Aberdeen is the local prison for the north-east of Scotland and the Northern Isles. The prison accommodates all remand prisoners and male adults serving sentences of up to 4 years.

Female prisoners are housed in separate accommodation - those serving under 6 months stay in Aberdeen whilst those serving sentences between 6 months and up to 2 years have the option to transfer to Cornton Vale.

Other prisoners outwith these classifications received from court are housed and prepared for onward movement to appropriate establishments, although some prisoners are held out of classification where this meets the operational needs of the SPS.

Visiting

Untried Visits
Monday - Friday 13.30 - 16.15; Saturday 13.45 - 16.15

Convicted Visits
Monday -Thursday 19.30 - 20.45; Friday (Drug Free) 18.45 - 20.30 (Comprises 2 sessions); Sunday 13.45 - 16.15

Agents Visits
Monday - Friday 08.00 - 11.55 & 13.45 - 16.15; Weekends 08.00 - 11.45 & 14.00 - 16.00

Further Information

Strategic Issues:

Maximising the use of Resources.
Our focus will be on long term, sustainable use of resources, (staff, time, money, energy, space and equipment) with the development of long term plans for the estate to ensure appropriate and prioritised investment. Alteration work will help increase the design capacity of the prison by 4 spaces. Work on attendance patterns ( in line with national frameworks), in particular the allocation of resources in the Operations Group, will ensure best use of staff time.

Achieving and Sustaining Standards.
We intend to build on ongoing work by developing an enhanced continuous improvement programme, which will ensure sustained compliance with standards. We will also develop internal Service Level Agreements between functional areas to promote ongoing achievement. This year will see a drive to meet outstanding areas of non-compliance in Operating, Security and Health Care Standards. We maintain a focus on development of improved ECR, visits and staff facilities as areas that require investment to achieve acceptable modern standards and which were issues in the Third Prison Survey.

Maintaining a Safe and Stable Environment for a Fluctuating Population.
Safety will remain a priority - the success of a Violence Management Group will be measured by the number of violent incidents which occur, with reducing targets set. Investment in a new Intelligence System will improve our capacity for preventative action. Health and Safety in general will be subject to enhanced inspection procedures. Fire safety, in particular, will require investment in new systems to supplement improvement work on other processes.

Identifying and Addressing the Risks and Needs of Diverse Prisoner Population, in Partnerships with other Agencies.
We intend to become more sophisticated in risks/needs assessment through development of the existing induction procedures. Drugs will remain an issue but we will seek to develop a more responsive system that tackles the broader range of needs presented. This will include research into developing an activities timetabling procedure for prisoners. We will seek site accreditation for Cognitive Skills and will take the lead in developing Throughcare systems with other agencies.

Developing and Supporting the Team.
In seeking to become a learning establishment, we will focus not only on meeting core-training requirements but also on encouraging personal development in its wider sense through development activities and increased empowerment. The management structure will be subject to radical review to ensure best fit and attention will be paid to improving levels of consultation. This will continue to address issues raised in the Third Prison Survey about direction and communication.