What is secure custody?
Very few prisoners escape from Scottish prisons. Highly trained staff and modern security systems mean the chances of escape are minimal.
There are, on occasion, media reports of prisoners absconding from Castle Huntly open prison. However, absconding or failing to return to prison is not the same as escaping. The SPS, therefore, is effective in keeping offenders in prison.
Care of offenders
The SPS has a duty of care to offenders. Prisoners should be treated in a humane manner. In prison, offenders have a right to be properly fed, clothed and kept clean. They are provided with medical care when required. Offenders are given the chance to undertake meaningful employment, gain education and exercise.
How successful are Scotland's prisons?
Reoffending and reconviction rates
Reoffending refers to a crime committed by someone already guilty of criminal activity. Reoffending includes reconvictions but also includes offending undetected by police. The Scottish Government’s preferred measure is reconviction.
According to the Scottish Government, in 2019/20, 24.1 per cent of offenders released from prison went on to reoffend, and were convicted, within a year of their release. This figure was better, on average, than some countries such as the USA (36%) but not as low as Norway which has only has a reconviction rate of around 20% in any given year.
While this figure is high, there has been a reduction in reconviction rates over the past 30 years.
There are many reasons to explain high rates of re-offending. These include:
- Too many offenders are serving short sentences of less than 6 months. Most are returned to their community without having their problems, such as alcohol or drug addiction, addressed. Incarceration rates remain at a historical high
- Scottish prisons are overcrowded and there are not enough opportunities for offenders to take up meaningful employment or education
Quality of care
In June 2024, the Scottish Parliament's Public Audit Committee released a report that raised concerns about conditions in Scotland's prisons. The report outlined how lack of staff, overcrowding and the poor quality of aging buildings risked the human rights of prisoners with a number of prisoners forced to share cell, prisoners being unable to attend medical appointments
In 2023, the Scottish Public Health Observatory reported that there was an average of 7,500 people in prison every day within an official prison capacity of 7725, meaning too often prisoners cannot get the support required to ensure to avoid reoffending on release.
A report from the Scottish Centre for Crime and Justice Research published in 2024 found that suicide and drug deaths in prison are increasing, and drug deaths are much higher in Scotland than in prisons in other places, including England and Wales, Australia and Europe.
Cost of prisons
Caring for offenders and subsequent reconviction costs the Scottish Government. In 2023-24, the Scottish Government allocated around £3.4bn for criminal justice. This is around 5.5% of the total Scottish Government budget. Of the £3.4bn or so, £540.8m will be spent on prisons.
Annually, the cost of keeping an offender in jail is over £44,620 per year.
In its 2023/4 report, Audit Scotland found that SPS has arrangements in place to ensure Best Value
but faces a financially challenging position.
