Custody inspection report - Edinburgh

1. Custody is delivered throughout Scotland by the Police Scotland Criminal Justice Services Division (CJSD). This division is one of several national divisions which sit alongside and support the thirteen local policing divisions. Custody is delivered in accordance with the care and welfare in police custody standard operating procedure, which is updated and amended regularly to reflect changes in practice guidelines and expectations.
2. National custody throughput fell to a relatively low level due to the Covid-19 pandemic, however, this has increased in recent years as indicated in the table below. The annual throughput at St Leonards custody centre has reduced in the past year, however the reason for this is unclear.

Table 1 – National custody throughput¹

Table 2 – Custody centre cell capacity and throughput

3. Custody centres in Scotland are organised into clusters, each led by a cluster inspector. Cluster five covers Edinburgh and the Lothians and Borders divisions and uniquely, has two cluster inspectors, one for Edinburgh and another covering Livingston and Hawick. There is one chief inspector for the CJSD east command area.

4. Edinburgh sits within the sheriffdom of Lothian and Borders. Detainees from Edinburgh, Midlothian and East Lothian are all processed at St Leonards custody centre and are served by Edinburgh sheriff court.

5. Healthcare management and oversight was provided through NHS Lothian’s Royal Edinburgh Hospital and Associated Services (REAS) governance structures.

6. There are small ancillary centres at Drylaw and Craigmillar in Edinburgh, however these are very rarely used and then only for pre-planned detentions. There is an ancillary centre at Dalkeith in Midlothian, which is also only used for pre-planned activity. Dalkeith is the designated business continuity facility.

7. St Leonards custody centre has five teams each having an establishment of two sergeants, one team leader, two constables and four Criminal Justice Police Custody and Security officers (CJPCSO) who observe the CJSD 222b² shift pattern. The minimum staffing requirement for the centre off peak was two supervisors, at least one sergeant with a second sergeant or team leader, plus four staff, constables or CJPCSOs. At peak times that rises to one additional staff member. At the time of our inspection there was a total of seven vacancies, one sergeant, two constables and four CJPCSOs.

8. We were informed that CJSD strategy is currently being reviewed following the introduction of the Police Scotland 2030 custody project. Current strategic aims are to improve communication with local policing regarding the provisions of the Criminal Justice Act (2016). The appointment of a new audit and compliance sergeant has improved communication between CJSD and local policing and, with the input of custody review inspectors, has increased to a degree, the level of scrutiny applied to custody delivery. While this increased evaluation represents an improvement on previous methodology, case sampling remains relatively modest compared to the total volume of national custody throughput.

Independent custody visitors

9. Under the Police and Fire Reform (Scotland) Act 2012, the Scottish Police Authority (SPA) is required to make arrangements for independent custody visitors to monitor the welfare of people detained in police custody. Regular visits to custody centres are carried out by volunteer independent custody visitors from the local community. Independent Custody Visiting Scotland (ICVS) manages the process and coordinates volunteers. Any concerns identified by custody visitors are raised with custody staff during their visits and outcomes are recorded in custody records. ICVS is also a member of the UK NPM.

10. During our inspection, we reviewed the ICVS service book that is completed following each visit by the custody visitors. This reflected a pattern of recent and regular visits at Edinburgh custody centre. There were notes relating to several detainees who had been interviewed by ICVS staff, who reported they had not been offered the opportunity to wash and/or shower during their period in police custody.

[1] Annual throughput data differs from that previously reported. This is because Police Scotland have adopted new audit software and data recording rules.

[2] The CJSD 222b pattern relates to custody staff working two early shifts, two late shifts and two nights, followed by four non-working days.