Scottish Prisons Assessment and Review of Outcomes for Women (SPAROW): exploratory baseline study

Executive Summary

Introduction and Background

The Scottish Government (SG) and the Scottish Prison Service (SPS) commissioned an independent evaluation of the new innovative model of Community Custody Units (CCUs) for women in Scotland, and the application of SPS’s Strategy for Women in Custody 2021-2025 (SPS 2021) in the context of the CCUs. The evaluation is known as the Scottish Prisons Assessment and Review of Outcomes for Women (SPAROW).

An exploratory baseline study was undertaken by Scottish Government Justice Analytical Services (JAS) ahead of the commissioning of the independent evaluation (Burman et al 2025), to inform development of the evaluation specification and to ensure the early experiences of women moving to the new CCUs were captured. This report presents the findings from this preliminary work.

Methodology (see Chapter Two)

The Prison Climate Questionnaire (PCQ) was adopted for the baseline study, which measures prison climate and quality of life in custody through six domains:

• Domain One: Relationships in Prison (with fellow women and staff)
• Domain Two: Safety and Order (feeling safe/unsafe)
• Domain Three: Contact with the Outside World (with partners, children, family, friends)
• Domain Four: Facilities (experiences of quality of medical/health and psychological care, sleep and shop quality, settlement of complaints)
• Domain Five: Meaningful Activities (experiences of recreation, sports, library, work and education opportunities, pastoral care, community reintegration)
• Domain Six: Autonomy (experiences of making decisions and freedom of movement).

Women in custody participated before they moved to a CCU, to capture their experiences in an older ‘baseline’ establishment. After living in a CCU for around 6 months, they were invited to participate again, to capture their early experiences whilst living in a CCU. Means scores were calculated and compared for the pre- and post-move surveys. Women also participated in qualitative discussions if they wished to do so.

Participants

Thirty-four women participated in the baseline study before they moved to a CCU. Twenty-three women continued to participate after they had moved to a CCU (see Chapter Two).

Key Findings

Expectations of Living in a CCU (Chapter Three): Most women who participated had very positive expectations about moving to a CCU; they felt prepared and were looking forward to their move. However, a small number of women did not feel prepared, and were anxious about their move, because of the lack of information and communication they received to prepare them. Decision-making and assessment of women for movement to a CCU, also seemed unclear to a few women.

Before moving, women were predominantly expecting to experience more autonomy. After moving, women reported positively on the autonomy they experienced within the CCU environment (i.e. to cook their own food, do their own laundry and move around the house and garden). However the lack of understanding around decision-making processes on gaining community access was a point of contention for a number of women. This arose where women had expected community access on moving to a CCU, but had no forthcoming approval to do so. Staff relationships were reported positively in the post-move period.

PCQ Domains analysis

Across each of the domains in the PCQ, means scores were higher in the post-move survey than in the pre-move survey, indicating general improvements in the women’s experiences of imprisonment following the move to the CCUs. Qualitative discussion gave more context to these findings, as well as some important qualifications.

Relationships in Prison (Chapter Four): While women reported positively on relationships with fellow women in the pre- and post-move surveys, most women were more positive about their relationships with fellow women in the CCUs than in their older establishment. Women were also more positive about their relationships with staff in the CCUs than with staff in their older establishment. They were more positive about staff treating them fairly and respectfully, and explaining their decisions to them in the CCUs, than in their older establishment. However, some women reported inconsistencies experienced in staff approaches in older establishments and in the CCUs.

Safety and Order (Chapter Four): Most women felt safe living in their older establishment and in a CCU, although the post-move scores were higher overall and women reported how staff had helped improve their feelings of safety in the CCU environment.

Contacts with the Outside World (Chapter Four): Overall, women felt more satisfied with visits they experienced in a CCU, and with the frequency of their visits there, compared with their experiences in older establishments.

Discussing their experiences in older establishments, women reported negatively on visiting room facilities, lack of privacy and physical contact with visitors, restricted/short visiting times, and the distance and cost of travel. Whereas when discussing the CCUs women referred to the “pleasant”/“lovely hub” area and garden space, physical contact (e.g. being able to hug visitors), and privacy as providing a more positive experience. Further in a CCU, experiences were enhanced because women were able to do activities such as cook meals, bake, drink tea/coffee with visitors and play with their children. Distance and cost was also an issue reported, but was sometimes alleviated in the CCUs by flexible virtual visit opportunities.

Facilities (Chapter Four): Overall women reported more positive experiences of the quality of facilities (with particular reference to improved sleep quality, quality of care, shop/food quality) whilst living in a CCU, compared to experiences in an older establishment. Women reported more discomfort/lack of quality in their older establishment in relation to cells, mattresses and bedding, and noise. Access to health professionals and waiting times were also raised as concerns by some women in the pre- and post-move surveys, although others expressed high levels of satisfaction with health care provided to them. Lack of choice and quality of products on the canteen sheet, and poor quality meals also made for less positive experiences in older establishments.

In the CCUs, the high standard of modern accommodation/facilities (i.e. own home, bedroom and bathroom, kitchen) enabled women to sleep and eat well. The ability to online shop enabled choice and ability to cook more nutritious and healthy meals. However, lack of community access to shop ‘in-person’ was raised as an issue. Further, where complaints were raised and reported, women expressed lack of satisfaction over how these were handled in both older establishments and the CCUs.

Meaningful Activities (Chapter Four): Overall experiences of meaningful activities were more positive in a CCU compared to in the older establishments. In an older establishment, women reported that it was important for them to keep busy through activities such as outdoor recreation time, Ultimate Self (offender management programme for women), work and education opportunities. Where women were not experiencing these opportunities satisfaction decreased, and they reported feeling bored because of not having enough to do to occupy their time meaningfully.

Although experiences were more positive in a CCU, mixed feelings emerged as to whether women were satisfied or not with the activities, daily timetable, and work and education opportunities available. Again women attributed this to limited community access, for example to work, access services, exercise or shop. Further, women thought the formal paperwork required to be completed by organisations to deliver their services in the CCUs to be burdensome, and, in their view, prevented organisations from becoming delivery partners. This further limited the activities available in the CCUs.

A key concern for a few women in their older establishment was the perceived lack of support available for their release and community reintegration, but they were expecting to receive this support once they had moved to a CCU. However, in the CCUs, a few women were mixed on whether they were receiving the support they felt they needed to prepare for their release.

Autonomy (Chapter Four): Although some women felt they had more autonomy living in a CCU than living in their older establishment, a few women were frustrated at the lack of community access and work opportunities; they felt restricted, and they felt closed condition rules and regulations were being imposed on the CCUs (as highlighted above).

Concluding comments

Overall, the findings highlight key differences between women’s experiences of older prison establishments and the new CCUs. Overall, following high expectations in the pre-move stages, women reported positively on their early experiences of moving to and living in a CCU. This included relationships with staff and other women, the CCU facilities and the greater autonomy. However, the attrition of women participating once they had moved to a CCU could potentially have influenced these positive findings, as could other method limitations (see Chapter Two).

The findings indicate that inclusive communication and information sharing on decision-making processes could help better inform women of their move to a CCU, alleviate any anxieties they have, and improve the transparency of decision-making on their lives whilst living in a CCU; particularly around community access. Lack of communication and understanding around decision-making emerged as an issue throughout the baseline study for a number of women.