If something’s wrong and you want to raise it – whether you’re the prisoner or a worried family member – Scotland has its own complaints and oversight system, separate from England & Wales’s Independent Monitoring Boards (IMBs).
Informal requests. Day-to-day requests inside a Scottish prison are usually made in writing, through the prison’s own request/complaints process. If you’re not sure how, just ask a Personal Officer or wing staff – they can talk you through it.
Formal complaints. Every prison has a formal complaints procedure, and the right to take an unresolved issue further if needed.
Independent Prison Monitors. Scotland’s equivalent of the IMB is the Independent Prison Monitoring scheme, run by HM Inspectorate of Prisons for Scotland (HMIPS). Volunteer monitors make regular, unannounced visits to every Scottish prison to check on conditions and treatment, and a prisoner with a concern can contact them directly.
Inspections. HMIPS also carries out full independent inspections of Scottish prisons and publishes its reports online – the Scottish equivalent of HMIP’s Annual Report, which we cover for England & Wales elsewhere on this site.
Taking it further. If you’ve already been through a Scottish prison’s own complaints process and you’re still not happy with the outcome, you can ask the Scottish Public Services Ombudsman (SPSO) to look at it independently. They’re the final stage for complaints about SPS, and the closest Scottish equivalent to the Prisons and Probation Ombudsman in England & Wales.