Prisons

In its new report published today on its visit to Bulgaria in October 2021, the Council of Europe’s committee for the Prevention of Torture (CPT) hails rare occurrences of ill-treatment by staff, reduction of prison population and certain improvements in living conditions. However, it regrets

There are just 16 transgender prisoners across the entire Scottish prison estate and most are not held in prisons corresponding to their identity, new figures show. According to a report published by the Scottish Prison Service (SPS) last week, there were 11 trans women and five trans men in Scottis

Legal Services Agency has launched a new project which will provide support to people detained in HMP Greenock and Low Moss by offering tailored legal advice and representation, to empower individuals to understand their housing options and navigate legal processes. The project, Disrupting Cycles of

MSPs on the Scottish Parliament’s Criminal Justice Committee are to examine plans put forward by the Scottish government which would overhaul systems in place around the release of prisoners and use of bail by courts. The new Bail and Release from Custody Bill, which the government hopes will

Scotland has the highest prison population rate in the UK and one of the highest in Europe, a new report shows. The 47-nation Council of Europe has today published its Annual Penal Statistics for 2021, compiled by the University of Lausanne.

Two prisoners who had their petition for review of a prison authority decision to prohibit them from making inter-prison phone calls to each other refused have been denied permission to make a further appeal against the decision to the UK Supreme Court.  Charles O’Neill and William Lauchl

Under-18s should not be sent to jail, Scotland's chief inspector of prisons has said. Wendy Sinclair Gieben has written to ministers calling for new laws to end imprisonment of 16 and 17-year-olds by the end of March.

Balfour Beatty has been awarded the contract for the first stage of the Scottish Prison Service’s (SPS) project for the design and construction of HMP Highland, designed by BakerHicks.

A body independent of the Scottish government and prison service should investigate every prison death, a new report published today has recommended. The report of the Independent Review of the Response to Deaths in Prison Custody follows two years of research, analysis and engagement with families

Scottish Labour has backed calls for a full public inquiry into the 2015 death of a 30-year-old prisoner after being violently restrained by prison guards. Allan Marshall was a remand prisoner in HMP Edinburgh and was days way from release when he died from serious injuries sustained from prison gua

A harrowing incident in which a baby died in Europe's largest women's prison, with the 18-year-old mother giving birth in her cell alone despite repeated calls for help, "should never have happened", a watchdog has said. The Prisons and Probation Ombudsman (PPO) for England and Wales yesterday publi

There are now more than 100 confirmed Covid cases at HMP Perth. As of yesterday, there were 645 individuals self-isolating across four Scottish Prison Service (SPS) establishments. A significant number of individuals are self-isolating due to potential contact with a confirmed case.

Nearly 100 prisoners in HMP Perth have tested positive for Covid-19 in a significant outbreak, the Scottish Prison Service (SPS) announced over the weekend. Prison bosses said there were 97 confirmed cases on Friday, of which a "significant number" are asymptomatic positives.

The Mental Welfare Commission for Scotland has expressed concern over the treatment and care of vulnerable women with mental ill health in Cornton Vale prison. In a new report it highlights the lack of available beds in specific units in Scotland’s mental health facilities and raises critical

A contingency measure to help prisoners affected by drug use during the pandemic is to be rolled out into the wider community after a pilot project was shown to be a success. Last year the Scottish government allocated £1.9 million to support people in prison on prescribed opiate substitution