Justice secretary to lead new board to oversee changes after Polmont FAI

Justice secretary Angela Constance is to lead a board being set up to help ensure changes recommended after deaths at Polmont Young Offenders Institution are “delivered at pace”.

Constance announced she will head the ministerial accountability board to oversee the implementation of recommendations made following a fatal accident inquiry (FAI) into the deaths of Katie Allan, 21, and William Brown, 16, who was also known as William Lindsay.

The Scottish Government and the Scottish Prison Service (SPS) – which runs Polmont – have already accepted the findings of the inquiry.

With 25 recommendations made by Sheriff Simon Collins as part of the inquiry, the Government hopes the new board will ensure “reform is delivered as quickly as possible”, while also providing regular updates for families and those involved.

It is being set up as an interim measure until a new independent national oversight body for all deaths in custody – known as a National Oversight Mechanism – is established over the coming year.

When up and running, this organisation will take on the responsibility for overseeing the implementation of fatal accident inquiry recommendations.

Ms Allan and Mr Brown took their own lives at Polmont in 2018, and Constance said on Wednesday: “We have accepted there needs to be change and action has already started to prevent avoidable deaths in custody.

“It is vitally important that this action is being driven to delivering lasting change and to ensure full accountability every step of the way.

“That is why I will lead a ministerial board to ensure that Sheriff Collins’s FAI determination recommendations regarding the tragic deaths of Katie Allan and William Lindsay are being delivered at pace.

“The board will drive reform until the National Oversight Mechanism is established. It will provide accountability, transparency and drive systemic improvement, informed by evidence and analysis.

“Loss of liberty should not mean the loss of humanity, and every individual deprived of their liberty must be treated with dignity and respect.”

Membership of the ministerial accountability board is currently being finalised, with its first meeting expected to take place next month.