Female prisoners from the north and north-east will be given the chance to live in open conditions close to their communities under a scheme being launched next week.
The new community integration units are being opened in Aberdeen and Inverness prisons in an effort to reduce reoffending.
Prisoners in the final months of their sentences could be transferred to their local jail where they will live in open conditions, complete work experience, classes and community projects and have the chance to visit and stay with their families.
Under the “bed-and-breakfast” accommodation scheme they will be able to come and go as they please but will have a curfew to stick to at night.
All female prisoners in Scotland currently carry out their sentence and any community service at Cornton Vale Prison, near Stirling, sometimes more than 150 miles from their family.
HMP Inverness will accept the first women to the new scheme next week. Prisoners are expected to arrive at Aberdeen in the coming weeks.
HMP Aberdeen governor Audrey Mooney said: “I think it’s going to be seen as a real opportunity for the women of the north-east.
“At the end of the day it’s simply about getting women back to being able to function properly, back in their homes with their families.”
Northern Community justice authority chief officer, Philip English, said the new scheme would help women access local services, such as mental health or alcohol and drug treat- ment.
“They will be spending an awful lot of time in the community, not in the prison,” said Mr English.
“It won’t be an overnight success, but I think it’s quite a step forward.
“It’s putting into practice this thing about having some responsibility for what happens in their own communities.”
Deputy governor at HMP Inverness Gordon Morrice said: “I think it’s a good thing for the Highlands that women won’t have to spend their whole sentence at Cornton Vale.
“We can start to work at establishing some links and helping them fit back into the community in a much better way than in the past.”