As previously advised, on 14 February 2024, Turning Point’s 218 service for women closed its doors. The 218 service operated eight residential beds for women with a criminal justice background and complex needs. It offered an alternative to custody for women in the justice system, helping up to 50 women a year. We fed a number of MSPs information on this and its important part in preventing the 'revolving door' of women's short-term offending was repeatedly raised in Parliament to little or no avail. We highlighted that there were some very worrying statements being made in Parliament – even from the First Minister – which seemed to conflate the 218 service with the Lilias Centre. The fact that the former is/was a women’s residential drug rehabilitation centre (as an alternative to custody) and the latter is a women’s prison (the definition of custody) appeared to be lost on far too many people.