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United Kingdom · Scotland · Shotts

HMP Shotts

Maximum securityMaximummaleLowMedium
Verified 22 May 2026 · Data dated 1 Dec 2025
Fresh · 7d ago

Data is aggregated from public sources and may be incomplete or out of date. Always verify with primary sources before acting on any figure. See data sources.

For families

How to send mail, money, and visit HMP Shotts

Step-by-step guidance using the United Kingdom system — addresses, money services, visit booking, what to bring on your first visit.

Open toolkit
Photograph of HMP Shotts
Photo via Wikimedia Commons

Scotland's principal long-term male prison. Includes a Separation and Reintegration Unit.

Background

HM Prison Shotts is a prison near Shotts, North Lanarkshire, Scotland. It is a prison holding male prisoners with maximum security classification. Shotts exclusively holds prisoners serving a term of five years or longer, with some prisoners being transferred from other prisons due to a need for a more secure environment. The original prison was opened in 1978 with a design capacity of 528 inmates; the prison was completely rebuilt and new facilities opened in 2012, with a capacity of 538 adult male prisoners.

Source: Wikipedia article lead, CC-BY-SA.

Capacity

540

Current population

Occupancy

Year opened

1978

Operational

Facility profile

Operator

Scottish Prison Service

Population held

male

Opened

1978

Region

Scotland

Security level

Maximum

Death-row facility

No

Conditions

HMI Prisons publishes independent inspection reports on roughly a 3-5 year cycle.

Visiting

Booked online via the GOV.UK Prison Visits Booking system. Photo ID required. Visit frequency depends on the inmate's Incentives & Earned Privileges (IEP) level.

Mailing

Format: Prisoner Name & Number, HMP Shotts, Canthill Road, ML7 4LE. Cash not accepted — use Send Money to a Prisoner (GOV.UK).

Practical info

Assisted Prison Visits Unit helps low-income families with travel costs. Pact runs many of the on-site visitor centres.

Known issues

Contact & address

Canthill Road, Shotts ML7 4LE

Conditions Risk Score

Derived signal — not a judgement. How it's calculated

0/100
Low concern0/100
Overcrowding
0/30
Oversight reports
0/30
Structural flags
0/15
Death signals
0/15
Conditions text
0/10

Compared to other facilities in United Kingdom

583 peers
Conditions risk scorethis: 0/100 · peers avg: 4/100 (100%)

Higher risk than 0% of peer facilities in United Kingdom.

Capacity (beds)this: 540 · peers avg: 636 (15%)

Data completeness

94%

How many of our profile fields are populated. We surface this so families and researchers know the limits.

Sources