The Scottish Prison Service (SPS) is an
executive agency
An executive agency is a part of a government department that is treated as managerially and budgetarily separate, to carry out some part of the executive functions of the United Kingdom government, Scottish Government, Welsh Government or Nort ...
of the
Scottish Government tasked with managing prisons and
Young Offender Institution
In criminal justice systems, a youth detention center, known as a juvenile detention center (JDC),Stahl, Dean, Karen Kerchelich, and Ralph De Sola. ''Abbreviations Dictionary''. CRC Press, 20011202. Retrieved 23 August 2010. , . juvenile de ...
s.
The Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service, currently Teresa Medhurst, is responsible for its administration and reports to the
Cabinet Secretary for Justice
The Cabinet Secretary for Justice and Veterans, commonly referred to as the Justice Secretary, is a position in the Scottish Government Cabinet. The Cabinet Secretary has overall responsibility for law and order in Scotland. The Cabinet Secreta ...
, who is responsible for the Scottish Prison Service within the Scottish Government.
There are fifteen prison establishments in the country, two of which are privately managed. The SPS employs over 4,000 staff, with its headquarters in Calton House, located in
South Gyle
South Gyle (pronounced ) is an area of Edinburgh, Scotland, lying on the western edge of the city and to the south and west of an area of former marshland once known as the Gogarloch, on the edge of Corstorphine. Most of the buildings in th ...
,
Edinburgh
Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...
.
Key personnel
The current Chief Executive is Teresa Medhurst and supporting her is the SPS Board consisting of:
* Allister Purdie - Director of Operations (Acting)
* Caroline Johnston - Director of Corporate Services (Acting)
* Sue Brookes - Interim Director of Strategy & Engagement (Acting)
List of establishments
*
HMP Addiewell
HMP Addiewell is a prison located near to the village of Addiewell in West Lothian, Scotland. HMP Addiewell is operated by a private company, Sodexo Justice Services and contracted to the Scottish Prison Service
The Scottish Prison Service ...
(Privately run by Sodexo)
*
HMP Barlinnie
HM Prison Barlinnie is the largest prison in Scotland. It is operated by the Scottish Prison Service and is located in the residential suburb of Riddrie, in the north east of Glasgow, Scotland. It is informally known locally as The Big Hoose, ...
*
HMP Castle Huntly
Castle Huntly is a castle in Scotland, now used as a prison under the name ''HMP Castle Huntly''. It is located approximately west of Dundee in the Carse of Gowrie, Perth and Kinross, close to the shore of the Firth of Tay, and can be seen from ...
(
Open prison
An open prison (open jail) is any jail in which the prisoners are trusted to complete sentences with minimal supervision and perimeter security and are often not locked up in their prison cells. Prisoners may be permitted to take up employment w ...
)
*
HMP & YOI Cornton Vale (
Young Offenders Institution
His Majesty's Young Offender Institution (or HMYOI) is a type of prison in Great Britain, intended for offenders aged up to 18, although some prisons cater for younger offenders from ages 15 to 17, who are classed as juvenile offenders. Typically t ...
and Women's Prison)
*
HMP Dumfries
*
HMP Edinburgh
His Majesty's Prison Edinburgh is located in the west of Edinburgh on the main A71, in an area now known as Stenhouse, and, although never named as such, has commonly been known as Saughton Prison from the old name for the general area. The ...
*
HMP Glenochil
*
HMP & YOI Grampian
HMP & YOI Grampian is a high security prison in Peterhead, Scotland. It is the only such facility in the northeast of the country, having replaced the former HMPs in Aberdeen and Peterhead in 2014. It is the newest jail in Scotland and amongs ...
(
Young Offenders Institution
His Majesty's Young Offender Institution (or HMYOI) is a type of prison in Great Britain, intended for offenders aged up to 18, although some prisons cater for younger offenders from ages 15 to 17, who are classed as juvenile offenders. Typically t ...
)
*
HMP Greenock
HMP Greenock is a prison located in Greenock, Scotland, serving designated courts in western Scotland by holding male prisoners on remand, and short-term convicted prisoners. It also provides a national facility for selected prisoners serving 12 ...
*
HMP Inverness
*
HMP Kilmarnock
HM Prison Kilmarnock is a prison in Bowhouse, Hurlford near Kilmarnock, East Ayrshire, Scotland. It is situated south-east of Hurlford on the Mauchline Road. Its location means it is locally known as ''Bowhouse Prison''.
The prison was opened ...
(Operated by
Serco
Serco Group plc is a British company with headquarters based in Hook, Hampshire, England. Serco primarily derives income as a contractor for the provision of government services, most prominently in the sectors of health, transport, justice, i ...
as part of a
public-private partnership scheme)
*
HMP Low Moss
HMP Low Moss is located on the outskirts of Bishopbriggs, East Dunbartonshire; near Glasgow, Scotland. It has been operated by the Scottish Prison Service as a prison since 1968 and was for low-category prisoners who had sentences of less than 3 ...
*
HMP Perth
*
HMYOI Polmont
His Majesty's Young Offenders Institution Polmont is the largest of its kind in Scotland.
HMP Polmont first opened as a Borstal in 1911 in the buildings of the former Blairlodge Academy. The Academy had been forced to close in 1908 due to financ ...
