Infrastructure Investment Plan 2021-22 to 2025-26: Programme pipeline update (September 2022)

Sector: Justice

Programme name: Emergency Services Mobile Communications Programme (ESMCP)

Programme description: Home Office led Programme that provides a new critical communications platform that also provides mobile data capability.

Estimated total investment: £9 billion approximately UK-wide (Scottish Government share currently sits at 11.2% of programme costs).

How is programme being funded: The Programme is co-funded between the Home Office, Scottish Government, Welsh Government and Department of Health and Social Care.

Programme delivery timetable: Started in 2016 and to be delivered by December 2026 (the ESMCP Programme Plan is complex and the date reflects when transition from the current system, Airwave, to ESMCP will take place).

Latest programme progress: The Scottish Government continue to work collaboratively with the Home Office and our three emergency services (Police, Fire & Ambulance) in Scotland to assess and assure ESMCP's technical capability, affordability and the wider community benefits it will offer. The Full Business Case was approved by the Boards in July 2021.

Contribution to economic development: Investment in Emergency Services Network (ESN) will also mean improvements to 4G network coverage across Scotland. ESN will enable 999 calls to be made securely from mobile phones in some of the most remote and rural parts of Scotland. The emergency services will take priority over all other network traffic, even at peak times in busy urban locations. It will mean the emergency services and other first responders can share vital data, information and expertise quickly and securely from the frontline when it is needed most.

Contact for public enquiries: email: Peter.Brown@gov.scot

Programme name: Transforming Scotland's care of women in custody

Programme description: Programme of work to create a new model of custody to transform the care of women in custody. It involves building facilities in form of a new National Facility and initially two Community Custody Units (CCU) with the development a gender specific trauma informed approach to managing women in custody.

Estimated total investment: National Facility for Women Offenders £81.8 million. Dundee CCU £12.3 million. Glasgow CCU £13.6 million.

How is programme being funded: Capital funded.

Programme delivery timetable: The construction of the Women's National Facility will be complete in spring 2023 with an estimated operational date in summer 2023. The Dundee CCU (the Bella Centre) opened in August 2022 and the Glasgow CCU (the Lilias Centre) opened in October 2022.

Latest programme progress: Work to build a new 80 place national facility for women in custody and 24-place assessment centre at existing site of HMP Cornton Vale is progressing. Contract was signed in December 2019 with construction commencing on site in February 2020. Work was suspended in March 2020 in line with COVID-19 restrictions and recommenced in June 2020. Further delays have been experienced due to supply issues within the construction sector.

Contracts for construction of both Community Custody Units in Dundee and Glasgow were signed in January 2020. Due to COVID-19 lockdown, construction was delayed to October and November 2020 and further delays have been experienced during construction due to supply issues within the construction sector. Both Community Custody Units are now complete and operational.

Contribution to economic development: Following the easing of COVID-19 restrictions the Scottish Prison Service (SPS) in conjunction with Morrison Construction, sought to re-engage the community benefits where possible. Morrison Construction Community Benefits Team continues to liaise with SPS on a monthly basis to implement their 'pathways to employment' programme in partnership with Wise Group to facilitate the women of Cornton Vale into employment. In addition, the contractor has liaised directly with the women currently accommodated in the existing HMP Cornton Vale, to develop proposals for therapeutic gardens and landscaping which the women will themselves implement in the new establishment on completion. The contractor continues to make direct contributions to local community groups.

The construction contractor for the Community Custody Units was engaged with local community groups to deliver benefits and Community Benefits plans were in place.

Contact for public enquiries: email: gaolinfo@sps.pnn.gov.uk