I welcome the opportunity to respond to this important debate and I place on record my thanks to Pauline McNeill for lodging the motion and to the members who have made a valuable contribution this afternoon. I also pay tribute to members who have worked on a cross-party basis to support POA Scotland in its quest. I very much agree that 68 is too late, and, as members would expect, I have met with the POA, and will continue to do so.
We all agree that prison officers play a vital role in our justice system, helping to ensure that our prisons are safe, secure and stable environments for all prisoners and staff. They are very much hidden in plain sight; they are a hidden part of our criminal justice system and the more that we can do together to show the nature of their challenges and the value of their work to the general population, the better.
In my tenure as Cabinet Secretary for Justice and Home Affairs, I have taken the opportunity to visit every prison in Scotland and I have seen the dedication, professionalism and engagement of prison officers. In my past role as a prison-based social worker, and in my present role as the justice secretary, I have seen them working in a way that is person centred, inclusive, trauma informed and rights based and that makes a difference to people’s lives every day.
I was struck, but not surprised, by the words of an individual in custody in HMP Greenock, who is quoted in a recent report by His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Prisons for Scotland:
“This prison has been exceptional in helping me through my sentence, all the staff are wonderful and easy to speak with. This is my first time in prison and I have felt supported at each step of the way”.
Audrey Nicoll spoke to the work of the good prison officer project, where people with experience of incarceration spoke powerfully in their testimonies about how prison officers have helped them to turn their life around.
The Scottish Government and the Scottish Prison Service recognise that prison officers work in a challenging environment and, at times, put themselves in danger and at risk. We have a high and rising prison population. Behind the numbers, as members have accurately reflected, there is increasing complexity, whether that is with the increasing numbers of those in custody with links to serious and organised crime groups, challenges around drugs and psychoactive substances, or the increased demand for social care due to an ageing prison population.
The Scottish Government and partners across the justice sector, including the SPS, are fully committed to tackling those issues and reducing the impacts and harm caused. You will be relieved, Presiding Officer, that I will not repeat the content of the two previous statements that I have made to Parliament on those matters.
I very much recognise that prison officers carry out front-line operational duties, including control and restraint, until the state pension age, which is due to rise to 68. That is hugely challenging and carries with it significant stresses and strains.
The Scottish Prison Service takes the safety and security of its staff extremely seriously. I discuss the matter of staff wellbeing regularly with the SPS. The SPS provides support to staff to remain at work and in meaningful employment when they cannot undertake their full contractual role, including workplace adjustments and redeployment to alternative roles across the organisation. Every effort will be made to accommodate requests for a change or adjustment when the request is evidence based. However, that does not in any way detract from the point of principle that prison officers deserve parity with other uniformed service.