Thanks to Dottie for alerting me to this.

In the Guardian today:

Tens of thousands of prisoners in England and Wales at risk of cell fires – Earlier this week, the Guardian reported on the inquest of Clare Dupree, a woman with severe mental illness who died in a fire in her cell at HMP Eastwood. There have been at least eight other deaths in cell fires in prisons since 2011. https://www.theguardian.com/society/2026/mar/19/prisoners-england-wales-cell-fires-risk-moj

Official Scottish Government statistics on deaths in prison custody from 2012-13 to 2023-24 report a total of 399 deaths, with breakdowns by main causes: probable suicides (115, ~29%), circulatory diseases (83), drug misuse (62), cancer (47), and ‘other’ causes (54, including some digestive issues). No fire-related, smoke inhalation, arson-resulting, or accidental fire deaths are mentioned or categorized in these published aggregates.

https://www.gov.scot/publications/deaths-in-prison-custody-2012-13-to-2023-24/

Reasons?

The transition of Scottish prisons to smoke-free status on 30 November 2018 was effectively an initiative driven under the Scottish National Party (SNP) government.

The policy was announced by the Scottish Prison Service (SPS) in July 2017, with implementation set for November 2018. This made Scotland the first country in Europe (and one of the first globally) to implement a comprehensive, simultaneous nationwide ban on smoking and tobacco possession across all prisons.

https://www.sps.gov.uk/sites/default/files/2024-02/AnnualReportsAndAccounts_2018-2019_CorporateReports.pdf https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ssi/2018/293/pdfs/ssipn_20180293_en.pdf