Chief inspector of prisons for Scotland, Wendy Sinclair-Gieben, made the recommendation after an inspection of the female prison HMP & YOI Stirling as well as two community custody units in Glasgow and Dundee intended to help women reintegrate with the community.

HMP & YOI Stirling opened in 2023 and accommodates women remanded in custody.

Ms Sinclair-Gieben has called for an end to “degrading” body searches.

She wrote: “I accept there can be a legitimate role for degrading body searching based on robust intelligence but do not regard it as justifiable based purely on routine random searching of a set percentage of prisoners.

“The SPS should consider whether using HMP & YOI Stirling as an assessment centre for new admissions, with women often there for short periods before being transferred to much older prisons, often with much poorer accommodation, represents the best use of an excellent therapeutic resource in the current climate.”