HC Deb 27 March 1980 vol 981 cc671-2W
Mr. Nicholas Winterton

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will list each borstal establishment in Scotland; how many inmates each contains at present; how many staff are employed at each borstal; and what is the cost to public funds of employing security staff at each of these institutions.

Mr. Rifkind

The position at 23 March 1980 was as follows:

Borstal No. of No. of
institution inmates staff
Polmont 374 193
Castle Huntly 92 64
Noranside 61 58
Cornton Vale (girls) 38 20
All members of staff share a measure of responsibility for security and it is not practicable to isolate the costs of this particular activity.

Mr. Nicholas Winterton

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland what are the categories by which inmates of Scottish borstal establishments are classified; and what are the classes of offence which result in offenders being placed in each category.

Mr. Rifkind

There is no formal classification system for borstal inmates in Scotland, but any inmate who, because of his past record, is considered likely to abscond or who, because of the nature of his offence or of any outstanding charges against him, would be a danger to the public if he did abscond, is made subject to special security conditions. These are reviewed regularly and lifted or modified whenever this is considered to be appropriate. No inmate who is subject to security conditions is allocated to the open borstal institutions at Castle Huntly or Noranside.

Within the borstal institutions there is a grading system whereby inmates, according to their response to training, can become progressively eligible for additional privileges—for example, in relation to leave, outside visits, outside work, and additional earnings.