supplementary question. Close attention is given to the training of prison officers. They have a six-week initial course and a further week a short time after. That seems to meet most of the basic requirements for training. Great care is taken in the matter.
Mr. Ron BrownIs it not clear that Messrs Smith and Kinnon are being placed in cages in Inverness as punishment for the recent protest at Saughton prison? Is that not barbaric? As Mr. Smith is one of my constituents, I am entitled to speak about him. Is it not also an abuse of human rights or is it simply a question of Victorian values coming to the fore and the Government, who talk about enlightenment, really putting the boot in, not just for prison officers but for prisoners themselves?
§ Mr. LangI hope that the hon. Gentleman will be pleased to know that the ratio of prison officers to inmates in Inverness is 1:1.64, which is a considerable improvement, even on the Scottish average.
§ Following is the information:
| The following table shows the ratio of prison officers to prisoners in each penal establishment in Scotland as at the beginning of November 1980 and 1986: | ||
| Establishment | 1980 Ratio of prison offices:inmates | 1986 Ratio of prison officers:inmates |
| Aberdeen | 1:2.19 | 1:2.65 |
| Barlinnie | 1:3.02 | 1:3.63 |
| Barlinnie Special Unit | 1:0.40 | 1:0.36 |
| Castle Huntly | 1:2.00 | 1:1.91 |
| Cornton Vale | 1:0.76 | 1:107 |
| Dumfries | 1:1.60 | 1:1.57 |
| Dungavel | 1:2.55 | 1:2.80 |
| Edinburgh | 1:2.77 | 1:2.04 |
| Friarton | 1:1.76 | 1:1.42 |
| Glenochil | 1:2.14 | 1:1.68 |
| Greenock | 1:0.64 | 1:1.96 |
| Inverness | 1:1.37 | 1:1.64 |
| Longriggend | 1:2.79 | 1:2.18 |
| Low Moss | 1:3.65 | 1:3.50 |
| Noranside | 1:1.27 | 1:1.53 |
| Penninghame | 1:1.77 | 1:2.70 |
| Perth | 1:2.80 | 1:2.49 |
| Peterhead | 1:1.19 | 1:0.76 |
| Polmont | 1:1.86 | 1:2.01 |
| Shotts | 1:0.94 | 1:0.69 |
§ Notes:
§ 1. 'Prison Officer' includes all uniformed discipline staff up to the rank of Chief Officer I and Specialist Officers (nurses, caterers, works officers, clerk officers and instructors) who assume an element of discipline duties.
§ 2. Non-uniformed staff (including Governor grades, civilian instructional staff, civilian tradesmen and secretarial staff) are excluded from the calculation of ratios.