Planning for release should start as early as possible when someone enters prison and continue throughout their stay. 

A formal pre-release meeting is arranged between 6 and 12 weeks prior to your loved one's release date, in what is normally referred to as the 'Links Centre'. Staff who work in this area will help identify any outstanding needs your loved one may have and and link them with key services and supports such as housing, welfare benefits, health and social care.

They can also support with applications to the Scottish Welfare Fund. This is a grant which can be used for clothing and household essentials to help your loved one start a settled home.

Pre-release information

  • We provide what's known as a 'liberation pack'. Dependent on your loved one's needs, this may include:

    • A discharge grant to support their immediate financial needs in the first week after release
    • A travel warrant and advice on how to use it
    • A photographic liberation letter that acts as proof of ID, if they require this
    • GP registration card and application form
    • Local contact details of key community services
    • List of appointments that have been arranged

    They will also be offered a Naloxone supply either through NHS Prison Healthcare or the peer-to-peer Naloxone Champions. Champions deliver Naloxone training directly to those in our care and supply them with intra-nasal Naloxone kits the day prior to liberation.

  • Arrangements will be made to supply your loved one with enough medicines at liberation, or the means to obtain these, until they can arrange repeat supplies with their own GP.

  • If your loved one had a GP before coming into custody and has served less than 6 months, they should still be registered. If they've been in prison longer, they'll need to re-register. An SPS Officer will help them find a GP practice and support them to complete the registration form before they are released.

  • If your loved one needs housing or housing advice, they need to contact their local housing or homelessness service based in their Local Authority. SPS Links Centre staff can help with this at the earliest point to prevent future issues.

    Sustainable Housing On Release for Everyone (SHORE) Standards details how SPS, housing and other partners will work together to support individuals to sustain tenancies or access accommodation for their release.

  • All establishments can help someone open a basic bank account if they need one. An application can be made any time from 6 months before release, but no later than 6 weeks before release.

Throughcare

Upside is the national throughcare service, available in all parts of Scotland. Throughcare provides individuals in custody with the practical and emotional support they need to transition to community life. 

The service is voluntarily and is available to individuals on remand or those serving sentences of four years or less.

They will proactively contact your loved one while they are in custody. If your loved one opts to sign up with the service, their allocated throughcare worker will contact them regularly to give them the support and information they need. 

They will identify their needs and engage with key services such as housing, welfare benefit services, health, addictions, skills and employability to ensure there is an agreed plan in place for their release.

Families Outside are one of the eight charities involved in Upside. If they are working with you, they will inform you of the throughcare support your loved one could be receiving from Upside. With the necessary permissions, they can bring together a plan for the whole family.

Your loved one may also choose to work with a justice social worker if they are eligible for voluntary throughcare. If they do, they can work with them in prison and for up to 12 months in the community.

There may also be local partnership arrangements with other third sector voluntary throughcare services in the establishment where your loved one is living. The Family Contact Officer will be able to provide you with more information.

Flexible Release

In order to improve their chances of getting the help they need from the community after serving their sentence, your loved one can apply to be released up to two working days before their earliest date of liberation (EDL). This is known as flexible release.

The request for flexible release is made by approved partners (Local Authorities and Third Sector organisations) or by SPS staff within the establishment that your loved one is in. The decision on whether to approve the request sits with the Head of Operations & Public Protection at SPS Headquarters.

More information can be found by following the link below.

Flexible Release