Background• The building of the prison started on 31st of July 1914 with the first prisoner

being received in 1919.• Edinburgh receives prisoners from the courts in Edinburgh, the Lothian's and

the Borders. The prison holds adult male and under-21 prisoners who are on remand and also convicted prisoners serving under four years. Long-term prisoners and Young Offenders when sentenced are held at Edinburgh awaiting transfer to their prison of allocation. Edinburgh also provides a national facility for prisoners at the pre-release stage of their sentence.

• The design capacity of the prison is 872 with the count of prisoners as of the 12th of January 2009 being 795. The largest number that the prison has held is 913 in September 2008.

• It is a publicly funded prison.

Accommodation

• There are four main Residential Halls: Glenesk, Hermiston, Ingliston and Ratho. The most recent, Ratho, opened in December 2008. The oldest, Glenesk.

• Remand prisoners are held in Glenesk; convicted prisoners serving short sentences are held in Hermiston; long-term convicted prisoners and prisoners on protection are held in Ingliston; and Ratho holds prisoners who are local “top end” nearing the end of a sentence and those who require addictions support.

• Government recently speant £120 million on modernising the prison.

Programmes

• Opportunities in health and sports include: Badminton, Basketball, Circuit Training, Hockey, Light Circuit Training, Over 50s, Soccer, Soft Tennis, Volleyball, Weight Loss Programme and Weight Training

• Opportunities in education include: Art, Basic Education, Computer Studies, Crafts, Creative Writing, English, Key Skills, Languages, Maths, Music and Open University

• Vocational training: Bricklaying, Catering, Forklift Driving, Gardening, Industrial Cleaning, Laundry, Motor Craft, Painting & Decorating, Plastering, Plumbing, Sports Studies, Tiling, Waste Management and Woodcrafts

Rehabilitation

• The prison offers many offence focused courses aimed at addictions such as, Alcohol Awareness, Cognitive Self-Change Programme, Drug Action for Change, SOTP, Substance Misuse and Violence Prevention.

• There are also programmes for resettlement. These are Job Club and Job Centre Plus.

• There are two pre-release programmes available: Restart and Living Skills.

• Prison Report: “Overall, there is a structured approach to preparing prisoners for their return to the community”

News Stories

• http://www.guardian.co.uk/edinburgh/2010/oct/08/edinburgh-saughton-prison-library-award

• http://edinburghnews.scotsman.com/scottishprisons/Six-drugs-seizures-made-at.5096075.jp

• http://www.thesun.co.uk/scotsol/homepage/news/3223704/Tobin-hoaxers-vile-jail-rant.html

• http://news.scotsman.com/news/Man-jailed-for-throwing-heroin.6611092.jp

• http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/scottish-news/2010/10/27/serial-killer-peter-tobin-put-into-lockdown-in-prison-after-temper-tantrum-86908-22661659/

Sources

• HMP Edinburgh Prison Report

• Inside Time Prison Profile

• HMP Edinburgh – Wikipedia

• British Prisons - Edinburgh