Ministers consider use of ‘temporary modular accommodation’ to house prisoners
Prison officers say early release scheme for inmates only provides ‘temporary relief’ as population set to hit almost 9,500 by summer
The Scottish Government is considering using “temporary modular accommodation” to house prisoners, after a warning the number of inmates in the country’s jails could reach almost 9,500 next summer.
Justice Secretary Neil Gray also confirmed the Government is looking at the possibility of building additional blocks at existing prisons.
It came as he accepted the “challenges posed by the current prison population pressures” – with the latest Government projections showing the prison population is “likely” to increase between this month and June of next year.
Scotland’s jails have a combined capacity of 7,805, but at the beginning of this month they housed 8,517 prisoners.
The latest projections suggest that total could rise to as much as 9,450 by June 2027.
Mr Gray said ministers, together with the Scottish Prison Service, had worked to increase the overall capacity of the prison estate by 640 places over the past three years, adding the replacement for Barlinnie Prison in Glasgow will create an additional 357 places when it is opened.
In answer to a written parliamentary question, the Justice Secretary added: “The affordability and deliverability of additional capacity within the prison estate is now being considered, including the possible use of temporary modular accommodation and building of additional house blocks at existing sites.”
Reform UK Scottish deputy leader Thomas Kerr – who had pressed ministers on capacity at Barlinnie – said Mr Gray’s “solution” to the “shortfall” in prison spaces “is to go shopping for temporary units and extra housing blocks”.
The Glasgow MSP branded this a “second raid on the public purse to cover up for the first disaster”.
Mr Kerr insisted: “Instead of throwing good money after bad, the cheaper, common-sense alternative is to keep Barlinnie open, restore it to proper order and use the combined capacity to lock up every offender who belongs behind bars.”
Mr Gray had earlier stressed that Scotland is not the only nation facing challenges of prison overcrowding.
The Justice Secretary said: “Like many countries, Scotland has seen a sustained rise in its prison population, placing significant pressure across the prison estate.
“Prison staff continue to show exceptional professionalism, resilience and commitment in very challenging circumstances, and I am grateful for the vital work they do every day.”
As well as increasing capacity over the past three years, he said ministers were building two new prisons – in Glasgow and in the Highlands – as well as investing in community justice.
“Further action is needed, which is why in June I set out proposals to achieve a sustainable prison population while maintaining public protection and reducing future offending,” the minister said.
“The planned reforms build on the recommendations of the independent Sentencing and Penal Policy Commission, which recognise that Scotland must rethink its approach to community sentencing and imprisonment.
“Alongside expansion of the prison estate, they will strike the right balance across custodial sentences, community sentencing and the need to robustly protect victims and the public.
“Responses to the consultation are being considered to inform next steps.”
A spokesman for the Scottish Prison Service said: “As we have previously made clear, the size and complexity of the prison population is unsustainable and poses a significant risk to the safety of both those living and working in our establishments.
“We need action now to tackle overcrowding, to help us keep people safe, support rehabilitation, reduce reoffending, and help build the safer Scotland we all want to see.”
Phil Fairlie, the assistant secretary of the Prison Officers Association (POA), said the projections will “come as no surprise” to the group’s members.
“From the outset, the POA said that the early release scheme would only provide temporary relief and that the spaces freed up would immediately be filled by newly convicted prisoners,” he said.
“That is exactly what has happened and now the Government is projecting that, in a year’s time, Scotland will have a prison population with almost 1,000 more prisoners than we have at present.
“This is unsustainable and is heaping unbearable pressure on our members.”
Scottish Liberal Democrat justice spokeswoman Yi-pei Chou-Turvey said while building more prisons is “all very well”, there are “more fundamental issues at play too”.
She added: “Until the Government clears court backlogs, gives staff the resources they need and drives down the use of remand, the crisis in our prisons and wider criminal justice system will not end.”
Scottish Labour justice spokeswoman Pauline McNeill said prisons are “at a crisis point” which has become “completely unsustainable”, and she urged Mr Gray to publish a “comprehensive, long term plan”.
She said: “For years, warnings have been ignored, while there has been a lack of any long-term strategy from the Scottish Government to get a grip of the problem.
“Ministers could have spent previous parliamentary terms creating the conditions required for more robust alternatives, instead of belatedly responding to the prison crises and having to consider unpalatable solutions such as changing the definition of short-term prisoners who would serve less time in jail.”
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