Absolutely. As I said, dealing with custodies is a high-risk environment for all concerned, and a number of initiatives are aimed at giving the best care for the individual in the state that they are in at the time. Our clear view is that, if somebody is drunk, a police cell is not the best place for them. If they have not committed any tangible offence other than being inebriated, they can get better care elsewhere.
Some of the schemes that seek to address that issue are similar to Albyn house, where trained individuals look after people while they sober up. That would be an ideal world—it would be much better. As is mentioned in our report, that service is paralleled in Inverness where, if it is called to somebody who is found slumped on the street through alcohol, the Scottish Ambulance Service will assess them almost on a triage basis along with police colleagues. The paramedics will say that it would be better to take them to hospital to be treated than to take them to a police cell.
Think about the inefficiencies of taking them to a police cell, not only in the way of dealing with them. An inebriated individual has to go through the checking-in procedure, with all the delays that that involves. Then a nurse or doctor may have to be called out to assess them and they may end up going to hospital anyway. It is more efficient for the whole system to have an alternative.
14:00
Street pastors are an earlier intervention that happens a little further upstream. The point is that, even in Scotland, people should be allowed to enjoy themselves. Street pastors can have a word with people who are out enjoying themselves but have strayed over the line or are close to the point at which their behaviour will impact adversely on others. They can give flip-flops to young ladies whose feet are hurting because of the spike-heels on their shoes, and they can do other things to help people avoid ending up in police custody or becoming victims. I am not speaking for Police Scotland, but police in general do not want those outcomes for people.
There are some positive initiatives that can add value.