By Bill Heaney
Responding to a new report from HMIPS in which inspectors have described Scotland’s largest prison HMP Barlinnie as being in a “wretchedly poor state”.
This follows a review which also found the facility to be over 30% above its capacity, Scottish Liberal Democrat deputy leader Wendy Chamberlain MP, right, said: “A replacement for Barlinnie is urgent but SNP ministers just can’t be trusted to get this done.
“Their government have monumentally mismanaged the replacement for Scotland’s biggest prison since day one.
“After spending years ignoring prison overcrowding, the SNP are now having to let out serial offenders. Inside prisons, assaults and violent incidents are rife, with staff having less time to work with individuals to cut the chances of reoffending.
“Ministers have even given themselves the powers to let out certain prisoners against the wishes of prison governors. They’ll do anything rather than ensure that major projects like Barlinnie are delivered on time and on budget.”
Scottish Liberal Democrat justice spokesperson in the Scottish Parliament Liam McArthur MSP has warned of monumental mismanagement and pressure cooker conditions as he revealed that the Scottish Government has had to adjust the timeline for the delivery of the proposed HMP Glasgow prison on eight occasions since it was originally proposed a decade ago. It is now expected to be completed in 2028.
A parliamentary question from Mr McArthur has also revealed that there have been almost a thousand assaults on prisoners and staff in the current Barlinnie prison in the past five years.
Between Jan 2020 and December 2024, there were 222 assaults on prison staff and 776 assaults on prisoners at HMP Barlinnie.
Mr McArthur, left, said: “It’s been clear for years that Barlinnie is out-of-date. The poor state of facilities and pressure cooker conditions are putting both prisoners and prison staff at risk.
“Sadly, the SNP government have monumentally mismanaged the replacement for Scotland’s biggest prison since day one. We are now on our eighth round of delays, with no real guarantee that there won’t be more.
“Over the years, the SNP have failed to do enough to tackle dangerous levels of overcrowding in Scotland’s prisons. Improving both facilities and conditions at Barlinnie can help staff work with individuals to cut the chances of reoffending.
“We need to see a serious and sustained effort by the Justice Secretary to get this vital project back on track.”
HMIPS noted nearly two thirds of prisoners were sharing cells designed to hold only one person during its assessment of the 143-year-old facility and said this factor could also account for a pre-inspection survey finding a high number of prisoners complaining about the behaviour of staff.
The survey found more than half of prisoners had witnessed staff “abusing, bullying, threatening or assaulting” another prisoner, according to HMIPS, which it described as a “serious cause for concern”.
“That may, in part, explain the most worrying aspect of our pre-inspection survey, where more than half (55%) of prisoners said they had witnessed staff members abusing, bullying, threatening or assaulting another prisoner, and 42% reported that staff had abused, bullied, threatened, or assaulted them.
“Inspectors never witnessed any unacceptable behaviour and, indeed, observed staff engaging prisoners in cheerful but respectful light-hearted banter, but these results were worse than for other closed prisons and gave serious cause for concern. We encourage the prison to reflect further on the survey findings.”
Justice Secretary Angela Constance, pictured right, welcomed the inspectorate’s finding that Barlinnie is a “safe, stable, well-run prison”, adding: “I recognise, however, the need for a replacement, which is why a contract was signed in January to build the new HMP Glasgow.