Half of inmates at women’s prison lack direct access to toilets

Half of the inmates at Scotland’s only all-female prison lack direct access to a toilet, according to a new report by the prison watchdog.

HM Chief Inspector of Prisons for Scotland rated “decency” at Cornton Vale as being “poor” and the toilet facilities as “unacceptable”.

It found that prisoners felt “degraded” as almost half lacked direct access to toilets. In some cases women were advised to use sinks as toilets.

The prison uses as an “antiquated night sanitation system” meaning inmates often have to wait “quite extended periods of time” to use toilet facilities.

HMIPS found 266 where prisoners had to wait more than 10 minutes to access a toilet and in a small number of cases more than an hour.

This system has caused “distress and discomfort” and even involved pregnant women in certain cases.

Some prisoners were told to “pee in the sink” when they were unable to access toilets quickly enough.

“Indeed, prisoners were extremely vocal about this subject and it was by some way, the single strongest criticism that women made about the prison,” the report states.

Another area that fared badly was the handling of bullying and harassment at the prison.

Prisoners said they lacked confidence that staff would deal with their complaints and that they were therefore unlikely to make formal requests for help.

The report also found a small number of inmates had “suffered repercussions as a result of raising their complaint.”

David Strang, HM chief inspector of prisons for Scotland, said: “This report identifies a number of areas of practice worthy of sharing which are working well in Cornton Vale and highlights areas where improvements are required. I look forward to seeing the action plan produced by HMP and YOI Cornton Vale in response to the findings in this report. HM Inspectorate of Prisons for Scotland will continue to monitor the implementation of the action plan.”

A Scottish Prison Service spokeswoman said the night sanitation issues would be resolved and added that “SPS is rolling out a training package on handling, managing and responding to complaints to staff and management.”

Jim Watson, communications and information co-ordinator at Positive Prison? Positive Futures told SLN that Scotland is leading the way in changing how women are dealt with by the criminal justice system.

He said: “The prison estate in Scotland is moving in the right direction. Under the guidance of the current Cornton Vale governor, Rhona Hotchkiss, we are witnessing the start of a transformational change process that will put Scotland at the forefront of dealing with women involved in the criminal justice system.

“The HMIPS report is a timely reminder that there is still work to be done in the estate as it currently stands. We are confident that the points raised will be addressed as a matter of urgency. Cornton Vale is a victim of a badly designed institution where some legacy systems have the ability to capture headlines.

“The new estate will be addressing those at a more fundamental level with the emphasis on dealing with trauma and underlying problems. This work has already started and the problems reduced as women are transferred to the more modern HMP Polmont.”