Policy Officer, Community Justice Glasgow
The Lillias Centre, which is a Community Custody Unit (CCU) for women will open in Maryhill in autumn 2022. This is one of the two CCUs that have been in development by Scottish Prison Service (SPS) as a response to meeting women’s needs in prison, following recommendations in the Commission On Women Offenders.
It will provide safe accommodation for 24 women currently in prison, with a focus on meeting the needs of women in prison whilst promoting closer community contact and access to local services. It is anticipated that this new approach to women in prison will create sustained stability for women in preparation for successful reintegration back into the community. The CCU will operate a gender specific regime, which will be trauma informed and person-centred in its approach. Services will be delivered in-house and, in the community, collaboratively alongside Scottish Prison Service (SPS), NHS, Local Authority and third sector providers.
Glasgow City Health and Social Care Partnership (GCHSCP) set up a Strategic Interface Group to work alongside the National Women’s Strategy Programme Board to support the development of the CCU in Glasgow. The Glasgow Strategic group has representation from key partners from across SPS, Health, Social Work, Community Justice Glasgow and third sector and has been supported by Glasgow GCHSCP planning and performance teams.
The CCU presents an opportunity to enable women to recover, access community resources and successfully reintegrate back into their community at the end of their sentence. The ethos of the CCU is to enhance links to community support rather than services being delivered within a prison setting. For women who have community access they will access health and support services in the community and where possible, in the Local Authority they will be returning to upon release. Despite the community-facing philosophy some women in the Glasgow CCU will not have community access and there will be a requirement to deliver some in-unit health and social work provision.
This fits with the ethos of SPS Women in Custody Strategy 2021-25
In addition to the GCHSCP strategic interface groups, the Glasgow Working Group on Women and Offending (GWGWO) has worked with SPS to share information on the development of the CCU and improve working relationships with the third sector partners who provide services relevant to the women who will live there. You can find out more about the GWGWO in this article in the 2020-21 annual report – JUST CLICK ON THE PICTURE OR SCAN THE QR CODE
The SPS website also has further information on the Lilias Centre, and on the Bella Centre, which is the CCU that has been built in Dundee: https://www.sps.gov.uk/Corporate/Information/CommunityCustodyUnits.aspx
Below are some pictures from SPS showing the progression of the Lilias Centre site:
We look forward to the centre opening and seeing the positive impacts that this new approach will have on improved outcomes for women in the justice system. I will provide an update on the early indication in next year’s report – WATCH THIS SPACE
