§ Mr. Beithasked the Secretary of State for Scotland whether he will institute a study of the effectiveness of the policies for the treatment of offenders pursued at Her Majesty's Prison, Barlinnie, and make available to interested organisations the results of such a study.
§ Mr. William RossI assume that the hon. Member is referring to the special unit in Barlinnie Prison.
This is an experiment in reducing tensions leading to violence in the prison system generally by transferring selected prisoners to the unit. The effect of the experiment on the incidence of violence in the prison system and the operation of the unit itself are kept under review, but it is too early for any judgment to be 404W made of longer term effectiveness. Information about the experiment and the working of the unit is made available on request to interested organisations.