§ Lord James Douglas-Hamiltonasked the Secretary of State for Scotland whether there are problems for families visiting prisoners in Peterhead prison; whether there are cases where prisoners cannot be given their visiting entitlement; and if he will make a statement as to whether he has plans to improve visiting arrangements at the prison.
§ Mr. AncramThe location of Peterhead prison can create problems for visitors but the prison staff make every effort to minimise these and do everything possible to remove unnecessary obstacles. Relatives who have difficulty in meeting the cost of journeys to visit a prisoner may obtain travel warrants and subsistence from their local social security office who also have discretion, exceptionally, to meet the cost of bed and breakfast if the return journey cannot be completed in one day. It is also open to a prisoner to accumulate his visits and to request to be transferred to a prison nearer his home to take his visit entitlement there. Every prisoner is able to receive all the visits to which he is entitled.
The visits room at Peterhead is modern and well equipped and there are no current plans for further improvement. Open visits are permitted, unless there are special security considerations; and a range of canteen facilities is available. In recognition of the travelling distances often involved, the normal duration of visits to prisoners at Peterhead is 2 hours rather than the standard period of 30 minutes.