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 N ...

of the Scottish Government tasked with managing prisons and Young Offender Institutions. The Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service, currently Teresa Medhurst, is responsible for its administration and reports to the Cabinet Secretary for Justice, 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. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian on the southern shore of t ...

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 *

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 ...

(

) *

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 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 ...

(

) * 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, dissociat ...

. 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,

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 r ...

, South Lanarkshire

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
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Media coverage

The SPS has been featured in many TV shows including Prison: First & Last 24 Hours on Sky One which was broadcast between 28 October 2015 and 5 December 2016.

References

External links

* {{Authority control Prison Service Prison and correctional agencies Prisons Organisations based in Edinburgh 1993 in Scotland 1993 in British law Government agencies established in 1993