If someone you love is in a prison in Scotland, quite a lot works differently to England & Wales – different organisations, different names, different rules. Here’s a plain-English run-through, so you know who’s who.
Prisons. Scottish prisons are run by the Scottish Prison Service (SPS), not HMPPS. Scotland has its own prisons and its own way of deciding where someone is held.
Probation. Scotland doesn’t really use the word “probation”. Support and supervision in the community is called criminal justice social work – it’s run by local council social work teams, with Community Justice Scotland helping join it all up nationally.
Parole and sentencing. The Parole Board for Scotland makes its own parole decisions – it’s a completely separate body from the one covering England and Wales. Sentencing guidance comes from the Scottish Sentencing Council.
Inspections. Scottish prisons are checked over by HM Inspectorate of Prisons for Scotland, a separate body from HMIP, which only covers England & Wales.
That’s a lot of names to take in – you don’t need to remember them all. We’re steadily building up fuller Scotland-specific guides below, and in the meantime, most of the everyday, practical advice elsewhere on DoingTime – about visiting, staying in touch, and supporting someone through their sentence – still holds true, even where the organisations involved have different names.
Scotland guides:
- First Things First (Scotland) – arrest, court, legal aid and sentencing, explained simply
- The First Weeks in Custody (Scotland) – what happens on arrival and how to settle in
- Life Behind the Wall (Scotland) – daily routine, canteen and money, post, transfers, and support
More Scotland guides:
- Prison Rules
- Types of Prison
- Incentives and Privileges
- Prison Staff
- Visits and Keeping in Touch
- Complaints and Independent Monitoring
- Finding Someone in a Scottish Prison
- Scotland’s Prisons – a look at every prison in Scotland, plus an interactive map
- Criminal Justice Social Work – how supervision and support work in the community
- Victims of Crime – VIA, the Victim Notification Scheme, and Victim Support Scotland
- Employment on Release – Scotland’s shorter disclosure periods and Apex Scotland