§ Mr. N. MACLEANasked the Secretary of State for Scotland whether a departmental rule has been made that officers at Perth prison village are to be asked, before structural alterations are commenced at their quarters, if they have any objections to the work being carried out during their occupancy; whether an officer is expected to give this assurance without considering the questions of health; and whether there is a responsible medical officer appointed for Perth and at other Scottish prisons?
§ Sir G. COLLINSThere is no departmental rule on the subject. In the past complaint has sometimes been made of inconvenience occasioned by structural 883W alterations to quarters at Perth prison during their occupancy; and the Prisons Department has accordingly considered it desirable, in one or two recent cases, to give officers concerned particulars of proposed structural alterations, with a view to obtaining an assurance, before work is undertaken, that the temporary inconvenience necessarily occasioned by the improvements will not later be made the subject of complaint. The answer to the second part of the question is in the negative, and to the last part in the affirmative.
§ Mr. LEONARDasked the Secretary of State for Scotland the equipment to which a prisoner is entitled in Scottish prisons on starting his sentence and, with regard to towels and bed sheets, the period within which he is entitled to renewal?
§ Sir G. COLLINSAn ordinary male convicted prisoner in a Scottish prison is provided with the following articles, namely:
Clothing: 1 bonnet, 1 jacket, 1 shirt, 1 undershirt, 1 vest, 1 pair boots, 1 pair laces, 1 pair slippers, 1 pair stockings, 1 pair drawers, 1 pair trousers, 1 pair braces, 1 handkerchief.
Bedding: 1 bed, 1 bed rug, 1 mattress, 1 pillow, 1 pillow slip, 2 sheets, 2 single blankets in summer and 3 single blankets in winter.
Other Articles include 1 badge, 1 basin, 1 towel, 1 comb, 2 jugs, 1 dishcloth, 1 spoon, 1 salt-cellar, 1 stool, 1 cell brush, soap and toothbrush.
Books: Bible and devotional books, book of rules, library book.
Prisoners employed on special duties receive certain special issues of clothing appropriate for use in connection with the special duties performed. Towels are washed weekly and bed sheets fortnightly.
§ Mr. LEONARDasked the Secretary of State for Scotland whether he has instructed governors and medical officers of Scottish prisons jointly to inspect every part of the prison establishment and to record the result of this inspection in their respective journals; and, if so, will he give the dates of such inspections in the last 12 months in Barlinnie prison recorded in the journals referred to?
§ Sir G. COLLINSThe Prisons (Scotland) Rules provide that the governor and medical officer of each prison shall jointly884W inspect every part of the prison establishment in the last month of every quarter and that the results of these inspections shall be recorded by the medical officer in his journal. Owing to the length of time necessary to make a thorough inspection of the whole establishment at Barlinnie prison, it has not always been practicable for the governor and medical officer to make joint inspections, and steps are being taken in the course of the comprehensive revision of the Prisons Rules which is now in progress to amend the Rules dealing with this matter. The dates of the inspections carried out at Barlinnie prison in the last 12 months were as follow: Governor's inspections, 1st October, 1934, 24th December, 1934, 29th March, 1935 and 18th June, 1935: medical officer's inspections—recorded in the medical officer's journal—28th September, 1934, 21st December, 1934, 29th March, 1935, and 21st June, 1935.
§ Mr. LEONARDasked the Secretary of State for Scotland whether he is aware that prisoners in Barlinnie prison, ordered to their cell beds as sick, are forced to parade at the prison surgery the following morning along with the prisoners reporting sick; that influenza patients have had to conform to this practice; and will he take steps to ensure that prisoners ordered to bed as sick will be visited in their cells by the medical officer before being called to parade with the ordinary sick?
§ Sir G. COLLINSPrisoners in Barlinnie who have been ordered to bed because of ailment are not paraded at the surgery on the following morning except when the ailment is a minor one. If the prisoner complains of feeling unwell he is kept in bed until examined by the medical officer. Where influenza has been diagnosed the prisoner is not paraded at the surgery, but is either admitted to the prison hospital or kept in bed in his cell until the medical officer certifies him as fit to get up. The practice does not seem to call for any alteration.