Barlinnie contingency plans must be top priority, MSPs report

Developing a contingency plan for HMP Barlinnie in the event that it fails must be "of the highest priority" for the Scottish Prison Service (SPS), Holyrood’s Public Audit & Post-Legislative Scrutiny Committee states in a report published today.

Urgent action by the Scottish Government and SPS is also needed across the prison estate, the MSPs add, to address underlying pressures on the prison service, with solutions required from across the justice system.

In their 2018-19 Audit of the Scottish Prison Service, for which the committee took evidence from the Auditor General for Scotland on her report of the same name, they call on the Scottish Government and SPS to take all steps to ensure that the proposed timetable for the completion of a replacement for Barlinnie is adhered to. The prison currently holds about 1,460 prisoners, and if it fails, they state, "the whole prison system is at risk". 

Considering the history of the prison service capital programme to date, the committee thinks it likely that there will be further delays in the completion of the replacement prison. "It is crucial that the SPS and the Scottish Government anticipate and plan for such delays and put in place robust contingency plans", the report states.

It further concludes that pressures from prisoner numbers – the system is currently about 500 prisoners above capacity – and the condition of prisons in general, are now undermining the Scottish Government’s policy objectives of rehabilitating prisoners and reducing reoffending.

Given the condition of Scotland’s prisons in general, the Scottish Government and Scottish Prison Service must also develop robust contingency plans in case any other part of the prison estate becomes uninhabitable.

All contingency plans should reflect the immediate capacity issues faced by SPS and the fact that there is no evidence to suggest that prisoner numbers will decrease in the short term.

The committee observes that 10 years of capital underspend to stay within budget "should have raised serious concerns about future finances, particularly given the continued deterioration of the prison estate", given the deteriorating state of prisons. "The impact of the delay in the capital programme cannot be overestimated."

The report finds that either the numbers entering prisons need to be reduced, or additional capacity provided to ensure that prisons are a safe and adequate environment for those who live and work in them. As such, the service should be funded for the population it currently holds and for the expected increase, rather than it being assumed that prisoner numbers will fall. Suggestions currently being put forward of doubling up prisoners in individual cells are "a step backwards rather than forwards".

While the report states that policy proposals are for the Justice Committee, it concludes: "It is clear that urgent action needs to be taken now by both the SPS and the Scottish Government to address the underlying pressures that the prison service is experiencing and either reduce the numbers entering prison or provide additional capacity (or a combination of both) in order to ensure that prisons in Scotland are a safe and adequate environment for those who live and work in them. Such action must be based on a whole-system approach, requiring solutions from across the justice system."

Committee convener Jenny Marra MSP commented: "Audit Scotland says HMP Barlinnie presents the 'biggest risk of failure in the prison system', but warns there is no clear contingency plan for accommodating the 1,460 prisoners it currently holds should it fail.

"Developing a contingency plan for Barlinnie in the event that it fails must be of the highest priority. Given the state of prisons generally, the Scottish Government and the SPS must develop robust contingency plans should any other part of the prison estate become uninhabitable."

On underlying pressure on the prison service, Ms Marra added: "The SPS’s revenue budget is down by 12.5% in real terms; the capital programmes for HMPs Barlinnie, Inverness and Greenock are behind schedule; and prisoner violence is on the increase. At its core, this situation is undermining the Scottish Government’s policy objectives of rehabilitating prisoners and reducing reoffending."