low moss visits timetable

Prison Information

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HMP Low Moss

• HMYOI / HMP Polmont

For more information about Prison Visitor Centres – please view the Scottish Prison Services website.

Getting in Touch

Main Switch Board: 0141 762 9500 Family Contact Officer: 0141 762 9557

Visits Booking Line: 0141 762 9547 8.30am – 8.00pm on Monday 8.30am – 4.00pm on Tues, Wed, Thurs and Fri 9.00am – 4.00pm on Saturday (closed for lunch between 1.00pm – 2.00pm)

190 Crosshill Road Bishopbriggs Glasgow G64 2QB

Visiting the Prison

Due to Coronavirus, prison visits are slightly different. Please read the latest information from the SPS Website.

Prison information on visiting HMP Low Moss is available here .

Travel to the Prison

Nearest train station: Bishopbriggs (2.1 miles) Buses: 88

Free parking is available for visitors at the prison.

Information on financial support for the cost of prison visits is available here .

Visitor Centre Information

HMP Low Moss has a Visitors’ Centre operated by Early Years Scotland.

Due to the Coronavirus Early Years Scotland is providing a revised service. Details can be found here

Contact Details

Details can be found here

Opening Times

Other information.

Further information on the Visitors’ Centre is available here .

Financial Support for Visits to Prison

For information on financial support for visits to prison - please click here .

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Low Moss Prison Information

• Accommodation: The prison consists of multiple residential units with individual cells or shared accommodation for inmates. The cells are equipped with basic amenities, including beds, personal storage, and sanitation facilities.
• Education and Vocational Training: Low Moss Prison provides educational programs to help inmates improve their literacy, numeracy, and other skills. Vocational training opportunities are also offered to enhance employment prospects upon release.
• Work Opportunities: Inmates have access to work opportunities within the prison, such as maintenance, cleaning, kitchen, and other designated roles. These work activities aim to develop skills, a sense of responsibility, and a work ethic.
• Healthcare: Low Moss Prison has an on-site healthcare unit staffed with medical professionals who offer primary healthcare services to prisoners. Mental health support, substance abuse programs, and specialist services are also available.
• Sports and Physical Activities: The prison promotes physical fitness and well-being by providing access to sports facilities and organized activities. These activities aim to promote positive lifestyle choices and encourage teamwork.
• Family Contact: Low Moss Prison recognizes the importance of maintaining family relationships and supports visits and contact with family members, subject to specific guidelines and regulations.
• Resettlement Support: The prison offers pre-release planning and support to help inmates prepare for their eventual release. This may include assistance with accommodation, employment, and access to community-based support services.

Contact Information

Booking a visit to low moss prison.

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Young Children Affected by Parental Imprisonment

The Early Years Scotland Young Children Affected by Parental Imprisonment Programme takes place in six prisons across the country. This includes HMP Castle Huntly, HMP Low Moss, HMP Greenock and HMP Barlinnie, HMP Edinburgh and HMP Cornton Vale. The programme has two components which includes the Early Years Scotland Fathers’ Programme and Learning Together Through Play sessions. The Fathers’ Programme covers topics such as brain development, attachment and bonding, child development, health and wellbeing, childrens’ rights, home safety, the importance of play and Getting it Right for Every Child (GIRFEC). The play sessions provide opportunities for prisoners and their young children and families to interact, improve attachment and confidence and play and learn together.

Most of all, these services provide valuable opportunities for children to feel that they have a bond and relationship with their father or mother, when they are in prison.

Fathers’ Programme  The Fathers’ Programme comprises a mix of theoretical and interactive sessions aimed at supporting fathers to help achieve better outcomes for their children. Fathers are supported to build their skills, knowledge and confidence, all of which can then be implemented during Learning Together Through Play sessions which take place when their children come to visit.  This part of the programme lasts for two hours for a block of ten sessions at a time.  Almost all parents report that participation in the programme improves and strengthens their overall relationship with their child and family.

Learning Together Through Play Sessions  These sessions are available to those who have completed, or are currently undertaking the Fathers’ Programme, their young children and others involved in the child’s care. These sessions enable fathers to practise the skills gained during the Fathers’ Programme. They then use these skills to ensure that their child benefits through play, improved interactions and a more enjoyable experience when they visit their father in prison.  These fun and interactive play sessions include support from the Early Years Scotland qualified Early Years Practitioner through role modelling by; demonstrating and encouraging families to participate in singing, action songs, rhymes, reading stories, messy play, arts and crafts learning experiences and free play sessions for children using a selection of resources.

Mothers’ Programme The Mothers’ Programme can be delivered between a 5 – 10-week period, either in small groups or individually. The programme comprises a mix of theoretical, interactive sessions alongside arts and crafts aimed at building knowledge, skills, wellbeing and confidence which can be implemented during visit sessions. The programme can also be tailored to individual needs prior to their release from prison, to work on improving current and future parent child relationships.

