Scottish Prisons Assessment and Review of Outcomes for Women (SPAROW): executive summary

Introduction and context: (see Chapters 1 & 2 in the full report)

This Executive Summary summarises findings from the full report of the Scottish Prison Service Assessment and Review of Outcomes for Women evaluation (SPAROW), commissioned by the Scottish Government Justice Analytical Services. The primary purpose was to evaluate the early impact and emerging outcomes of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS) new custodial arrangements for women and the application of the SPS Strategy for Women in Custody 2021-2025 in the context of the creation of Community Custody Units (CCUs).

Two CCUs have been opened: HMP Bella in Dundee in August 2022, and HMP Lilias in Glasgow in October 2022. Underpinned by the SPS Strategy for Women in Custody, the development of the CCUs was intended to ensure that the physical environment and services for women in custody were gender-specific and trauma-informed. The CCU conditions were to be based on safety, respect and dignity, incorporated within the specificities of the risks and needs of women in custody. A key aim of the CCU model is that women can access activities and services in the CCUs and in the local community, to assist them in the development of skills for reintegration into the community.

The research commenced in May 2023 and research fieldwork in the CCUs was ongoing until February 2025. The SPAROW full report can be found here.

In this Executive Summary we firstly provide an overview of participants and reflections on participant experiences through the Theory of Change framework. We then highlight encouraging practices that were observed during the research period, as well as some challenges and barriers in relation to implementing a gender-specific and trauma–informed approach in the CCUs. We then distil 19 key messages from the research findings, which inform 10 recommendations based on the views and experiences of participants which, if realised, could potentially improve the experiences of, and outcomes for, women in the CCUs.