§ Mr. McQuarrieasked the Secretary of State for Scotland if he has any plans to visit the prisons in Scotland and hold discussions with the prison officers on their present conditions of pay, service and housing.
§ Mr. RifkindDuring the course of the parliamentary recess my right hon. Friend visited Barlinnie prison and Barlinnie special unit. I have during the same period paid visits to Inverness, Penninghame and Peterhead prisons, to Glenochil young offenders institution and detention centre, and to Polmont borstal.
In the course of these visits we spoke with a number of officers about matters of mutual interest, but we did not specifically enter into discussions on prison officers' pay and conditions since the committee of inquiry into the prison service in the United Kingdom, under the chairmanship of Mr. Justice May, was then considering the terms of its report. The committee has now reported and its report will be published shortly.