Learning Together Through Play Sessions The interactive play sessions take place during prison visits, where children come along to spend time with their mum as well as their carers. The sessions allow mothers to bond with their child and put into practice the knowledge and skills they have gained during the Mothers’ Programme.

These fun and interactive play sessions include support and role modelling from the EYS early years practitioner through; singing action songs and rhymes, reading stories, messy play, arts and crafts activities and free play sessions for the children with a selection of toys and resources.

Arts and crafts session Some of the mothers may not receive visits from their children and other family members at the time of programme delivery.  Therefore, EYS will offer the opportunity for mothers to take part in art and craft sessions.  The sessions will allow mothers to be involved in making crafts such as; memory boxes and photo frames for their children, which can then be sent home to their children in the post.

EYS Family Visitor Centre at HMP Low Moss

The Scottish Government has a commitment to ensure all prisons in Scotland have a visitor centre.

Opened in late 2017, the EYS Family Visitor Centre at HMP Low Moss is a place for families and friends to relax before their visit and access independent and impartial advice and information to support prisoners’ families.  Early Years Scotland is working in partnership with HMP Low Moss and we are proud to provide this service.

Contact the centre on 0141 762 9703. Email: [email protected]

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Inside HMP Low Moss: 'It’s like a village in East Dunbartonshire and this is the FE college that services it'

“It’s like a village in East Dunbartonshire and this is the FE college that services it.” Sitting in the bowels of Low Moss prison, in an office-come-kitchen off the corridor that connects its six workshops, governor David Abernethy’s depiction may seem foreign to some with long memories of forbidding buildings such as Barlinnie.

To all appearances, this part of the establishment does resemble a modern-day college more than a prison, that is, if one looks beyond the head-to-toe metal detector guarding entry and exit to the workshop area where prisoners work up to 35 hours a week.

This month marks four years since HMP Low Moss, Scotland’s newest jail with a daily population of around 750, was opened. Its first job was to ease overcrowding in other parts of the estate, namely, Barlinnie, which was 60 per cent over capacity when Low Moss, on the outskirts of Bishopbriggs, began taking in its first prisoners.  However, it had been billed as so much more. In many ways, it is the prison service’s attempt at instilling a purposeful working culture as a priority rather than purely an ideal.

“There is an old jail saying about slow time and fast time,” says Abernethy. “Certainly televisions, telephones, these are things that were not in the prison service when I started 30 years ago, so they’ve helped just in terms of providing people with the opportunity to maintain some kind of interest in the outside world and a focus for their attention. But no matter how good the telly is, no matter how often you’re phoning the family, there is a high degree of boredom.”

Work, education and training are, therefore, “very much a part of their life in Low Moss”, according to the former Inverness Prison governor. Though conducted almost three years ago, the last official inspection would appear to bear that out. Despite a target of 35 hours purposeful activity per week not being delivered for all prisoners, the chief inspector of prisons did commend the establishment for achieving the highest level within Scottish Prison Service (SPS) public sector prisons.

“The old mail bags and fishing nets sort of thing, devil makes work for idle hands, keep people busy, we’ve moved up another level,” adds Abernethy. “We still need a bit of that because people do get bored and some people don’t want to learn new skills and aren’t interested in employment. But we’ve got a significant percentage of people who see a different future for themselves away from offending and our job is to try and help them on that journey.”

‘Unlocking potential, transforming lives’ is the slogan the SPS now abides by following a major organisational review just over two years ago. Indeed, one doesn’t have to look far to find it: the words are carved on wooden souvenirs perched on the windowsill of Abernethy’s office (individuals working in the wood machining and assembly work areas within the prison produced them). An SVQ (Scottish Vocational Qualification) level 3 in wood machining will soon be offered. “We could probably offer a four-year apprenticeship in there just with the nature of the work,” says production and services manager, George Borden, as we walk round the workshops.

“A lot of people think that in the jail we just lock people up and there is nothing happening in here. But with the technologies we’ve got – we’ve got CNC machinery – we actually match and exceed colleges and external training environments.” Products are sold through the prison service’s industries’ arm while furniture has also been made for other establishments such as Grampian and Cornton Vale. Walking through the spacious workshop, Borden taps a carver chair a couple of times as if to illustrate how sturdy it is. “B&Q don’t want it because it’s too good,” he jokes, implying it doesn’t exactly lend itself to repeat business.

After two decades as a technical instructor for the likes of Volkswagen, Audi and Porsche, Borden started out at Barlinnie before going on to spend 14 years at Edinburgh, where he ran the machine shop. A brief spell at Shotts followed before he helped to map out work within Low Moss. “It’s a totally new ethos,” he says.

“In the old days, you just pinned the tail on the donkey and put the first ten in the first workshop and then filled all the workshops. Now we’re sitting down, we’re speaking to people, ‘what do you fancy doing, here is what we’ve got, this is what you’re going to gain out of that and here is how you’re going to gain it’.”

