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HEADQUARTERS Calton Hou se 5 Redh eu gh s Rig g Edinburgh EH129HW SCOTTISH PI~ISON S E R VeE Ke zia Du gd ale MSP The Sc ottish Pa rliame nt Edinburgh EH 99 lSP Dea r Ms Dug dale Tel: Fax: John Ew ing Chief Execu tive 0131-244-8523 0131-244-8648 14 Oc tober 2011 Th an k yo u fo r yo ur let ter of 2 6 Se pte mbe r in re sp onse to my re ply to you r Pa rlia me nt ar y Qu es tio n (S 4W -0 24 76 ) to the Cab in et Se cre ta ry fo r Ju st ice . It would b e di ff icult fo r th e SPS to ga th er and main ta in accurate information o n the numbe r o f ch ild re n af fe ct ed b y th e im pr is onment of a p a re nt. To d o so, we wo u ld ne ed to re ly o n th e in fo rma tio n pr ov id ed by p ris oners, most lik el y at th e ti me o f re ce pt io n to pr is on . Pri so ners fr e qu e nt ly do n ot wis h the ir fa mili es to kno w o f th e ir im pr is onment or a re reluc ta nt to vo lunteer such pers o nal in fo rm at ion becau se of wh a t the y perceive th e 'a uthorities ' might do wi th this. This information would also be subject to chan ge, somet im es du ri ng th e pe ri od o f imp ris onment, wh ic h wo ul d mak e it dif fi cu lt to tra ck th is inform ation accu rately. My re ason fo r suggesting th at lo ca l a uthorities would be be tter place d to g ath er th is in fo rm at io n is th at th ey ar e lik el y to be t h e pr in ci pa l po in t of co nta ct fo r pe op le wh o h av e a f a mily mem be r in pri so n a nd , o f cou rs e, th ey h av e re sp on si bi lit y fo r th e ch ild 's we lf ar e in su ch circum st an ces. Social work co lle ag ues in loc al governmen t ca n have ac cess to in fo rm at ion not al wa ys av ailable to the prison. SPS i s, of course, commit te d to h elp in g pri s oners to ma in ta in po si ti v e fa mil y li nks . In 2009, SPS p ublishe d the Goo d Pra ct ice Gu idelin e s fo r Children and Famili es . These gu id el in e s are in pl ac e in all pr is ons to ens ur e ch ild ren an d fa mili es vi si ti ng pr is ons ar e tr eate d with dignity a nd respect a nd th at their v isit is as produ ct iv e as po s si ble. Th e gu id eli nes pro vid e a f ramew or k th at en co ur ag es pri sons to : • pr o vi d e re le va nt an d us ef u l inf orma tio n fo r fa mili e s; • prov ide a suit able, comfor t able v isiting area catering for the need s of children; • work with local transport pro vider s to im prove s erv ices fo r familie s visitin g prisons; • consult wi th fa mili e s when planning service pr ov ision; • encourage f amilies to become involv ed in t h e pris one r's sen t ence management; • • RF0809.11 pr ov ide child-focu se d visits; an d re sp on d to the ne eds of fa mi lie s in times of significant ev ents . 1.
