www.sps.gov.ukAn introduction to the Scottish Prison Service

Protecting the public, reducing re-offending

Edinburgh: Edinburgh Prison is classed as a local or community prison and receives prisoners from the courts in Edinburgh and the Lothians and Borders areas. The prison holds both adult male and female prisoners as well as male under-21 who are on remand. The prison has recently completed an extensive reconstruction and modernisation programme.

glEnochil: Glenochil prison is in central Scotland and holds long-term adult male prisoners with High, Medium and Low supervision security classifications. Prisoners are not committed to HMP Glenochil direct from the courts but are admitted, following conviction, from other prisons, principally Barlinnie and Edinburgh.

grEEnock: Greenock serves designated courts in the West of Scotland by holding male prisoners (both adult and under 21s) on remand, and short-term convicted prisoners. It provides a national facility for selected prisoners serving 12 years or over, affording them the opportunity for progression towards release. It also accommodates a small number of prisoners for a range of management and operational reasons and has recently held young offenders and women prisoners.

invErnEss: Inverness Prison, known locally as Porterfield, serves the Courts of the Highlands, Western Isles, Orkney Isles and Moray, providing secure custody for all remand prisoners and short term adult prisoners. It also holds a small number of long-term prisoners, prior to classification, on accumulated visits, or to support the operational needs of the SPS.

kilmarnock: The prison is a closed mainstream high security establishment, which operates a similar regime to that available elsewhere, including Shotts, Glenochil and Perth. It accommodates male adult prisoners – remands, short-term and long-term - and male young offender remands. The prison was the first in Scotland to be operated by the private sector.

opEn EstatE: HMP Castle Huntly and HMP Noranside jointly make up the Open Estate. Both focus on providing employment training and transitional/through-care for prisoners working towards a structured reintegration into society. Both are open prisons holding low supervision adult male prisoners serving 18 months and over, including life sentence prisoners, who have been assessed as suitable to serve part of their sentence in open conditions.

pErth: Perth holds short term (less than four years) local adult male prisoners, including fine defaulters, and those on remand from Tayside and Fife, including Kirkcaldy and Dunfermline courts. The establishment also accommodates in secure conditions long-term adult male prisoners including high supervision prisoners who are serving sentences of up to life imprisonment.

pEtErhEad: The prison’s population includes those who require high supervision. It is a national resource for convicted, long term sex offenders offering a range of programmes designed to challenge offending behaviour in order to reduce the risk of reoffending on return to the community. 

polmont: The establishment holds the majority of male young offenders in Scotland. It has prisoners of all supervision levels. The prison delivers a wide range of education services. It is the subject of investment to rebuild its infrastructure and modify the establishment.

shotts: This is a maximum-security prison in Lanarkshire for long term adult male prisoners. It caters for long term male prisoners (sentences of 4 years and over) who require to be kept in secure conditions. Shotts includes two national facilities: the National Induction Centre where prisoners who are in the initial stages of sentences of 8 years or over and are prepared for eventual movement to mainstream establishments, and Kerr House offering low supervision prisoners a less structured and regimented regime and preparation for release.

www.sps.gov.uk www.sps.gov.uk

backgroundThe Scottish Prison Service (SPS) was established in April 1993 as an executive agency of the Scottish Office headed by a chief executive. Following devolution the chief executive reports to Scottish Ministers who are responsible to the Scottish Parliament for the prison system in Scotland.

The chief executive is supported by an Executive Board comprising executive directors accountable to the chief executive for their areas of responsibility and non-executive directors with specific areas of expertise appointed by Scottish Ministers.

The SPS has around 4,000 staff. There are 15 establishments in Scotland and in addition the SPS operates a training college and a central stores facility holding and supplying equipment and supplies to prisons.

scottish prison sErvicE visionReducing re-offendingSPS aims to be recognised as a leader in offender management services for prisoners that help reduce re-offending and offer value for money for the taxpayer.

Protecting the publicSPS will maintain secure custody and good order. It will care for offenders with humanity and provide them with appropriate opportunities.

ActionSPS aims to ensure that:

• It will deliver offender management services, programmes and activities which address the causes offending and re-offending and work to improve the outcomes for offenders.

• It will deliver an estate fit for purpose and the 21st century.

• Scottish prisons’ staff will deliver their difficult work for society with professionalism and skill.

• SPS will work in partnership with other organisations in the public, private and voluntary sectors that deliver services to offenders and play a full role in the integration of offender management services.