Around 150 individuals are in the work areas this morning. “We have created the external working environment in here,” says Borden. “They’re working a 35-hour week so it’s an easy transition.” Twenty-four work in a commercial-size laundry five days a week where an SVQ level 2 in laundry operations is offered. National progression awards – in effect, a level down from an SVQ – are available in craft, joinery as well as painting and decorating. In fact, skills learned in the latter are put to use to renovate or repair cells in the residential wing, a set-up that clearly suits prison management too given money would otherwise be spent bringing in outside contractors.

Prison officers trained up as industry qualified instructors are also approved to deliver bricklaying, plumbing and cosmetology (Low Moss has a barbers with six cutting stations). Manual handling is done in accordance with the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents, while courses in biohazard cleaning (“that’s your dirty protests and all your blood clean-ups,” says Borden) and industrial cleaning – offering the potential to gain qualifications accredited by the British Institute of Cleaning Science – typically last two weeks.

A third bank of six prisoners is currently working through a waste management and recycling qualification available since last autumn. Three of those who went through it have since found employment on release, partly stemming from links the prison has built with companies on the outside. “Some would actually work for an employer for nothing for a while just to prove, ‘give me a chance’,” says Borden. “What we have asked is for the employers to come in and interview people and if there are any people they see with the skills they need, we’ll actually match them up and we’ll develop that for release.”

Meanwhile in the kitchen – which sees 45 men working in shifts to turn out up to 1600 hot meals a day – catering officer Vincent Rooney has eight candidates going through the SVQ training process, learning some of the basics behind food preparation and cooking over a period of up to six months. “The prison service has always been great at opening the door and just saying, ‘cheerio, we’ll see you next time you come in’,” he says.

“Now the onus is on trying to get guys and give them a life skill and a chance to make a go of it outside... They’re never going to be Michel Roux Junior but they’re going to have a level of catering and a level of understanding of it that they can then function by themselves.”

Around 70 individuals have been awarded an industry-recognised, elementary food hygiene certificate, their names featuring on two noticeboards in the corridor outside. “We used to make up our own qualifications and you’d get a certificate with the governor’s signature on it or the head of offender outcomes and the tagline was HMP Low Moss – that didn’t mean anything to an employer,” says Abernethy. “But if you’ve got something that is industry standard, then that is meaningful.”

Of course, things are not straightforward. Ruth Facchini has run the education department since the prison opened in March 2012. Around 45 individuals sit in on each of the four daily sessions, learning a mixture of core skills – literacy, numeracy and computing – creative skills, and social studies such as history and modern studies. “We have to keep the provision quite flexible because of the transient nature of the prison population in Low Moss,” she says. “Most of the courses are modular so we’re doing units and modules that you can pick up and you can join a class at any given point, really.

“It’s almost like one-to-one learning in a group setting and that is the challenge that teachers face because they have got new people joining their class every week and they’ve got lots of different abilities as well to cope with.” Given that some will be in Low Moss having been convicted of domestic abuse, a piece of work using creative writing as a means to discuss gender-based violence has just been completed. Facchini, who previously worked in Polmont and Greenock, describes the prison as “very outward looking” in its efforts to bring in other agencies to try and replicate what is being done outside its walls.

Internet access is not one of them, however. “That is being debated as we speak and there is talk that it may come in the not too distant future in a controlled measure,” she tells Holyrood. “But certainly without it, it is a huge issue for us as teachers, with more and more learning materials online, especially for prisoners that are doing Open University study. It’s hugely challenging to try and get round that.”

Then there is the small matter of engagement in various activities. “We have to sell this to prisoners as much as we have to sell it to the public,” admits Abernethy. For those who do wish to take part, places can be at a premium. Ryan, 33, who is housed in a hall set aside for remand and convicted prisoners who have never been in custody before, is in his third week of working with the Freedom Bakery, a social enterprise artisan bakery based within Low Moss.

“In that hall we’re in, there are only certain jobs like pass man reception and pass man in the hall but people have got those jobs so you can’t get a job,” he says. “I’d rather do this than any of the other ones, anyway. You’re treated normal, like a worker. You can see how it benefits people for coming out – they’ve got a skill. My girlfriend likes the cinnamon buns, so I promised I’d learn to make them.”

The first social enterprise partner of the SPS, the bakery recruits directly from the prison halls with each person put through a job application and interview process before being employed and trained to gain a vocational qualification in craft baking. Three are currently working full time, five days a week, eight hours a day, while another four are part time. Bread and cakes are sold in the prison visiting area and to restaurants, cafés and businesses in and around Glasgow. “The quality of bread that we give to them, they won’t find anywhere in Glasgow,” says Lee Macaloney, one of two bakers providing teaching.

Working within a maximum-security prison, of course, presents its own challenges, mainly that the bakery has to operate between 8am and 4pm. That said, Abernethy intimates that conversations are already taking place about how the bakery might better meet demand for same-day delivery. “Clearly, there are some logistical issues and security issues for us in terms of doing things outwith our normal day but it’s not impossible to do that,” he says.

