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I have asked Teresa Medhurst, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS), to respond. Her response is as follows:

The number of assaults on staff in HMP Inverness in the last 5 years are as follows:

The new national service will ensure that an offer of support is available to all eligible individuals who are serving a short sentence (under 4 years), or being held on a period of remand.

As with the current Shine and New Routes Public Social Partnership services, the new service will be voluntary, and individuals will have a choice about whether they wish to sign up to the service.

Dedicated prison-based workers will provide initial support during the custodial environment and will contribute to effective multi-agency pre-release planning. Prior to liberation, individuals will be introduced to their community worker who will provide support on release.

SPS are unable to publish the full breakdown of costs as disclosure would be commercially prejudicial to the management of the contract, and to the contractor.

SPS can confirm that the contract contains liquidated damages for any delays.

SPS will publish information on the releases under the changes to sentencing for short-term prisoners on their website and SPS has previously published information on releases under the emergency release legislation also on their website.

SPS continue to be as open and transparent as possible, whilst continuing to meet their statutory obligation to ensure that those in their care have their personal information protected; as such SPS cannot publish a breakdown of establishments as some of the data could relate to a small group of individuals, which may lead to their inadvertent identification.

The following table shows the number of cases closed during the past 5 financial years which were time barred on receipt of report by COPFS. Each case may comprise multiple accused and a variety of charges. To ascertain case type would require a manual check of each report. This information is not readily available.

Criminal cases reported to COPFS

Count is cases closed using the marking - 'No Action: Timebarred On Receipt'

Grouped by financial year case closed

count is by case

Financial year closed

The following table provides the number of people departing prison one or more times in each financial year from remand, with index sentences of one year or less, and with index sentences from greater than one year to four years or less.

The measures and indicators which will be used to monitor and evaluate the effectiveness and value for money of the new third sector national throughcare service are in the process of being developed. This work is being done in consultation with the partnership of organisations that will deliver the service (consisting of Sacro, Access to Industry, Action for Children, Apex Scotland, Barnardo’s, Circle, Families Outside and Turning Point Scotland) and Community Justice Scotland, who will be responsible for monitoring the new service on behalf of the Scottish Government.

This includes the consideration of what, if any, data will be made publicly available.

The new national throughcare service will ensure equitable support provisions across all communities in Scotland.

The partnership delivering the new national throughcare service (consisting of Sacro, Access to Industry, Action for Children, Apex Scotland, Barnardo’s, Circle, Families Outside and Turning Point Scotland) has experience of delivering throughcare in rural and island communities and understands the additional considerations needed to achieve a robust and responsive delivery model.

A proportion of the budget has been set aside to ensure a tailored ‘spot purchase’ approach to support individuals returning to rural and island communities. This model will ensure that wrap-around support is available to individuals as required across island communities, whilst ensuring a level of parity with mainland provision.

The partnership will also work closely with existing services and agencies operating locally to ensure that the right support is in place for every individual returning to a rural or island community.

In 2024-25, the final year of operation of the Shine and New Routes Public Social Partnerships (PSPs), the Scottish Government provided grant funding of:

a) £1,459,620 to Shine PSP; and

b) £1,979,816 to New Routes PSP

Both Shine and New Routes provide support to individuals leaving short-term sentences, however currently only Shine provides support to female prisoners released from remand.

The Scottish Government supports third sector delivery of voluntary throughcare support. We recognise that these organisations are uniquely positioned to offer flexible, community-based and person-centred support to individuals transitioning from prison back into their communities.

A review of throughcare provision by Community Justice Scotland in 2023 found that using a partnership approach to delivering voluntary throughcare was an effective way of supporting people leaving prison, as it enables different partners to apply their specific expertise to address a wide range of needs.

This approach aligns with the National Strategy for Community Justice, which emphasises continuity of care and the importance of reducing reoffending by ensuring that people receive consistent, holistic support during this critical period of transition.

The Scottish Prison Service established, operated and suspended their throughcare support service independently. Any decision regarding reinstating this service would be for the Scottish Prison Service.