Prisoners asked to fill in experience survey 'like Trip Advisor review'

A "custody user experience survey" will be sent out to those held overnight in police cells by text message.

A Police Scotland spokesperson said the survey would help the service understand whether people were provided appropriate support and referrals.

David Kennedy, general secretary of the Police Federation, described the initiative as “bizarre”. He said: "There are independent custody visitors who I would have thought would be more appropriate for checks to be done.

"If you've spent the night in a police cell you're not exactly going to say 'thanks very much, I enjoyed my stay'.

"I have heard that some officers have likened it to a Trip Advisor review.

"Prisoners have human rights but it doesn't take a rocket scientist to work out how comfortable it is or how bad the food is."

The Daily Record said officers were told about the survey via the Police Scotland intranet. A Police Scotland spokesperson said: "We continuously listen to feedback from people and communities about service delivery as part of our evidence-led policing approach.

"We have a duty to ensure the care and welfare of people in police custody and as part of our continuous improvement programme, we are in the process of developing a user experience survey.

"The survey will also help the service understand whether people were provided appropriate support and referrals to partner agencies in terms of any healthcare needs or underlying causes of offending in order to reduce re-offending."