One of those involved – “he has probably read a good five or six bakery books off his own back,” says Macaloney – was due to move up to the open estate last week. “The plan is that if someone goes up to the open we’ll find a bakery up there that will take them on while they’re out for work, so they’ll get a more realistic and broad way of seeing how other bakeries do stuff and be able to say, ‘this is how I’ve learned, it might benefit you as well’,” he explains.

It’s an approach that Low Moss is exploring in other areas as well. “We’re hoping that we’ll have our first prisoners [out] on placement here in Low Moss probably in the next two or three months,” adds Abernethy. Around a dozen prisoners are being sought as a starting point.

There is, however, the issue of scale. The Freedom Bakery, for instance, has attracted significant attention given the public emphasis those at the top of the SPS are now placing on a so-called ‘asset-based approach’. It is the exception rather than the rule as it stands within the wider prison estate, though. “Very much, they are,” acknowledges Abernethy. “It’s a small part and a relatively small number of people, but it’s an incredibly powerful message.

"What it is is that little acorn – hopefully – that the oak tree will grow from. But I think the trick for us is not to put all our eggs in one basket. Not everybody who leaves prison in Scotland in 10 years’ time is going to be a baker. We’re needing some other types of activity to support people and we have to keep a weather eye on what is happening in the community.”

As some working day-to-day within Scottish prisons will point out, though, there is a need to be realistic. Estimates suggest nearly three-quarters of prisoners across Scotland have an alcohol use disorder, with over one-third likely to be alcohol dependent. Addictions prevalence testing on reception at Scottish prisons indicated seven out of ten of those tested in 2014-15 were positive for illegal drugs. Poor mental health remains commonplace, while homelessness awaits many upon release.

Perversely, in a number of cases, finding settled accommodation in supported housing is said to hinder employment prospects as rents are often too high to be met through earnings, leaving little option but to not work and instead claim housing benefit. Similarly, attempting to continue work done in prison within a college setting can be complicated by the same so-called benefits trap. “If I’ve heard one say it, I’ve heard them all,” remarks one workshop instructor on inmates talking of setting up their own business once they leave, clearly sceptical that the harsh realities of post-release will allow it.

It is against this backdrop that the Low Moss public social partnership – a pilot project led by Turning Point Scotland with input from various public and third sector organisations – works with short-term offenders leading up to and following release. It’s an initiative that the prison service is trying to replicate in part through the rollout of throughcare support officers across the broader estate.

Waiting in the prison’s link centre to be escorted out, word filters upstairs from reception. An individual released after being held on remand appears to have returned 10 minutes later, pleading with staff to be let back in. Overcoming this type of occurrence is likely to be a measure of not only Low Moss’s success but of those working outside the prison gates going forward.

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Life Behind Bars: Visiting Hour unlocks the sobering reality of prison

HMP Low Moss is a maximum security prison in Glasgow, where 500 male inmates are serving time for crimes ranging from breach of the peace to murder.

One thing that most of the men have in common, though, is the pleasure of visits from friends and family.

Life Behind Bars: Visiting Hour is a powerful documentary from Channel 4, which hones in on the reality of prison life.

This show explores what happens when the outside meets the inside. The result is emotional, raw, and occasionally surprising.

Love and forgiveness

For viewers accustomed to Americanised television shows set in prisons, the reality of visiting hour may be a little different than imagined.

Gone are the plastic chairs and tables we see in movies. Handcuffs are nowhere to be seen.

There’s nobody shouting “no touching” when the visitors arrive.

Instead, there’s a comfy seating area, where families can catch up. There’s hugging and kissing, and a lot of talk of love and forgiveness.

There’s also a cafe selling sandwiches, sweets and more, and the prisoners can be treated to a Bounty during the hour. A tray full of Mars Bars, anyone?

Visitors can feel like prisoners, too

But still, it’s an emotional experience for all involved. “You feel like the prisoner yourself sometimes,” says one young woman, who is there to visit her father, Mark.

She’s there with her two sisters, and they’re introducing him to his granddaughter for the first time.

For this family, his absence in their day-to-day life is all too real. They describe him as the”glue that holds them together”. He’s had several sentences in the past, and they hope that this will be his last.

Another prisoner, Mike, is serving 14 years after being convicted of attempted murder. His father John is in his eighties, and is a Christian minister.

When it was revealed that Mike was leading a clandestine life, with a second family, John was deeply troubled. He wants nothing more than for his son to repent.

Mike doesn’t want his father to die while he is still in prison, and John wants to save his son’s soul. It sounds like the premise of a BBC drama, but this is real-life anguish. When the men speak of their lives and of their faith, it is honest and revealing.

Prison’s ‘revolving door’

Another memorable case from the show is David, whose behaviour when drunk has been a constant source of stress to his family. For him, there’s a question mark over how he will cope when he is released.

His brother is quick to note how peaceful life has been, and his mother isn’t eager for more trouble in the family home.

It boils down to what’s known as the “revolving door” – will David leave, only to come back again in the future?

This documentary does not try to sensationalise crime, prison or people’s lives. Instead, it takes a calm, honest look at the impact that convictions can have on real people and their relationships.

