In a statement issued today, Kevin called for clarity from the Scottish Government as to who was ultimately responsible for any decision regarding the proposed closure of Noranside Open Prison:
"I have great sympathy for the case being put by the Prison Officers Association and I wish them well in their representations to the Scottish Government to save Noranside. However I remain concerned at the apparent lack of clarity regarding the decision making process.
"It appears from recent reports that the Scottish National Party representatives in Forfar see all the responsibility for the decision regarding Noranside as resting with the Scottish Prison Service and its board. However this does not account for the fact that the Scottish Government are clearly looking for savings of £104 million on the prisons budget through what are described as 'efficiency savings'. Neither does it account for the fact that the board of the Scottish Prisons Service are not only appointed by Kenny MacAskill, the Justice Secretary, but are ultimately accountable to him, indeed on their website they describe themselves as an agency of the Scottish Government.
"What I am particularly concerned about is that in all this discussion about the possibility of the closure of Noranside I have seen no evidence of an economic impact assessment being carried out. Surely it must be realised that the closure of this facility would have an impact on the local community and indeed on elsewhere in the North East. It must surely be the responsibility of the Scottish Government to make itself aware of these issues and prepare support for the local community accordingly.
"I am therefore writing to Kenny MacAskill asking for a full audit trail of how the decision making process is being dealt with regarding Noranside and to provide evidence of any economic impact assessment that may have taken place.
"I feel sure that while the SNP may wish to deny responsibility if Noranside is closed they will want to take all the praise as the Scottish Government if it is saved."
