Scotland's first ever community custody unit for female prisoners has been completed and is set to open next week.
The Bella Centre in Dundee is the first facility of its kind in the UK. It aims to mix traditional custodial sentencing with reintegration into everyday life, and is designed for female prisoners approaching the end of their jail sentences.
Scottish Prison Service bosses say the new unit is designed to look as little like a prison as possible in order to help its prisoners reintegrate with society. The buildings resemble a housing estate, and there are no bars on the windows - nor any barbed wire or high walls.
Prisoners will stay in individual bedrooms and share communal living spaces. During their time at the unit they will also look after themselves - including keeping their 'homes' tidy and doing laundry.
The Bella Centre also has a community hub where women prisoners can meet with visitors and access local services to help them start life anew upon release. Prison chiefs have hailed the completion of the unit as a "truly landmark" moment, but it has not been without controversy.
When the unit was first announced in 2017, residents of the Coldside area launched a petition urging SPS bosses to build the unit elsewhere, amid fears that a prison within the community would lead to an increase in crime. However, the prison service says the idea of building the custody unit within an established residential area is part of their strategy to reduce re-offending.
Research cited by the prison service found that female prisoners are more likely to have experienced domestic abuse and/or childhood trauma than the typical Scottish woman, and are more likely to have substance misuse problems. The idea behind the custody unit is to help women beat their demons and better themselves, in order to reduce the risk of them committing further offences.
A Scottish Prison Service spokesperson said: "We have worked to develop the best possible facilities for women in our care, our staff and our communities. We have re-designed our custodial environment with the aim of creating gender specific and trauma-informed settings with facilities designed to help better prepare women for release."
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