It’s insightful to the last. And just like visitation, it makes for an emotional hour.

Life Behind Bars: Visiting Hour is on Channel 4 at 9pm. Or you can catch up after on All4. 

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Low Moss Prison

Tel: 0141 762 9500  –  190 Crosshill Road, Glasgow, Lanarkshire G64 2QB

HMP Low Moss has a capacity of 784 and is designed to hold male inmates serving both short-term and long-term sentences, in addition to those serving a life-sentence or on remand. It mainly only accepts prisoners from the North Strathclyde Community Justice Authority area. The prison opened in 2012, though the original prison was opened in 1968, closing in 2007. If you’d like to find out how to get to HMP Low Moss, please use the map on this page.

Tel: 0141 762 9500

Operational capacity: 700

190 Crosshill Road, Glasgow, Lanarkshire G64 2QB

Calls from the payphones at HMP Low Moss can be quite expensive, 40p per minute in fact!

However Prison Phone have been reducing the cost of the same calls to just 10p per minute since 2013. Our service helps inmates within Low Moss prison to stretch their PINS phone credits further meaning you don’t send in so much for them to by PINS phone credit!

Send me Low Moss prison details via FREE SMS

Mobile number:

Here’s some facts about Low Moss Prison

HMP Low Moss is a low-security prison on the outskirts of Bishopbridge Dunbartonshire; near Glasgow. Opened in 1968, the prison has a capacity to hold 784 inmates.

The original establishment was closed in 2007, and redeveloped . Construction began in 2010, ready to be finished and reopened in early 2012. The capacity would be twice the old figure, and the prison was expanded by three times in size.

Thief Paul Matthews Cowan , described as a prisoner at HMP Low Moss was found to have stole two cars, including a £40,000 BMW and a Ford Fiesta valued at £6,000. He was also found to have stolen Christmas presents from a van.

There is not a report for HMP Low Moss on the HMIPS website.

Visiting hours are complex. For more information, click here , and view the right side of the page. Visits are Monday to Sunday every week without children.

The site was originally used as a barrage balloon station during World War II.

In the past, the site was also used as a golf driving range!

When HMP Low Moss was originally constructed in the 1960s, it was only designed to be a temporary establishment.

Prison Phone offers phone tariffs that reduce the costs of calls from this prison by up to 75%! This enables prisoners to get the support and love that they are missing from home, while reducing costs for the inmate. Find out more below.

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HMP Low Moss: Inmates sharing single cells at overcrowded jail

• Published 5 July 2022
• Coronavirus

One of Scotland's newest jails was overcrowded during the Covid pandemic after its capacity was expanded, prison inspectors have found.

The creation of 100 extra spaces at HMP Low Moss left inmates sharing cells designed for single occupancy.

Covid restrictions also meant a "significant number" of prisoners only had an hour of open-air exercise a day.

The prison service said it hoped a planned replacement for Glasgow's Barlinnie jail would ease pressures.

HMP Low Moss, which opened on the outskirts of Bishopbriggs in East Dunbartonshire in 2012, is one of the most modern in Scotland.

Built on the site of a demolished former jail that had wooden huts, it was described at the time as "state of the art" with wide corridors, workshop facilities for prisoners and cells with en-suite facilities.

• Inside Low Moss, Scotland's modern jail

However, when a team from the prisons inspectorate visited in early February, they found it had a population exceeding its design capacity.

The jail was originally designed for 784 inmates but this was later expanded to 884 under "Project 100" by replacing single beds with bunk beds.

The chief inspector of prisons for Scotland, Wendy Sinclair-Gieben, said it was symptomatic of a wider overcrowding problem across the country's prisons.

She told the BBC's Good Morning Scotland programme: "For some considerable time the population has far exceeded the design capacity

"Because the Scottish Prison Service has no control over the number of prisoners who come into their care, they have had to adapt by making small cells double cells by putting in bunk beds."

The report said the double cells were inadequate for two people to live comfortably side by side at a time when inmates were spending long periods in their cells due to Covid restrictions.

"While that would be reasonable to share a very small room provided you are only sleeping in it, it is unreasonable when you are spending 22 to 23 hours a day in a room with a total stranger," she said.

The report found that "significant numbers" of prisoners were limited to the minimum requirement of one hour of open-air exercise during the pandemic while infection control rules meant isolated prisoners only received one hour of fresh air every third day.

But the watchdog added: "We were pleased to see that the governor addressed and resolved this human rights issue during the inspection."

The report also found that permanent additional staff resources were not allocated to the prison following the introduction of the extra spaces, and identified a "clear need for a full capacity modelling exercise".

The inspectors observed and heard of examples of "good compassionate care and support for prisoners", particularly for vulnerable inmates, but it also reported that relationships between prisoners and staff "were not always so positive".

Alternatives to custody

A spokesperson for the Scottish Prison Service said: "Whilst we recognise that overcrowding is never desirable, we have to manage the population appropriately, and HMP Low Moss is one of our most modern establishments.

"The building of the new HMP Glasgow will provide a more permanent solution to this issue."

