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1. PREAMBLE
1.1 Some of the most serious problems of Dumfries prison are problems about which the prison can do very little. It is overcrowded; and the overcrowding is more difficult to deal with because the buildings are old and awkward and limited. Dumfries is really two prisons within one wall: one part is a local prison for (mostly) short-term male offenders and young males on remand, and the other part is a prison for long-term male adults convicted of sex offences who do not admit their guilt. For reasons of safety, these two groups must be kept completely separate. So a very great deal of prison management is directed towards the complications of holding together two groups who must be kept separate at all times.
1.2 Each group of prisoners feels that they are not receiving the best possible regime. There is no doubt that remand prisoners from the Dumfries area are the least well provided for in the prison.
1.3 The design of the buildings is extremely complex and raises concerns: it is not easy for staff to reach all parts of the prison quickly in cases of emergency: and it is not easy for nurses to reach all parts of the prison quickly, carrying emergency equipment, in the event of a medical emergency. Indeed, it would not be impossible for new members of staff to be unsure of the way to find the location of an emergency.
1.4 There are two groups of prisoners whose presence in the prison raises important questions. Regularly the prison holds persons who are detained under immigration legislation. These are people who have been convicted of a crime and who have served a prison sentence; but they are not released on its completion because they are subject to further procedure by the immigration authorities. This can mean that they are held in prison because they have not been transferred into a detention centre. The prison also holds some old prisoners. Some of these men show the signs of advancing age: problems of mobility and health deterioration and even Alzheimer's disease. They have been convicted of crimes; but it is almost impossible for any prison to meet their specialised needs.
1.5 And there is one group whose absence from Dumfries is questionable. In March 2006 the decision was taken to close the unit for women. All prisoners from the South of Scotland who are women are now held in HMP & YOI Cornton Vale in Stirling, even those detained for short periods of remand. There is no advantage in Cornton Vale of a superior regime for a prisoner on remand; and very little for prisoners serving short sentences. For these prisoners there are significant disadvantages in being held so far from home: a journey in a Custody Vehicle from a court in Stranraer to Cornton Vale via Dumfries Prison will take at least 3_ hours. The same return journey for a prisoner's family could take a whole day. It has often been said that family contact is especially important for women prisoners: it is exceptionally difficult when the prisoner comes from the South West of Scotland.
1.6 A pattern has emerged in Dumfries which is repeated in prisons all across the country. Each year there is less provision for prisoners to go to work and more time spent by prisoners locked in their cells. Every prison has had to make significant savings, and more savings are required this year: but these savings are not without a cost. If the cost is that an increasingly overcrowded prison does not have enough members of staff to deliver a full day's programme of useful work for each prisoner then the cost of savings may be high. Day after day spent locked in a cell with a stranger is not a good way to prepare prisoners to live useful and crime-free lives. Prisons must be equipped to provide the best preparation for release possible: it is an issue of public safety.
1.7 The problem of preparation for release is particularly acute with regard to those sex offenders who are held in Dumfries. It has been stated in previous HMCIP reports on Peterhead that sex offenders receive the worst preparation for release, despite being those prisoners of whom the public are most likely to be afraid. It is almost impossible for any sex offenders to have any preparation for release in the community, by which other long-term prisoners can be tested and trained. In Dumfries the situation is even more alarming. Since those prisoners, unlike most in Peterhead, do not admit their guilt, they do not prepare for their release in programmes designed to address their offending behaviour (the " SOTP" programme). So, when their sentence is ended, it is quite possible that nothing will have been done in prison to encourage them to change anything. However, the report does recognise the good work which is being done in Dumfries in the Integrated Case Management structure, in which contacts are established and arrangements made with authorities outside the prison before release.
1.8 There are issues at Dumfries which do come within the power of the prison itself. The catering at weekends is inadequate, particularly the brunch arrangement. A new system of booking visits is proving very frustrating. There is very poor access to dental treatment: during the inspection there was none at all. Some cells have unenclosed toilets. The canteen is unpopular. Very disappointing is the lack of access available to prisoners to the "Back Field", which is a good area of grass playing field, and a beautiful garden.
1.9 On the other hand the prison is safe. This is a considerable achievement in terms of the limitations of the buildings and the mix of prisoner population. An impressive reduction in staff sickness time may contribute to the safety of the prison. It is also a very clean place. Relationships between prisoners and staff are good; although the increasing time which prisoners spend in cell and the reduction of staff numbers makes these good relationships more difficult to maintain.
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