What is the Home Detention Curfew (HDC)? Under specific licensing conditions, some individuals sentenced to prison may serve part of

Guest Blog – Ian Hi, my name is Ian, and I’m an Arrest Referral Worker in North Lanarkshire. I come

Newspapers and the criminal justice system… How do you fancy writing a blog for the SPARC website? Aye, no problem

Over the past year, SPARC has been quietly building capacity, responding to growing demand, and using individual advocacy to expose

Scotland is having another conversation about sentencing, parole, and prison. A new Commission has been set up, and another call

Securing insurance, whether for a car, home, or business, should be routine. Yet many people with a criminal record in

In 2025, SPARC participated in the Scottish Government’s consultation, Voices in Justice: Parole Reform in Scotland. We also attended a

Response ID: ANON-7NBX-HPVC-GSubmitted to: Voices in Justice: Parole Reform in ScotlandSubmitted on: 2025-11-11 10:40:24 Introduction: the purpose of parole 1. Would you support

About SPARC and Why We Are Responding SPARC (Scottish Prisoner Advocacy and Research Collective) is a peer-led organisation rooted in

SPARC campaigns for a reduction in Scottish prison numbers and to promote social justice. We comprise researchers from various universities

Recently a number of news outlets covered the story that young people in HMP Polmont who had been given mobile

Most of us don’t change until we have to, and crisis is often what obliges us to do so. Crises

The prison population seems to have fallen in the absence of formal action to reduce it. What has happened and

SPARC have carefully read (and provided a plain language summary below of) the amendments to the Prison Rules in Scotland,

Yesterday, the Scottish Government has released a Covid-19 related Bill. Amongst other issues, the Bill set out (inSchedule 4, Part

SPARC is deeply troubled about the lack of speed and clarity about the response to Covid 19 in Scottish prisons.

Yesterday it was confirmed that two people in prison at HMP Kilmarnock were in self-isolation with the first suspected cases

In light of International Women’s Day (IWD), on 8 March, we are prompted to think about women everywhere, including in

A member of the Scottish Parliament, unable to gain any support from colleagues outside his party, has launched as an

SPARC is unique as a research group in that several members are serving prisoners who began their studies in custody.

Once you are in it is difficult to get out. It is well established that prisons do not reduce re-offending.

University academic staff in the UK (61 out of around 130 total in the UK) have been on strike for

Last week we saw actor and documentary maker Ross Kemp spend time in Glasgow’s Barlinnie prison, in an attempt to

The Scottish Government ran a consultation in Sept/Oct 2017 on reform of parole. Download SPARC’s response. Among other points, it

The SPARC manifesto may be downloaded by clicking the link below. It also appears in the About section of this

SPARC participated in the Edinburgh Conference on Reducing the Use of Imprisonment (Surgeons Hall, 8-9 June 2017), presenting a paper

Clinks, an organisation that supports voluntary organisations working with ‘offenders’ and their families issued a call for responses to this

As with most notorious crimes that make the headlines, politicians can’t help but take part in some political point scoring.

SPARC recently responded to the Health and Sport Committee’s call for responses to contribute to their current inquiry into healthcare