The Scottish government said it was investing £500m in the prison estate over this parliamentary term as well as promoting community-based alternatives to prison.

The chief inspector for prisons said she believed that finding alternatives to custody was an important part of the solution.

"If you look at the number of people on remand, it's shockingly high - higher than any other country in Europe - and in that respect, surely we can find an alternative to simply placing people on remand in prison," she said.

Despite acknowledging the pressures created during the pandemic, Ms Sinclair-Gieben said there had been some positive developments such as the better use of communication technology.

"There's a level of creativity that came out of Covid that allowed the Scottish Prison Service to reset the clock and do things better," she said.

"Telephony in cells for starters, video link calls with families. Can you imagine if you live up in Wick and your son is in Polmont, instead of having to travel down, you can now do a video visit."

Related Topics

• Bishopbriggs

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Culture | TV

Life Behind Bars: Visiting hour - Everything you need to know about the C4 prison documentary

In this latest instalment of Channel 4’s Life Behind Bars series, which takes an in depth look at prison life, cameras head to one of Scotland’s largest prisons, HMP Low Moss to record inmates’ visits from family and friends.

Here’s everything you need to know:

What’s it about?

The documentary focuses on one of the most important aspects in any prisoner’s life – their contact with the outside world.

Poignant moments come from Gary – who received his first murder conviction aged just nineteen after getting into a fight – and his fiancée Charley who are trying to plan a wedding despite Gary not yet having a release date.

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We also hear from another inmate Mike who is navigating an at-times tricky relationship with his retired church minister father.

Meanwhile prisoner Mark meets his granddaughter for the very first time on camera.

What is Low Moss?

Low Moss is a large, medium security prison located just North of Glasgow, which can house up to 784 inmates. It was opened in 1968 but underwent an extensive redevelopment in 2012. The men’s prison is home to notorious criminals including John Leatham, who killed teenager Paige Doherty, but also houses less dangerous criminals serving short-term sentences.

When’s it on?

The hour-long documentary airs on July 4 at 9pm on Channel 4.

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Life Behind Bars: Visiting Hour

Documentary exploring the relationships between prisoners and visitors over a one-hour visit at low moss prison in scotland..

HMP Low Moss, located just outside Glasgow, is home to 784 men serving a total of almost 15,000 years behind bars. Their crimes range from mass murder to tax evasion, and men are serving sentences of months, years or even decades. But there is one room in the prison where those serving time inside meet the outside world... the visiting room.

The documentary will explore how relationships are maintained between the men serving time and their family, friends and children who are waiting for them on the outside.

Life Behind Bars: Visiting Hour aired Tuesday 4th July 2017 on Channel 4.

• Genre Factual
• Duration 1 X 60
• Broadcaster Channel 4
• Completion July 2017

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HM INSPECTORATE OF PRISONS: HMP LOW MOSS

INSPECTION: 15-16 AUGUST 2005 LAST FULL INSPECTION 31 MARCH - 1 APRIL 2004

ISBN 0 7559 2783 4

This document is also available in pdf format (132k)

1. INTRODUCTION

2. PREAMBLE

3. KEY ISSUES AND NEW DEVELOPMENTS

1.1 The visit to HMP Low Moss was made as part of a programme to visit every prison each year in which a full inspection is not being made. In the course of such visits the purpose is to follow up points of note from previous inspections, to examine any significant changes, and to explore issues arising from the establishment's own assessment of itself. It should not be seen as an attempt to inspect the whole life of the establishment.

1.2 The Inspection Team comprised:

Andrew McLellan - HMCIP Rod MacCowan - HMDCIP David Abernethy - HMIP

ANDREW R C McLELLAN HM CHIEF INSPECTOR OF PRISONS

September 2005

2.1 For some time there has been a widespread expectation that Low Moss prison is about to close. At one stage, it seemed possible that this inspection might not take place because the prison had closed. But in all the uncertainty, the life of Low Moss has continued: its prisoners continue to live there and its staff continue to work there.

2.2 Last year's report observed "a welcome and admirable determination among prison staff to make the best of Low Moss despite the constant and imminent prospect of closure." Twelve months on this report shows the same thing.

2.3 A new development in the last year has been the arrival of prisoners from Perth prison in significant numbers: at the time of inspection, 41% of the prisoners had been transferred from Perth. This has been well managed and has led to no violence. Indeed the reduction of violence in Low Moss is noticeable: against a KPI of five serious prisoner-on-prisoner assaults there was only one. There has not been a major incident of concerted indiscipline by prisoners for three years. There was one escape in the last year. Prisoners and staff repeatedly said that they believed the reduction in violence could be attributed to the 'compartmentalising' of the dormitory accommodation which was welcomed in last year's report.

2.4 The living conditions in the unmodernised dormitories remain the worst feature of the prison. Twenty seven prisoners are living in one undivided room, which is almost impossible to keep clean and in which it would be very easy to feel unsafe. Successive reports have been highly critical of this entirely unsuitable accommodation. If Low Moss prison is to remain open steps must be taken immediately to ensure that prisoners no longer live in these unmodernised dormitories. The laundry service is also very poor. A year ago the report said "prisoners in Low Moss still cannot be guaranteed the decency every day of clean underpants which fit them". This year it is just as bad.