(
Young Offenders Institution
His Majesty's Young Offender Institution (or HMYOI) is a type of prison in Great Britain, intended for offenders aged up to 18, although some prisons cater for younger offenders from ages 15 to 17, who are classed as juvenile offenders. Typically t ...
)
*
HMP Shotts
HMP Addiewell and HMP Kilmarnock are both privately managed under contract to the SPS.
Other responsibilities
Prisoner escorting
In November 2003 SPS signed a contract on behalf of Scottish Ministers for a "Prisoner Escort and Court Custody Service". This contract with Geoamey provides for all prisoner escorting between police cells, court, prisons and hospitals as well as covering escorts from prison such as funerals, hospital appointments and community placements and also operating the court custody units. In 2012, SPS contracted this service out to G4S then onto Geoamey in 2018.
Secure hospital
Some prisoners are detained in a secure
psychiatric hospital
Psychiatric hospitals, also known as mental health hospitals, behavioral health hospitals, are hospitals or wards specializing in the treatment of severe mental disorders, such as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, eating disorders, dissociative ...
. This is run by the
Scottish National Health Service
NHS Scotland, sometimes styled NHSScotland, is the publicly funded healthcare system in Scotland and one of the four systems that make up the National Health Service in the United Kingdom. It operates 14 territorial NHS boards across Scotland, ...
rather than the SPS.
*
State Hospital
The State Hospital (also known as Carstairs Hospital, or simply Carstairs) is a psychiatric hospital near the village of Carstairs Junction, in South Lanarkshire, Scotland. It provides care and treatment in conditions of high security for arou ...
,
Carstairs
Carstairs (, Scottish Gaelic: ''Caisteal Tarrais'') is a village in South Lanarkshire, Scotland. Carstairs is located east of the county town of Lanark and the West Coast Main Line runs through the village. The village is served by Carstairs ra ...
,
South Lanarkshire
gd, Siorrachd Lannraig a Deas
, image_skyline =
, image_flag =
, image_shield = Arms_slanarkshire.jpg
, image_blank_emblem = Slanarks.jpg
, blank_emblem_type = Council logo
, image_map ...
Prison aftercare
An aftercare scheme, Throughcare, has significantly cut reoffending. The scheme involves getting released prisoners a roof over their heads, sorting out their benefits and medical needs, and showing them that someone cares about them. 78% of former prisoners who received Throughcare did not return to prison over two years. Eleven Scottish prison service sites use Throughcare. "The TSOs
hroughcare Support Officersuse a case management approach, working collaboratively with the prisoner, their family, statutory and third sector service partners, to discuss appropriate support provision and to develop a personalised plan to support the person during their transition from custody back in to the community."
Throughcare Support Officers in Scottish Prisons
/ref>
Media coverage
The SPS has been featured in many TV shows including Prison: First & Last 24 Hours on Sky One
Sky One was a British pay television channel operated and owned by Sky Group (a division of Comcast). Originally launched on 26 April 1982 as Satellite Television, it was Europe's first satellite and non-terrestrial channel. From 31 July 1989, ...
which was broadcast between 28 October 2015 and 5 December 2016.
See also
* His Majesty's Chief Inspector of Prisons for Scotland
His or HIS may refer to:
Computing
* Hightech Information System, a Hong Kong graphics card company
* Honeywell Information Systems
* Hybrid intelligent system
* Microsoft Host Integration Server
Education
* Hangzhou International School, in ...
* His Majesty's Prison Service
His Majesty's Prison Service (HMPS) is a part of HM Prison and Probation Service (formerly the National Offender Management Service), which is the part of His Majesty's Government charged with managing most of the prisons within England and Wale ...
* List of United Kingdom prisons
List of prisons in the United Kingdom is a list of all 141 current prisons as of 2022 in the United Kingdom spread across the three UK legal systems of England and Wales (122 prisons), Scotland, (15 prisons) and Northern Ireland (4 prisons). Al ...
* Northern Ireland Prison Service
The Northern Ireland Prison Service is an executive agency of the Department of Justice, the headquarters of which are in Dundonald House in the Stormont Estate in Belfast.
Background
It was established as an agency on 1 April 1995. Agency ...
* Prison categories in the United Kingdom
* Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service
, type =
, seal =
, logo = 250px
, logo_caption =
, formed =
, jurisdiction = Scotland
, headquarters = Saughton House, Broomhouse Drive, Edinburgh EH11 3XD
, employees = 1,374
, budget = £129.3 million (2015-2016)
, chief1_name = Lord ...
* United Kingdom prison population
* Young offender
A young offender is a young person who has been convicted or cautioned for a criminal offense. Criminal justice systems often deal with young offenders differently from adult offenders, but different countries apply the term "young offender" ...
References
External links
*
{{Authority control
Prison Service
His Majesty's Prison Service (HMPS) is a part of HM Prison and Probation Service (formerly the National Offender Management Service), which is the part of His Majesty's Government charged with managing most of the prisons within England and Wale ...
Prison and correctional agencies
Prisons
A prison, also known as a jail, gaol (dated, standard English, Australian, and historically in Canada), penitentiary (American English and Canadian English), detention center (or detention centre outside the US), correction center, correcti ...
Organisations based in Edinburgh
1993 in Scotland
1993 in British law
Government agencies established in 1993