On 14 June 2024,  HMIPS published its Thematic Review of Prison Progression in Scottish Prisons. As expected, it was pretty damning. The views of 1,154 people in total were taken into account. It concluded that not one part of the progression system was operating as it should. There are blockages at every stage of the process. There’s a lack of transparency and any understanding of it is confined to a very small group of people. Most prisoners were completely unaware of progression criteria for example. Amongst 58 recommendations, HMIPS called for the whole progression process to be reviewed. SPS say it’s committed to reviewing and resolving all issues.