2.5 The quality and quantity of food in Low Moss is recognised as good by prisoners and this report confirms that. Low Moss is also to be commended for the variety and value of links which it has with outside agencies.

Arrival of Prisoners from HMP Perth

3.1 A new development in the last year has been the arrival of prisoners from Perth prison in significant numbers: at the time of inspection, 41% of the prisoners had been transferred from Perth. This has been well managed and has led to no violence. The one issue mentioned by prisoners was the difficulty some visitors from the Dundee area and beyond were experiencing in getting to Low Moss: no special arrangements had been made to try and help these visitors.

3.2 A change to attendance arrangements means that Low Moss now serves all meals at times required by SPS Operating Standards.

3.3 The quality and quantity of the food is still very popular with prisoners. In fact, the SPS Prisoner Survey 2005 indicated that prisoners' perception of the quality of food provided had improved, especially in relation to choice: up by 12% to 67%. This is also 14% above the SPS average. The good food was confirmed by prisoners during inspection.

3.4 The introduction of a pre selection choice menu system was not considered necessary given the popularity of the current system.

Clothing and Laundry

3.5 Since the last inspection Low Moss has submitted a bid for funding to increase the capacity of the laundry. Some money has been allocated to increase the washing and drying capacity, although this still falls well short of what would be needed to make the prison self-sufficient. An individual bagging system has also been tried but the laundry inside the bags was sometimes still wet when it was given back to prisoners. There has also been an increase in the clothing issued to prisoners, which has put even greater pressure on the laundry process.

3.6 There have been no significant improvements in the clothing or laundry systems. No personal items are allowed. It is not possible for prisoners to personalise the prison kit issued to them. Access to underwear is still ad hoc and first come first served. Sometimes there are not enough items to go round.

3.7 Given these problems many prisoners "stockpile" their clothing and wash it in the sinks in the dormitories. If the prison is to remain open, it should consider putting domestic washing machines and tumble driers into some or all of the dormitories.

Relationships

3.8 Since the introduction of the new staff attendance pattern, each dormitory has its own designated officers. Prisoners spoke positively about the opportunity to get to know these officers; the consistency of decision-making; and of an improvement in relationships.

Education, Training and Employability

3.9 A Vocational Training Cleaning Party operates out of a converted dormitory. The facility is excellent and the quality of the training appears to be appropriate. A Forklift Driving course is no longer available: staffing problems have meant that no training has been given since May 2005. As part of the induction process prisoners are offered basic training in Manual Handling, First Aid Awareness and Health and Safety.

3.10 The prison is currently in a position where it can provide relatively menial work, contracted joinery work and textile work to a large number of prisoners. If it wants to provide more certificated work it would have to reduce the numbers involved in these activities. It cannot do both given resources available.

3.11 At the time of inspection, Phoenix House had taken over from Cranstoun Drug Services for assessment and referral of cases, and also to provide interventions for those with identified needs.

3.12 At the time of inspection it was no longer an SPS requirement to conduct Mandatory Drug Testing.

3.13 At the time of the last report, it was highlighted that "there does not appear to be a clear management structure for addictions". At that time the Links Centre, the Health Centre, Cranstoun and the Addictions Worker all had some responsibility. There is now an Addictions Manager based in the Links Centre who coordinates addiction services. Low Moss continues to have one dedicated Addictions Nurse who sees all admissions who identify as having an addictions issue and determines whether a prisoner requires treatment, maintenance or detoxification. The prison's approach is to attempt to stabilise individuals, reduce harm and support individuals who have a commitment to addressing their addiction needs. As before, prisoners undergoing detoxification remain in their dormitory and do not work during this period, consequently their access to the prison regime is extremely limited.

3.14 The Addictions Nurse reviews all prisoners undergoing any form of treatment on a weekly basis, which also provides an opportunity for some one-to-one support work. The prison did make plans for a methadone support group, although there was little uptake.

3.15 As part of the harm reduction focus, Phoenix House delivers the national harm reduction package during induction and prior to release, and also works with individuals in order to link them with community services. As a result of the increase in the geographical areas from which Low Moss now takes its prisoners the addiction service within the prison works with most drug services across Scotland.

3.16 Support for individuals addressing their addictions issues includes the programmes 'Drugs Action for Change' and 'Alcohol Awareness'. There is also ongoing support from Alcoholics Anonymous, Narcotics Anonymous and Open Door Trust amongst others. Generally, the response to addictions at Low Moss is appropriate to the prisoner group, with a clear policy of establishing links with the community. The management structure is also clear and appropriate.

3.17 The improvement in the induction system, which was noted in the last inspection report, has been maintained. The introduction of the SPS Short-Term Offender Needs Assessment ( STONA ) and Community Integration Plan ( CIP ) has now been overtaken by the SPS Core Screen Assessment which is a simplified version of the STONA .

