S6W-27710

Asked by: Sweeney, Paul (Scottish Labour - Glasgow)

Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will ensure that all mental health hospitals and the State Hospital, Carstairs, have supplies of Samaritans freepost envelopes available to patients.

Answered by Todd, Maree - Minister for Social Care, Mental Wellbeing and Sport

The Scottish Government is working closely with Samaritans Scotland, as one of our key partners driving the delivery of the suicide prevention Creating Hope Together strategy, to better understand help seeking behaviour and increase signposting to local and national support. We recognise that there may be benefits for some mental health patients in accessing Samaritans’ listening services alongside NHS care.

At present, Samaritans provide pre-printed freepost envelopes in prison settings as part of their broader work to support people in prisons. However, while there is no specific scheme to provide pre-marked envelopes within hospitals, any individual can write to them for free by marking an envelope “FREEPOST SAMARITANS LETTERS”.

Samaritans can also be contacted 24/7 by phone for free on 116 123 and by email at [email protected]. They aim to respond to all emails within 24 hours.

We will continue to work alongside Samaritans Scotland to support any plans to further promote and expand access to its listening services within the NHS estate.

Mentions:
1: None It was also always known that ministers had a view that prisons should be run and managed within the - Speech Link
2: None Everybody in prisons works on routines. The staff work on routines. The prisoners work on routines. - Speech Link
3: None We are not bringing people on detached duty from other prisons with high salaries and supplements and - Speech Link
4: None There is no single cost per prisoner for individual prisons. - Speech Link
5: None We have biannual business reviews in all our prisons. - Speech Link

Found: Scotland •registered social landlords •Scottish Ministers in so far as they have functions relating to prisons

S6W-27709

Asked by: Sweeney, Paul (Scottish Labour - Glasgow)

Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will request that the Scottish Prison Service ensures that all Samaritans envelopes distributed in prisons with out-of-date return addresses are destroyed and that only envelopes with the current up-to-date freepost address, "Freepost Samaritans Letters", are distributed to inmates.

Answered by Constance, Angela - Cabinet Secretary for Justice and Home Affairs

I have asked Teresa Medhurst, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS), to respond. Her response is as follows:

SPS recognise the importance of those in our care maintaining contact with family and friends coupled with their ability to access support services such as the Samaritans.

Last summer SPS rolled out in cell telephony throughout our estate, which continues to support the positive mental health and wellbeing for those we care for and enables access to the Samaritans free of charge, 24 hours per day.

Any envelopes not marked with the “Freepost Samaritans Letters" address are being removed from use in establishments.

Mentions:
1: None I agree with every word that the chief inspector of prisons just said. - Speech Link
2: None We are very supportive of what the chief inspector of prisons has said. - Speech Link
3: None That money cannot be taken out of prisons—we cannot close prisons until that change has begun to take - Speech Link
4: None Prisons are a very expensive option. - Speech Link
5: McNeill, Pauline (Lab - Glasgow) Notwithstanding what the prisons inspector has said about building more prisons, or building your way - Speech Link

Mentions:
1: Constance, Angela (SNP - Almond Valley) establishments, further enhance our comprehensive suite of security measures that are deployed to keep our prisons - Speech Link
2: McNeill, Pauline (Lab - Glasgow) Women are routinely being strip-searched in Scottish prisons, despite ministers saying, five years ago - Speech Link
3: Constance, Angela (SNP - Almond Valley) I have already been in correspondence with the chief inspector of prisons with regard to this very serious - Speech Link
4: Dowey, Sharon (Con - South Scotland) Given the growing population in Scottish prisons, what action is the Scottish Government taking to deal - Speech Link

Mentions:
1: Gibson, Kenneth (SNP - Cunninghame North) bodies in that area—the committee cited a number of those, including His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Prisons - Speech Link
2: Mason, John (SNP - Glasgow Shettleston) People such as His Majesty’s chief inspector of constabulary and His Majesty’s chief inspector of prisons - Speech Link
3: Mason, John (SNP - Glasgow Shettleston) the SPCB bodies; I was thinking about the chief inspector of constabulary or the chief inspector of prisons - Speech Link

Report May. 31 2024

Found: namely the: •Gender Recognition (Disclosure of Information) (Scotland) Order 2023 (on 1 1 January 2024) •Prisons

Report May. 30 2024

Found: To inform its scrutiny , the Committee took evidence from HM Chief Inspector for Prisons in Scotland

Report May. 30 2024

Found: To inform its scrutiny , the Committee took evidence from HM Chief Inspector for Prisons in Scotland