§ Sir Nicholas FairbairnTo ask the Secretary of State for Scotland when the special unit at Barlinnie was set up; what is its cost to date; and how many convicts have been referred to date.
§ Lord James Douglas-HamiltonThe subject of the question relates to matters undertaken by the Scottish Prison Service. I have asked its chief executive, Mr. E.W. Frizzell, to arrange for a reply to be given.
Letter from E.W. Frizzell to Sir Nicholas Fairbairn, dated 20 October 1994:
Lord James Douglas-Hamilton has asked me to reply to your Question about the Barlinnie Special Unit. You asked when the Unit was set up; what is its cost to date; and how many convicts have been referred to date.The Barlinnie Special Unit was opened on 5 February 1973 and, to date, 36 prisoners have been located there.Until recently all the Unit's costs were incorporated with those of Barlinnie Prison and cannot be identified separately, and even now, some cost, for example on repairs, food and medical services, are not differentiated from the main prison. However,you may be interested to know that the Unit's staffing costs, which represent the largest part of the costs of any penal establishment in the last 3 years were £303,000 in 1991–92, £331,000 in 1992–93 and £383,000 in 1993–94.