3.18 It was encouraging to see that the link between the Core Screen Assessment and the PR2 Computerised Prisoner Record System generates referrals to agencies and services within and outwith the prison. The database which has been developed also alerts staff to the review dates for the action plan generated by the Core Screen Assessment. This feeds directly into the wider throughcare approach for prisoners at Low Moss. The system is supported by a paper-based system which allows the system to be cross-referenced and audited. This process is well suited to the needs of the Low Moss prisoner population. The SPS national induction programme is delivered at Low Moss.

3.19 At the time of the last report residential staff delivered programmes, and demands within the prison impacted on the consistency with which courses could run. A staffing re-organisation has since taken place and there are now two full-time programme staff based in the Links Centre. Currently, these staff deliver four programmes: 'Cognitive Skills', 'Drugs Action for Change', 'Alcohol Awareness', and 'Parenting Skills'. Prisoners are referred through the Core Screen Assessment from Phoenix House and from a variety of staff within the prison. The prisoners are also able to self-refer. As before, all courses are oversubscribed and have a waiting list. The programmes staff are an integrated part of the Links Centre and work well with other agencies. However, despite being full-time programmes staff, they are still required to carry out some internal escorting and other duties which reduces the time they are able to devote to work within the Links Centre. Low Moss is well placed to meet its target for programmes.

Throughcare

3.20 At the time of the last inspection it was noted that the Assessment Centre had been re-designated a Links Centre and that a variety of services were starting to integrate. It is good to note that the Links Centre has developed well in the period since that inspection. It is a bright, attractive and well maintained area providing a range of one-to-one interview rooms, group rooms, classrooms and administrative offices. Approximately 30 external agencies use the Links Centre. Referrals to the Centre come mainly via the Core Screen Assessment and its related action plan. They also come from agencies and individual areas within the prison such as social work, chaplaincy, healthcare and induction. There is also a Links Centre self-referral form which is available in most areas of the prison: this is an excellent example of an informative and easy to use referral form for prisoners. Of note is a partnership forum meeting which is held every two months where individual agencies discuss work within the Links Centre: this allows problems to be identified and helps to provide a more integrated service. A further development has been the introduction of telephone interviews between prisoners and agencies. This is to be commended.

3.21 The introduction of a clear management structure and the identification of a Links Centre Manager has allowed the Links Centre to develop, and establish positive relationships with the agencies who use the Centre.

Pre Release

3.22 There is no formal pre release programme in place. However, the introduction of the Core Screen Assessment with its related action plan should mean that by the time of release any outstanding issues have been dealt with. A harm reduction session is delivered prior to release.

Japanese yen hits fresh 34-year low despite verbal intervention from authorities

The  yen  slipped past 155 against the U.S. dollar on Thursday, touching a new 34-year low against continued strength in the greenback.

The weakness comes as the Bank of Japan is due to release its monetary policy decision Friday and in spite of  verbal warnings from Japanese authorities .

Some market watchers had speculated that the 155 level would prompt intervention after the currency languished at multi-decade lows for a month.

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“For the BOJ to support the yen, it should acknowledge that policy has been too accommodative, that the next hike is as imminent as in June, and that the terminal rate would be higher than priced by the market,” Shusuke Yamada, head of Japan currency and rates strategy at BofA Securities Japan, said in a Tuesday note. Still, he said that’s unlikely at this week’s meeting.

The yen’s weakness has also been fueled by a stronger dollar. Stubborn  U.S. inflation  has spurred comments from Federal Reserve Chair  Jerome Powell  that suggest  rate cuts may not come  in the next several months.

“The Japanese authorities have stepped up verbal intervention, but it seems unlikely to be effective given that the move in the currency appears to reflect dollar strength against most currencies rather than being specific to the yen,” Idanna Appio, portfolio manager at First Eagle Investments, told CNBC.

Appio said this week’s BOJ meeting will be key for investors as they monitor inflation forecasts in light of the weaker yen, higher oil prices and strong wage growth.

Closing in on an intervention?

The yen has weakened 4.2% since the BOJ’s March meeting, worrying Japanese authorities and investors.

There has also been talk of a potential  “coordinated intervention”  with South Korea. If enacted, analysts believe such action could politically and economically benefit both nations, if it succeeded in supporting the yen and the Korean won.

As much as markets would like to see Japanese authorities take decisive action to stem the yen’s fall as soon as possible, analysts say it is unlikely that the central bank or the Ministry of Finance will act on it right away.

“The FX tail will not be allowed to wag the dog,” Vishnu Varathan, head of economics and strategy for Asia at Mizuho Bank, wrote in a note.

Varathan said yen weakness is a policy constraint, not a catalyst for the BOJ. He noted that the Japanese central bank will likely stick to its “dovish restraint” when it comes to tweaking rates. Instead, he said, authorities could opt for intervention through flexible bond purchase signals.

Shreyashi Sanyal is a correspondent for CNBC International in Singapore.