Scottish Prison Service

The Scottish Prison Service (SPS) (Scottish Gaelic: Seirbheisean nam prìosan Albanach) is an executive agency of the Scottish Government tasked with managing prisons in Scotland. The SPS administers Her Majesty's Prisons in addition to Her Majesty's Young Offender Institutions, the latter being for persons detained who are under the age of 21 years.

Logo of the Scottish Prison Service

The service's headquarters is located in South Gyle, Edinburgh.

The Cabinet Secretary for Justice is responsible for the Scottish Prison Service within the Scottish Government.

Key personnel

The current Chief Executive is John Ewing and supporting him is the Prisons Board consisting of:

• Stephen Swan - Human Resources
• Rona Sweeney - Prisons
• Eric Murch - Partnerships and Commissioning
• Dr Andrew Fraser - Health and Care
• Willie Pretswell - Finance
• Allan Burns, Jane Martin, Sue Matheson, Bill Morton, Harry McGuigan and Zoe Van Zwanenberg function as non-executive Directors.

List of establishments

• HMP Aberdeen
• HMP Addiewell
• HMP Edinburgh
• HMP Barlinnie, Glasgow
• HMP Castle Huntly, Longforgan, Perth and Kinross (Open prison)
• HMP Dumfries, Dumfries
• HMP & YOI Cornton Vale, Stirling - (Young Offenders Institute and Women's Prison)
• HMP Glenochil, Tullibody
• HMP Greenock, Inverclyde
• HMP Inverness
• HMP Kilmarnock, East Ayrshire (Operated by Serco Group as part of a Public-private partnership scheme)
• HMP Low Moss, East Dunbartonshire (Currently closed pending redevelopment)
• HMP Perth
• HMP Peterhead, Aberdeenshire
• HMYOI Polmont, Falkirk (Young Offenders Institute)
• HMP Shotts, North Lanarkshire

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 Reliance Custodial Services provides for all prisoner escorting between police offices, court, prisons and hospitals as well as covering escorts from prison such as funerals, hospital appointments and community placements.

Secure hospital

Some prisoners are detained in a secure mental hospital. This is run by the Scottish National Health Service rather than the SPS.

• State Hospital for Scotland and Northern Ireland, [1] Carstairs, South Lanarkshire

See also

• Her Majesty's Prison Service
• Northern Ireland Prison Service
• Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Prisons
• HM Prison
• Her Majesty's Young Offender Institution
• United Kingdom prison population
• List of United Kingdom prisons
• Prison categories in the United Kingdom
• Young offender
• OASys
• Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Prisons for Scotland (a post currently held by Brigadier Hugh Munro)
• Executive agencies of the Scottish Government
• Scots law
• Scottish Court Service
• State Hospitals Board for Scotland
• Criminal Justice Social Work Services, probation services are provided by local authorities in Scotland
• Serco Group, provides electronic tagging

External links

• SPS official website