UNEASE and anxiety about the implications of market testing are being
voiced among prison staff, it was disclosed yesterday.
Mr Alan Bishop, HM Chief Inspector of Prisons in Scotland, launching
his annual report in Edinburgh, said the issue was being raised
repeatedly.
The publication of the report for 1992-93 comes only days after
private sector involvement in Scottish prisons became a reality. An
English construction conglomerate won the right to maintain Barlinnie,
Scotland's largest jail.
Staff at Edinburgh, Perth and Shotts were told their in-house teams,
which had bid for the work in the first round of market testing, had
been successful.
Mr Bishop said that during establishment inspections it had been
impressed upon them that morale was inevitably affected by the
unsettling effect of experiment and rumour, to say nothing of the
potential effect on jobs and promotion prospects.
He said the inspectorate would have to reserve judgment.
Mr Bishop, who described the service in 1992-93 as being ''in good
heart'', said they had noticed an increasing tendency on part of staff
groups to raise the market testing issue. ''It is fair to say they were
uneasy, anxious, worried about the implications.''
He said one way he had responded was to tell staff ''to get stuck in''
and do their best in putting in an offer. ''Clearly that advice was
followed,'' he said referring to the success of the three in-house bids
earlier this week.
The report also said maintaining family links took high priority in
preparing prisoners for release but they had to report a continuing
abuse of open visits over the passing of illicit substances.
The inspectorate believes it is virtually impossible to stamp it out
fully and that it involves ''a balancing act'' -- trying to do this and
also trying to maintain family links.
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