Reliance Custodial Services, the company which operates the Prisoner Escort Contract on behalf of the Scottish Government, has appointed Denise McGuigan , the group's formeracting Director of Operations as its new Director of Operations Scotland.

The company had an inauspicious start when it took over prisoner escorts from SPS after a series of high profile errors and accidental releases of prisoners.  More recently the group has been accused of poor treatment of prisoners, denying access to basic lavatorial facilities whilst vehicles were parked, to allow more prisoners to be transferred from courts with fewer journeys.

“Reliance is very customer and people focused business," McGuigan said.

"I hope to bring my experience in that area to bear to further develop our current services and identify new opportunities where we can serve the Scottish public."

Reliance Custodial Services is based in East Kilbride, and employs 700 staff throughout Scotland. The Company is responsible for transporting around 17,000 prisoners a month between Scotland’s courts, prisons and police custody units.

Denise McGuigan succeeds Jim Greenoak who has moved on to a UK-wide role within Reliance as its new Director of Immigration Services.