ON two consecutive days you led with reports about Scotland’s prisoners: “Sex offenders freed before completing sex offender scheme”, October 4; “One in ten prisoners released early back behind bars”, October 3.
Both headlines were framed negatively. The implication of the more recent headline is that society is at danger from the release of sex offenders who have not undergone the “Moving Forward to Change” programme (“MF2C”). The previous day’s headline chose to highlight the number of prisoners who had been returned to prison rather than the majority - nine out of 10 - who had not.
The articles do not necessarily support the negative framing. Taking Friday’s headline, how successful is MF2C? Although slightly dated the Scottish Government website has information which confirms that MF2C has some success. Why though did the independent accreditor of offender programmes, the Scottish Advisory Panel on Offender Rehabilitation (SAPOR), not re-accredit MF2C when it was due for reaccreditation in 2018?
SAPOR indicates on the Scottish Government website that there are only four accredited courses, none of which is for sex offenders. Did SAPOR have concerns about MF2C? The article refers to the role of the Parole Board for Scotland (PBS) in determining whether sex offenders can be released. It is not clear from the article whether all or only some of the sex offenders were released on the recommendation of the PBS.
The PBS’s website includes as part of its Vision Statement: “We will deliver our statutory functions to ensure that only prisoners whose risk can be safely managed may serve the remainder of their sentence in the community under the supervision of a social worker whilst subject to stringent licence conditions.” At least therefore in respect of those released on parole one can be assured that they are no longer considered a danger to society. That leads, crucially, to the information not in the article: how many of those released re-offended? All, some, none? Do we have information on how many who did complete MF2C re-offended? Likewise, Thursday’s headline could have been framed as nine out of 10 prisoners were not returned to prison. The article could have mentioned that recidivism rates in Scotland are high with over one in four prisoners re-offending within a year of release. Instead, the headline concentrated on the negative; those returned to prison.
I mention these articles not to criticise The Herald but to demonstrate that we do not know what we want from our prison system. We expect bad news about prisoners yet we also expect them to be rehabilitated and live in society once released. It is interesting that in both articles there was an acknowledgement that we need to put more resources into prisoner rehabilitation. The issue therefore is wider than any one rehabilitation programme or early release scheme. It has to do with society saying clearly what it wants from our prison system and ensuring that politicians fully deliver and fund that system. People’s lives depend on us getting this right.
David Logan, Milngavie.
• FOR Women Scotland is of the opinion that "sex offenders should not have the option to refuse" to attend a sex offender course whilst in custody. Are they to be dragged kicking and screaming from their cells? My understanding is that unless someone is willing to change their behaviour attending a course such as this is pointless.
Cathy Baird, Dunipace.
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Wiser councils did not prevail
REGIONAL councils were conceived as a response to the rise in nationalism, which was making strong arguments for nationwide control and strategic planning for infrastructure and the rapid developments associated with the oil boom. In a political carve-up by the Labour Party, a huge swathe of the west of Scotland, with half of Scotland's population, was declared to be a region and was totally out of balance with all the other regions and the rest of the country.
Marissa Macwhirter (“Strathclyde Regional Council was better for Glasgow than the Scottish Government”, The Herald, October 4) claims that Strathclyde Council was good for Glasgow and she is absolutely right, Glasgow got more than its fair share of everything. Unfortunately it was not so good for all of the rest of the region, or indeed Scotland, for the very reasons she makes in her article; the loss of local. autonomy and accountability of the town and county councils which were swept away as decisions were made at Glasgow HQ.
When folk complained that they could not get information or answers to local issues from the remote, centralised administration, it simply expanded the already-bloated bureaucracy with sub-regional offices; ironically often using premises previously occupied by the old town and county councils.
David Hay, Minard.
• MY recollections of the years of Strathclyde Regional Council differ somewhat from those of Marissa Macwhirter.
The region was cobbled together from a number of very disparate areas in the west of Scotland but only Glasgow seemed to matter and it would be interesting to know how many in the rural and island areas regretted the council's passing.
The creation of the council was just one example of the enduring political obsession with size and centralisation.
Peter Dryburgh, Edinburgh.
House in serious state of neglect
ON a visit earlier last week to the House for an Art Lover in Bellahouston Park, we were horrified to find that the beautiful walled garden adjacent to the house is now in a state of serious neglect. I know winter’s coming, but this is something else. In addition, the handsome memorial benches around the perimeter are either broken and roped off, or they’re dirty and in need of a coat of paint.
On speaking to a member of staff in the house itself, we were reminded that Glasgow City Council is of course responsible for the garden’s upkeep, and were informed that there is now only one gardener (possibly part-time) assigned to work there.
I think the decline probably began after the recent pandemic, but I’d say things are now in a terminal state. Come on Glasgow, this is a prize visitor asset.
Robert Love, Glasgow.
Noble example
BRIAN Wilson in his article on Gaelic ("The urge to destroy something as precious as Gaelic makes no sense", The Herald, October 3) made reference to Sir Iain Noble. This unlikely Old Etonian merchant banker did tremendous work to promote Highland culture and language. However, he also had confidence in Scotland’s business and industry, so he was a visionary for a successful Scottish economy. Sadly, there are few like him today and he himself is a somewhat forgotten figure.
Robert F Gibson, Milngavie.
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