• SPS will deliver value for money and competitive public sector costs.

aimsThe aim or mission statement of the Scottish Prison Service is:

• To keep in custody those committed by the courts

• To maintain good order in each prison

• To care for prisoners with humanity

• Caring for the safety and wellbeing of prisoners and staff.

• To encourage prisoners to take opportunities hich will reduce the likelihood they re-offend and reintegrate them back into their community.

activitiEsThe SPS is legally required to deliver custodial services for all those sent to it by the courts. Its purpose is to maintain secure custody and good order within prisons whilst caring for prisoners with humanity and delivering opportunities

which give prisoners the best chance to reduce re-offending on their return to the community.

As a public services agency SPS runs a number of operational services to implement the strategic objectives and policies of the Scottish Government.

To deliver these SPS agrees a service framework with each public sector prison. It also manages private sector providers of prisons and custodial services under contract arrangements which are closely monitored.

There are currently 13 publicly-managed prisons and two privately-managed prisons (HMP Kilmarnock and HMP Addiewell). Prisoner escort and court custody services are also currently privately provided and monitored by SPS.

The SPS has a huge investment programme to modernise the prison estate. With investment funds from the Scottish Government, SPS has announced plans to replace prisons at Aberdeen and Peterhead with a new HMP Grampian. Additionally a new Low Moss prison at Bishopbriggs is to be built. At Shotts a new prison is being built adjacent to the existing prison. The prisons at Edinburgh, Perth, Polmont and Glenochil are involved in major infrastructure improvements and SPS is working with local authorities to identify potential sites for new prisons in Inverclyde (to replace Greenock) and Highland (to replace Inverness).

The SPS publishes an annual report in which it outlines its performance over a financial year. In addition to its financial report and accounts, it contains measured performance against targets set by Ministers. The report is laid before the Scottish Parliament.

The annual report also publishes other relevant information on areas such as the prison population and staff numbers.

The SPS also publishes a number of research reports including an extensive survey on the views of prisoners on the operation of the service and its impact on them.

Scotland has one of the highest prison populations per head in Western Europe and it has been steadily rising. The average prison population over the past five years was:

2006/07 2007/08 2008/09 2009/10 2010/11

7,183 7,376 7,835 7,967 7,853

In September 2011 the prison population reached 8219 in custody and an additional 395 on home detention curfew

hm chief inspector of prisonsHM Chief Inspector of Prisons is responsible for inspecting and reporting on all penal establishments. HMCIP will look at, and report on, the conditions of the prisons, the treatment of prisoners and any other matter that Ministers direct HMCIP to look at. The Inspectorate is independent of the SPS and reports directly to Scottish Ministers. HMCIP reports are published and these can be found on the Scottish Government website (www.scotland.gov.uk).

list of establishments:abErdEEn: Local prison serving the North East of Scotland and the Northern Isles. It accommodates male remand prisoners and adults serving up to four years.

addiEwEll: Opened in December 2008 and is privately-run. It is the local prison for the North and South Lanarkshire Courts. It accepts adult male convicted and untried prisoner admissions (including under 21-year old remands) from these courts.

barlinniE: Largest prison in Scotland serving the West of Scotland. It is a local prison which retains adult male remand prisoners and prisoners serving less than four years. It can also hold prisoners serving four years or more in the initial stages of their sentence until places become available elsewhere.

cornton valE: Cornton Vale is near Stirling and provides custodial facilities for remand and sentenced women (including young offenders) in all sentence ranges and supervision levels. Its facilities include including 24 spaces within independent living units adjacent to the prison grounds for appropriate women nearing the end of their sentence. There are also seven mother and baby spaces available inside the prison.

dumfriEs: Dumfries Prison serves the courts of Dumfries and Galloway. It holds prisoners who are remanded in custody and those convicted but remanded for reports. Dumfries Prison also provides a national mainstream facility for holding offence-related protection prisoners who are long-term and short-term prisoners who require to be separated from mainstream prisoners because of the nature of their offence.

INVERNESSINVERNESS PETERHEADPETERHEAD

ABERDEENABERDEEN

NORANSIDENORANSIDE

CASTLE HUNTLYCASTLE HUNTLYPERTHPERTH

DUMFRIESDUMFRIES

CORNTONVALECORNTONVALE

COLLEGECOLLEGEPOLMONTPOLMONT

SHOTTSSHOTTSCENTRAL STORESCENTRAL STORES

EDINBURGHEDINBURGHBARLINNIEBARLINNIE

KILMARNOCKKILMARNOCK

HEADQUARTERSHEADQUARTERS

ADDIEWELL

GLENOCHILGLENOCHIL

GREENOCKGREENOCK