“Reliance cannot be trusted to undertake this very sensitive task. Their track record to date gives no confidence that they can replace trained professional Scottish Prison Service staff.
“When prisoners are returning to their communities for supervised home visits prior to release it must be done in the company of prison officers who know and understand the risks associated with the individual prisoner concerned.
“The alternative is to return prisoners to their communities after long sentences with no experience of the outside world. This carries with it the very real risk that all the excellent work done inside prison fails to connect with real life on the outside and I have written to the Justice Minister insisting that SPS staff are present on home visits.”
“When prisoners are returning to their communities for supervised home visits prior to release it must be done in the company of prison officers who know and understand the risks associated with the individual prisoner concerned.
“The alternative is to return prisoners to their communities after long sentences with no experience of the outside world. This carries with it the very real risk that all the excellent work done inside prison fails to connect with real life on the outside and I have written to the Justice Minister insisting that SPS staff are present on home visits.”