 Mr Salmond insisted ministers had taken a sensible approach |
First Minister Alex Salmond has defended his government's justice policy after coming under fire over jails and prisoner handling. The Liberal Democrats criticised him for awarding private firm Reliance a contract to transport young offenders, despite SNP criticism in opposition. And the Tories urged ministers to use emergency jail contingency plans to address the record prison population. At question time, Mr Salmond insisted there were better alternatives. He pointed out the Liberal Democrats played their part in awarding prisoner escort duties to Reliance in the last Scottish government, in which party leader Nicol Stephen was deputy first minister. The company - already responsible for transporting prisoners to and from Scotland's jails - has been awarded the three-year young offender contract by Holyrood ministers to transfer children and young people sentenced to periods of detention to and from secure units. Mr Stephen pointed out that, in opposition, the SNP had severely criticised the use of Reliance. Nicola Sturgeon, now deputy first minister, had stated running public services for private profit was a "recipe for disaster", while Kenny MacAskill, now the justice secretary, had previously remarked that using Reliance was gambling with public safety. Mr Stephen asked: "What kind of back-tracking, breathtaking, promise breaking, u-turn is this? "It's like Margaret Thatcher waking up and saying that Arthur Scargill was the right person to run our coal mines after all." 'Public protection' Mr Salmond responded: "What Nicol Stephen is talking about, but apparently didn't find time to mention to the chamber, is the transportation of young offenders in people carriers. "I do think Nicol Stephen should not suggest public safety is going to be jeopardised by the transportation of young offenders in people carriers." Scottish Tory leader Annabel Goldie demanded to know what emergency measures were place if a prison was damaged by a storm or flooding - and urged Mr Salmond to use those measures to relieve current overcrowding. She claimed this would offer greater public protection than the government's wish to extend the electronic tagging scheme.  The SNP had criticised the original use of Reliance services |
The first minister revealed contingency plans were in place in case part of a jail became so badly damaged that it could not be used, but did not disclose details. He described the tagging plans as a "sensible" measure to cope with a prisons crisis inherited from the last Holyrood government. Meanwhile, Scottish Labour leader Wendy Alexander claimed councils were having to make cuts because of the local government cash settlement. She raised concern over plans for cuts of �27m in Aberdeen city, adding that a �4.5m cut in the education budget in Renfrewshire was threatening 55 teaching jobs. "What does the first minister have to say to the parents, pupils and teachers of Renfrewshire?" she demanded. Mr Salmond said: "I think there is great concern not just in the north east of Scotland but elsewhere about the financial position of Aberdeen Council." He added that there had actually been a �7m increase in Renfrewshire's education budget which had been "widely welcomed" across that local authority.
| 
BBC NEWS CHANNEL 
E-mail this to a friend 
Printable version 
What kind of back-tracking, breathtaking, promise breaking, u-turn is this?
BBC News
Bookmark with:
What are these?