Whether victims of crime and their families are notified when the prisoner who perpetrated the crime absconds.

I have asked MikeEwart, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to respond.
His response is asfollows:
Sections 16 and 17of the Criminal Justice (Scotland) Act 2003 give eligible victims of crimes(or in certain circumstances the relatives of those victims) the right to receivecertain information about the offender, through the Victim Notification Scheme.Victims who have opted into the scheme are entitled, among other things, to be toldif the offender has escaped or absconded from custody. In such circumstancesthe SPS alerts the police immediately and if the offender is considered to presenta threat to the victim the police take steps to ensure that they are notified assoon as possible. The SPS will also send a letter to the victim as soon as possible.The Victim Notification Scheme member will also be notified when the offender isreturned to custody.