Scottish Government
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Police custody facilites

Scottish police forces need to work together to develop a clear strategy for custody management to inform future design and development of the physical facilities for custody, according to a report published this week.

Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary for Scotland (HMICS) published a report of its inspection of forces' custody facilities, which contains a number of recommendations for improvement and identifies best practice from which forces can learn.

HMICS recommends that forces:

* Develop a robust and sustainable common model to help calculate cell requirements and to inform refurbishment or building of new facilities
* Review their custody facilities with regard to prisoners' welfare and rights, and consult appropriate bodies to determine what facilities should be provided
* Review their custody facilities with reference to prisoner privacy, taking account of staff and prisoner safety, to determine how custody suite functions including cells and charge desks, should be designed
* Consider staff welfare requirements in the design of custody facilities and take steps to ensure that these are not compromised by future custody planning
* Combine to develop a clear strategy for custody management that will direct future design and development of custody facilities, taking account of all available information on police custody practice

HM Chief Inspector of Constabulary Paddy Tomkins said:

"Providing enough suitable accommodation to keep people in custody is a significant challenge for police forces and their police authorities. They have a responsibility for the safety of those in custody as well as their security and have to take account of the welfare of staff and prisoners alike.

"Our inspection found that the design of force custody suites varied across Scotland, according to age, history and limitations of the site. That's why we've worked to identify good practice and help make sure all forces can learn from the many good examples that exist so as to minimise risks where possible.

"The standards expected in terms of the duty of care are properly much higher than they were in the times when these facilities were first built - that means that adopting the higher standards will cost in terms of capital investment. Police authorities and central government need to be aware of this when projecting capital spend and, for some, this may mean that new ways of collaborating or 'out-sourcing' will have to be explored.

"We'd like to see a more joined-up approach across Scotland. At the moment it's left very much up to individual forces to decide when and what changes to make or what bids to make for capital budget. A consistent approach across the country would help forces and those in custody know what to expect as well as enabling forces to take account of prisoner's rights and privacy in a uniform way. It should also lead to a better shared understanding between police authorities and the Scottish Government of the priorities for capital investment."

Related Information

http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Justice/Police/15403

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