The Scottish Government has admitted that Scotland’s billion pound new jail has already been delayed eight times, sparking fears it could miss its planned opening date of 2028.
Politicians have warned that the wait for HMP Glasgow — the already over-budget replacement for 143-year-old HMP Barlinnie — is leading to a “pressure cooker” situation, with new figures revealing almost a thousand assaults on prisoners and staff in the Victorian jail in just five years.
Scottish Liberal Democrat Justice spokesperson, Liam McArthur, blamed SNP "mismanagement," saying the government had "consistently failed to deliver a fit-for-purpose replacement for Barlinnie, despite years of warnings".
Read more on the series:
- 'Staggering' £77,500-per-prisoner annual cost despite 25 years of jail crisis alerts
- Governors want early release scheme for serious offenders
- Read all articles in our Scotland's Prisons: Crisis Behind Bars series
- Annual cost of prisons doubles despite 25 yrs of jail crisis warnings
Earlier this week, The Herald revealed that the Glasgow prison is currently running at 137% capacity, 368 prisoners over limit.
"We are clogged up with long term prisoners in the system.
"43% of the entire prison population are serving long term sentences, four years to life. We need to be looking at releasing them at an earlier period under parole supervision and getting them much more ready to live back in the community after a long time in prison,” she said.
Scotland’s overcrowding crisis is most keenly felt in Barlinnie, with the governor warning two years ago that it could suffer a "catastrophic failure" at any time.
The decision to close the prison and build a replacement was first taken in 2014 after a number of damning reports from prison inspectors found it was no longer fit for purpose.
The replacement was originally set to cost £100m.
In 2022 Justice Secretary Angela Constance told Holyrood's criminal justice committee that replacing the old prison would likely cost £400m or more.
Earlier this year, she confirmed the cost had risen to £998.4m.
Read more in the series:
- Revealed: Cost to replace Barlinnie with new super jail rockets to almost £1bn
- Explained: What the new Barlinnie will look like - and why it's taking so long to complete
- Days of rage: Inside the Barlinnie prison siege of January 1987
She said the cost of the new 1,344 capacity prison was due to wider increases across the construction sector, including the pandemic, Brexit and the war in Ukraine.
Mr McArthur recently tabled a written question in Holyrood, asking the government to set out how many times it had received a revised timetable for HMP Glasgow.
Ms Constance said the first delay came in March 2014 as the “on-going site search” meant “completion dates for the project remained uncertain.”
Two years later the government was told the “estimated operational date was 2022.” Just six months later and that had moved back a year.
By April 2019 the Scottish Government was told it would open in 2024, but by November that year they were told 2026.
In May 2023, ministers were told “the project timeline was uncertain.”
There was some certainty by July 2023 when they were told the “most likely time-scale for construction completion was 2027” but that there were “risks associated with this.”
In May 2024 the Scottish Government was then told “the most likely time-scale for construction completion was 2028.”
In response to another written question from the Lib Dem, the Scottish Government revealed that between January 2020 and December 2024, there were 222 assaults on prison staff and 776 assaults on prisoners at HMP Barlinnie.
Mr McArthur 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 has 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.”
“HMP Glasgow will have a transformative impact in how we support and rehabilitate people.
“It is an investment in our staff, in those in our care, and in Glasgow and Scotland as a whole, as we work with our partners to improve people’s futures and together build safer communities.”
Responding to the Lib Dem's comments, Justice Secretary Angela Constance said: "Any attacks on prison staff or other prisoners is completely unacceptable and all incidents involving alleged criminality are reported to Police Scotland.
“We recognise that HMP Barlinnie is no longer fit for purpose, which is why a contract has been signed to build the new HMP Glasgow. It will increase prison capacity, transform how prisoners are rehabilitated, improve staff working conditions and generate up to £450m worth of economic benefits, including jobs and contracts for businesses in Scotland.
"The new prison is a complex project and it took time to ensure we had the right site and plan.
“The prison population has significantly grown in recent years and I recognise that the impact is being felt in prisons and across the justice system.
“We want to shift the balance with prison and community justice and we are investing an additional £25m over two years to support community justice services, including diversion from prosecution, alternatives to remand and community sentencing.
"This brings our total budget for community justice to £159m, recognising the key role that such services play in our justice system, including in ensuring our prisons can safely and effectively house those who pose a risk to public safety.”
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