Private custody calls dismissed

Care of people in police custody could be outsourced

Suggestions that police custody services could be privatised have been dismissed by the Scottish Government.

A report into the management of custody facilities said "outsourcing" duties could be a way of saving money.

HM Inspectorate of Constabulary also said there was no need for police to be responsible for the daily management of custody facilities.

However, Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill said the government was against any such plans.

He said: "I have made it perfectly clear that this government is completely opposed to privately-run custody facilities - public safety must be put before private profit.

"Although we have no direct funding or delivery responsibility for police custody, we don't think privately-run police custody facilities are any different to privately-run prisons and we don't support them.

"I will not hesitate to make this clear to forces if necessary."

Peak demand

The report noted that in some parts of England, custody provision was privatised.

It is seen as one way to combat the problem of forces meeting the demand for cells at busy times.

HM Chief Inspector Paddy Tomkins also recommended looking at custody facilities with reference to prisoner privacy.

He said police authorities should look at staff and prisoner safety, to determine how custody suite functions including cells and charge desks should be designed.

Mr Tomkins added: "Certainly as an efficiency measure, centralising provision within and across forces merits consideration (with or without privatisation), as does the possible role of the Scottish Police Services Authority in managing or procuring this.

Those coming into custody are often violent, drunk, drugged or otherwise agitated Joe Grant Scottish Police Federation

"There is currently a requirement for police officer involvement in the process of accepting prisoners into custody.

"HMICS would simply offer the government and forces the professional view that beyond this role there is no compelling operational reason for the custody and care of people arrested or detained by police to remain within the day-to-day management of police forces."

The inspection showed that all forces across Scotland had problems meeting demand for cells at peak times, which meant some prisoners being taken to other holding centres or sharing cells.

A spokesman for the Association of Chief Police Officers in Scotland (Acpos) said: "We will study in detail the report of HMICS into custody facilities and implement its recommendations as appropriate in consultation with the eight Scottish police forces."

General secretary of the Scottish Police Federation Joe Grant said the work was specialised and out-sourcing it would prove to be a false economy.

He told BBC Radio's Good Morning Scotland programme: "Those coming into custody are often violent, drunk, drugged or otherwise agitated, so the costs of out-sourcing that type of problem are likely to run into the hundreds of millions of pounds."

Unison, which represents the majority of police civilian workers, is also against any plans to privatise the service.

The union's Scottish organiser, Dave Watson, said: "Police forces in Scotland have introduced civilian custody staff in recent years to free up police officers from duties that do not require police powers.

"That is the way ahead for custody services - not the dead hand of privatisation."