The progression system in Scotland is best described as the hoops you have to jump through in order to have the best chance at receiving parole, and it means different things to different types of prisoners.

Short-term (under four years) prisoners are eligible for the Home Detention Curfew Tag (HDC Tag). Home Detention Curfew (HDC) allows some people serving short prison sentences in Scotland to spend the last part of their sentence at a suitable home address, under a curfew with an electronic tag. This group of prisoners can expect to go through a six-stage process within prison to be released from prison on tag. To qualify, they must serve at least 25% of their sentence, have a suitable address approved by Social Work, and not be excluded by law. The curfew usually runs overnight (around 12 hours), and people must follow the licence conditions. If conditions are broken, they can be recalled to prison. HDC can last up to 180 days before the halfway point of a sentence and aims to support safer reintegration into the community. For a more detailed breakdown of the various stages and processes of HDC, please follow the link to our HDC factsheet.

Long Term Prisoners (LTP) (over four years). In general, this group of prisoners can expect to need a generic assessment, which tells the prison service which offender management courses they need to complete before being considered for less secure conditions. After being assessed, this group will be informed of the courses they need to complete. They will then go on a waiting list for these courses, and when a place becomes available, they will be moved to whichever prison across Scotland is running that course. Once completed, they can expect to sit on a Risk Management Team (RMT) board, which is a multidisciplinary board meeting that discusses your case without your presence or representation (other than a small written statement you can submit). They look at your history of drug tests, your years of Integrated Case Management (ICM) reports and a report from your personal officer, as well as any other relevant reports from your Criminal Justice Social Worker (CJSW) in the prison and/or in the community. You will then either “pass the board” or not. If so, you will go on the waiting list for Castle Huntly. All of this is time-consuming and a period of considerable uncertainty, not just for the person in prison and their families, but at times for the prison service, where different departments can give conflicting information.
A Life Sentence prisoner, either discretionary (also called an Order of Lifelong Restriction) or mandatory, can expect to do much the same as an LTP. However, before going to Castle Huntly, they must first go to a National Top End such as Chriswell House in Greenock or Letham Hall in Barlinnie. Here they can expect to serve up to two years before being considered for “progression” to Castle Huntly, which is usually broken in half, where the first half is escorted leave to their house or a shopping centre, and the second part is a ‘placement’ usually in a charity shop or gardening on a Golf Course. Successful completion of these ‘tests’ will then lead to a person being considered for progression at an RMT (see above).
The final stage of some LTP/life sentenced prisoners is Castle Huntly, where they will also get a placement and home leaves. Home leaves can be for between two and seven days, where the person is released on a temporary release license with conditions. They can remain in Castle Huntly for up to two years before being considered for parole, where all of the above will be taken into account.

Parole is a process by which the Parole Board for Scotland determines whether an individual in prison can be released early under supervision in the community. The decision is based on whether they can be managed safely outside prison, which your Community Justice Social Worker usually indicates. A parole dossier is created, which includes everything from the sentencing judge’s report, all misconduct reports (if applicable), reports from your CJSW inside and outside of prison, reports from any agencies you have been involved with, and any other relevant documents. You should always get the opportunity to be heard at your own hearing, and you are entitled to legal representation.

Parole hearings can take anything from 20 minutes to a few hours. Usually, they will have already reviewed all the documents, and the members of the board hearing your case will each have the opportunity to ask you a few questions. They will then ask you to leave while they discuss your case. It can take anything from ten minutes to a day or two to hear back.

There is no difference, really. When you are granted parole, the Parole Board of Scotland will decide on your license conditions. They will agree to release you ‘on license’ with the terms to be overseen by your Community Justice Social Worker.

These last for the duration of your time on parole.

They typically include requirements such as staying at an approved address, not leaving the United Kingdom without permission, and not entering certain areas or premises.

This depends on the nature of the breach, your social work responsibilities, and the social work department. Unfortunately, our experience has shown that not all local authorities operate in the same manner, and some are more strict than others. Some can give you a local warning, which is still a warning but isn’t sent to the parole board. This can lead to increased supervision, such as going from being seen every fortnight to two or three times a week. It can lead to being told to cancel travel plans, even if the breach had nothing to do with the travel plans. Ultimately, the breach can be sent to the parole board with a request to have you recalled to custody.