HMP Barlinnie remains in ‘wretchedly poor state’, according to report

HMP Barlinnie remains in a “wretchedly poor state”, according to a new report by Scotland’s prisons inspectorate.  

Five years on from HM Inspectorate of Prisons for Scotland’s (HMIPS) last report into Scotland’s largest prison, which identified Letham Hall, a building within the facility, as in a state of disrepair, it found despite some refurbishments it is in a similarly poor state. 

The inspectorate said the need to replace the overcrowded prison with the new HMP Glasgow, which is set to be completed in 2028, “remains overwhelming and urgent”. 

It described the level of overcrowding as “unacceptable”, and said at the time of inspection the prison was more than 30 per cent over capacity, with almost two-thirds of prisoners sharing cells designed for one person.    

It said the Victorian building represents “a barrier to safety and acceptable living standards” caused by its narrow walkways and steep flights of stairs. 

In February, justice secretary Angela Constance told the Scottish Parliament that the cost to construct the new facility had soared to almost £1bn – far higher than the original £100m estimate, and the later revised £400m estimate.  

Reacting to the report, Scottish Liberal Democrat deputy leader Wendy Chamberlain 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.” 

In the pre-inspection survey, more than half of prisoners said they had witnessed staff members abusing, bullying, threatening, or assaulting another prisoner, while 42 per cent reported that staff had abused, bullied, threatened, or assaulted them.  

Inspectors did not witness any unacceptable behaviour and said they observed staff “engaging prisoners in cheerful but respectful light-hearted banter” but added the pre-survey “gave serious cause for concern”.  

A Scottish Prison Service spokesperson said: “We welcome this report from HMIPS, which highlights the excellent support for first time offenders upon arrival into custody, lifesaving Naloxone training, efforts to encourage people back into education, and the groundbreaking Healthy Dads, Healthy Kids programme, as well as some of the challenges the establishment faces.

“The Scottish Prison Service takes a zero-tolerance approach to bullying and, while we note inspectors did not witness bullying but rather found staff to be engaging and respectful to people in the care of HMP Barlinnie, we are not complacent and are committed to developing a new strategy later this year after drawing on external expertise.

“We have been managing an extremely high and complex population for more than a year, and this puts pressure on everyone living and working in our establishments. Staff work hard to maximise opportunities for rehabilitation, education, and other activities out of cells, to support people’s personal journeys, reduce the risk of reoffending, and help create safer communities. However, this is challenging given the population pressures faced.”