Prisons

The Scottish Prison Service faces profound challenges in continuing to run Scotland's overcrowded prisons safely and effectively. A report by the Auditor General for the Scottish Parliament says the service's revenue budget reduced by 12.5 per cent in real terms between 2014/15 and 2018/19, from &po

A prison has installed a stairlift for elderly inmates amid an increase in requests for walking frames, thermal underwear and wedge pillows, The Times reports. Cells and showers have also been adapted to accommodate inmates with mobility problems.

The number of self-harm incidents and attempted suicides recorded in prisons during the first seven months of 2019 has already far exceeded the figures for the whole of 2018. Figures acquired through freedom of information requests by the Evening Express and Scottish Liberal Democrats also show

The Scottish Parliament’s Justice Committee is seeking information on the Scottish government’s spending in relation to prisons and alternatives to custody, as part of its wider review of budgets in the justice portfolio. It is gathering this information before it considers the governmen

The Scottish Liberal Democrats have warned that Justice Secretary Humza Yousaf “cannot just throw up his hands and pass the buck” after the Scottish Prison Service announced that all of its throughcare support officers (TSOs) were being reassigned into general prison officer roles to dea

As many as three quarters of detainees in Scottish prisons went without attending a single a single education or skills class in the past month, the Scottish Liberal Democrats have said. A Scottish Liberal Democrat freedom of information request answered by the Scottish Prison Service reveals t

Scotland has the highest prison population rate per head in Western Europe, with 150 people held in prison for every 100,000 of the population, according to a new report. Meanwhile, in England and Wales there were more than 140,000 admissions into prison in 2017—the highest number in western E

The Scottish Liberal Democrats have today called for recognition of the "emergency" in Scotland’s prisons as new figures revealed the total number of assaults in prisons increased by 41 per cent last year. Data acquired by the party through a freedom of Information request also showed that the

More prisoners in England and Wales will have the opportunity to access employment and training following an expansion of the release on temporary license (ROTL) scheme. Offenders in open and women's prisons will now be eligible for paid work as soon as they have passed a "tough" risk assessment.

A video link system could be a huge boon to Aberdeen Sheriff Court, saving it money and time, Scotland's chief inspector of prisons has said. Wendy Sinclair-Gieben thinks such a system would improve safety at the court and reduce the costs and time associated with holding trials.

Judges in the Netherlands have refused to extradite a suspected drugs smuggler to the UK over concerns that conditions at HMP Liverpool are "inhuman and degrading", the Liverpool Echo reports. The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) said: "Since providing reassurances the court has postponed its decision."

The presumption against prison sentences of less than three months has had a “limited” impact and the rule is undermined by the introduction of more offences with short prison terms, The Herald reports. The rule was introduced by the Scottish government in 2011 in an attempt to reduce th

Scotland's two privately-run prisons cost the taxpayer a total of £44 million in 2017/18, new figures reveal. The £30.1 million spend on HMP Addiewell represents a record high, an above-inflation increase from £24.6 million in 2010/11.

Four programmes aimed at helping people leaving prison reintegrate with their communities are set to receive £3.4 million from the Scottish government. The mentoring services provide specialist one-to-one support and guidance to prison leavers, offering help to overcome the challenges many fac

Scotland's jail population is set to reach a record high of 8,500 this summer, The Times reports. There has been an eight per cent increase in the prison population to 8,200 in the past year, with overcrowding a widespread problem.