Background

In November 2019, the Cabinet Secretary for Justice commissioned an independent review into the response to deaths in prison custody, in recognition of the need for increased transparency and better engagement with families following a death in prison custody. The Independent Review of the Response to Deaths in Prison Custody published in November 2021 made one key recommendation, nineteen other recommendations and six advisory points. In April 2022, Gillian Imery was appointed as an external chair to provide independent strategic leadership and oversight of the recommendations and advisory points of the review.

A Deaths in Prison Custody Action Group (DiPCAG) chaired by Gillian Imery was established to oversee and support the work required to ensure effective, innovative and robust implementation of the recommendations and advisory points. Membership of the group is made up of representatives of agencies with responsibility for responding to deaths in prison custody (such as the Scottish Prison Service (SPS), National Health Service (NHS) Scotland and Scottish Government), along with representatives of those bereaved by a death in prison custody.

The Independent Review of the Response to Deaths in Prison Custody identified the need to improve the range of data that is available on deaths that occur in prison custody, recommending that an “independent investigatory body must be required to produce and publish reports analysing data on deaths in custody, identifying trends and systemic issues, making recommendations and promoting good practice”. Two of the recommendations are aimed at understanding causes of deaths in prisons and identifying trends with a view to preventing future deaths. Comprehensive data on and analysis of deaths in prison custody are essential to this work.

An Understanding and Preventing Deaths in Prison working group was established to progress these recommendations. Members of the working group have been analysing available data on deaths in custody in Scotland as well as identifying and implementing improvements to the data and evidence that exists. An initial task was to examine the data published by the Scottish Prison Service (SPS) on deaths in prison custody.

This work was led by the Scottish Government’s Justice Analytical Services working with Scottish Government health analysts and policy officials, analysts and operational colleagues from the SPS, Community Justice Scotland and the NHS. An initial report was published in August 2023, providing overview and analysis of the data published by SPS on deaths in prison custody in Scotland for the period 2012 to 2022. This highlighted that the number of deaths occurring in prison custody had been rising overall over time period examined. 

This report builds on that 2023 report, providing further analysis of deaths in prison custody in Scotland across the financial years 2012-13 to 2022-23. Using data provided by SPS and the National Records of Scotland (NRS), this report provides information on the number of deaths occurring in prison custody, causes of death, and compares deaths in prison custody against deaths occurring in the general population of Scotland. Data on prison population levels across 2012-13 to 2022-23 is taken from the national Prison Population statistics. 

The period covered by this report reflects the latest available official statistics on cause of death from NRS. The findings presented in this report should be viewed in the context of the prison population during the period covered by the data, and not more recent prison population figures.

An Official Statistics in Development Publication for Scotland

These statistics are official statistics in development. Official statistics in development may be new or existing statistics, and will be tested with users and producers of the data, in line with the Code of Practice for Statistics.

It is intended that the analyses presented to date will help to improve knowledge and understanding around deaths occurring in prison custody in Scotland and highlight trends and patterns over time to help inform development of related policy and practice.

User engagement will seek views on the value and accessibility of the data and to understand which aspects of the data are most important to users. This information will be used to develop future reporting on deaths in prison custody in Scotland.

If you wish to share any views on this report, please get in touch with the lead statistician.

Scottish Government statistics are regulated by the Office for Statistics Regulation (OSR). OSR sets the standards of trustworthiness, quality and value in the Code of Practice for Statistics that all producers of official statistics should adhere to.

More information about Scottish Government statistics is available on the Scottish Government website.