Question reference: S5W-29462
- Asked by: Mary Fee, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
- Date lodged: 28 May 2020
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Current status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 11 June 2020
Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it carried out a Children’s Rights and Wellbeing Impact Assessment for the Prisons and Young Offenders Institutions (Scotland) Amendment Rules 2020 and, if so, when it will publish this.
Answer
I have asked Teresa Medhurst, Interim Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS), to respond. Her response is as follows:
A Children’s Rights and Wellbeing Impact Assessment was not carried out for the Prisons and Young Offenders Institutions (Scotland) Amendment Rules 2020.
The changes to the Prison Rules were taken forward in a very limited timeframe to support an immediate response to the exceptional pressures facing prisons during the COVID19 outbreak. The changes were designed to help SPS: (1) reduce the risks of the virus spreading within prisons; (2) to support operational stability; and finally (3) to protect the health of those living and working in our prisons.
The changes introduced by these current amendments to the Prison Rules will only be in force for the duration of the Coronavirus outbreak.