Nicola Sturgeon has been urged to cut down on the supply of drugs in Scotland’s prisons.
At First Minister’s Questions, Douglas Ross called for an end to the “shocking” situation where prison officers are having to hand drug-contaminated items back to prisoners as they leave jail.
The operating procedures that prison officers must stick to say that prisoners have the option to have items contaminated with drugs safely stored and returned to them on their release.
Douglas Ross highlighted Scottish Prison Service documents that show there have been over 2,200 incidents of prisoners misusing government-bought phones, which are regularly used to deal drugs in prisons. He said those phones must be removed immediately.
The Scottish Conservative Leader also asked why the government didn’t listen earlier to Scottish Conservative proposals to prevent drugs being smuggled into prisons through the mail.
Russell Findlay MSP had raised the issue with the government five times over two months. Finally, this week, SNP Justice Secretary Keith Brown committed to the Scottish Conservative proposals to prevent drug-soaked mail reaching prisons.
Scottish Conservative Leader Douglas Ross said: “Scotland has the highest drug death rate in Europe. Every solution should be considered to tackle this crisis - and they should be considered urgently.
“It’s unacceptable that it took 10 overdoses this weekend in one prison for the government to accept Scottish Conservative proposals to cut down on the supply of drugs in prisons.
“The Scottish Conservatives brought forward these proposals repeatedly but the SNP stalled instead of acting quickly.
“Nicola Sturgeon says that her government is treating our drugs crisis seriously yet the response from SNP ministers was to trivialise concerns with flippant comments.
“It’s shocking that prison officers are having to hand drugs back to prisoners as they leave jail. The First Minister can’t just look at this, she must act to stop the practice immediately.
“The SNP are making it harder for prison officers to do their job. Scottish Prison Service documents show there have been over 2,200 incidents of prisoners misusing phones. These government-bought phones have been abused for criminal activity and they must be removed from Scotland’s prisons now.
“The government has taken its eye off the ball on Scotland’s drug deaths scandal for too long. It finally has to start treating this crisis with the urgency it deserves.”
Notes
Russell Findlay first raised the issue of photocopying prisoner letters more than two months ago and has repeatedly raised it since. On 1 September 2021 at Criminal Justice Committee Russell Findlay said: ‘Could it not be looked at as a matter of urgency to reinstate as a matter of routine letters—other than legally privileged letters—being photocopied, rather than handing over the originals?’ On 15 September 2021 in the Chamber Russell Findlay asked Keith Brown: ‘Two weeks ago, I asked the cabinet secretary to consider photocopying letters rather than giving the originals in order to stem that flow. What has he done about that?’ On 29 September 2021, Russell Findlay asked Angela Constance: ‘Would the minister encourage her cabinet colleague Keith Brown to act immediately in relation to prison drugs and stop the mail, as I suggested in my speech?’ (Criminal Justice Committee, 1 September 2021, link; Official Report, 15 September 2021, link; Official Report, 29 September 2021, link).
Angela Constance said she did not need to hold Russell Findlay’s hand when the issue of drugs in prison was raised. When it was raised in this chamber with the drugs minister Angela Constance, she said, and this is a direct quote, “Mr Findlay is a big boy now, and does not need his mammy to hold his hand. I am sure that he will be able to address any outstanding matters that he has with the Cabinet Secretary for Justice.” (Official Report, 29 September 2021, link).
Keith Brown did not announce action on photocopying prisoner letters until two months later after prisoners had overdosed at HMP Shotts. On 2 November 2021, Keith Brown – responding to questioning from Russell Findlay on reports of prisoners overdosing at HMP Shotts - said: ‘A decision has been taken to implement the photocopying of general correspondence.’ (Official Report, 2 November 2021, link).
Lorna Slater said that drugs were not inherently dangerous. Scottish Government Minister and Green Party co-leader stated: ‘Many celebrities and rich people use them, some well- known politicians have used drugs. So, using drugs is not inherently dangerous.’ (Scottish Sun, 23 October 2021, link).
The Scottish Prison Service reported thousands of breaches of discipline for misuse of prisoner mobile phones. In their annual reports and accounts for 2020-21, the Scottish Prison Service confirmed that 2,255 breaches of discipline took place for ‘Breaches on using an authorised Mobile phone in a prison setting’. Additionally, 323 breaches of discipline were recorded for possessing or using ‘an authorised personal communication device which was not provided by the Governor for use by that prisoner’. (Scottish Prison Service, Annual Reports and Accounts 2020-21, 28 October 2021, Appendix 6, link).
The Scottish Prison Service Standard Operating Procedure says prisoners can be handed drug-contaminated items upon their release. The SPS said when Police Scotland do not take mail or property suspected to be contaminated with drugs: ‘the item remains the property of the prisoner and is stored for issue on liberation’. (Scottish Prison Service, Email on management of items with prohibited substances, 28 October 2021, Available on request. Contact
The Prison Officers Association said staff were ‘overwhelmed with unprecedented levels of drug abuse’ in our prisons. Prison Officers at HMP Shotts said staff were ‘overwhelmed with unprecedented levels of drug abuse’. (Scottish Daily Express, 31 October 2021, link).
The prisoner mobile phone project cost at least £2.7 million. The Scottish Prison Service stated that ‘phase one’ of the mobile phone project where every prisoner in the SPS’ care would be given a phone was set to cost £2.7 million. (The Scottish Sun, 15 November 2020, link).