£100k golden goodbyes as prison staff quit in droves

MILLIONS of pounds of taxpayers’ cash is being paid in exit deals to prison officers – who are quitting Scottish jails plagued by drug-fuelled ‘paranoia, fear and violence’.

Dozens of staff unable to cope with the physical and mental demands of the job have been given leaving packages worth tens of thousands.

The Prison Officers Association (POA) said as many staff left the service on ‘capability’ grounds in the first three months of 2019 as would normally leave in a whole year.

The service is also suffering high sickness rates, with many now absent unlikely to return, the POA said.

This is due partly to the retirement age rising from 55 to 68 but it is only in the past 18 months that there has been a sudden rise in early exits.

The POA believes this is due partly to the rise in jails of psychoactive substances that are harder to trace than heroin, cannabis and cocaine.

POA chairman Phil Fairlie said such drugs ‘make the prison environment completely unpredictable’.

He added: ‘A tiny amount can last a group of prisoners a huge amount of time. They’re spaced out... on a different planet. There’s lots of paranoia, fear and violence.

‘The number of people off sick with stress and mental health problems has rocketed due to the atmosphere we are having to work in. Because of the increase in sickness, those staff who are left have to work increasing hours in order to cope.’

Prison officers who quit on health grounds receive compensation. Those unable to cope physically, often due to the raised retirement age, are dwarfed by those leaving on mental health grounds.

In 2017-18, there were 35 exit packages, including 18 for mental health and 12 for physical problems. A year later there were 77, including 43 for mental health against 25 for physical reasons. In the first six months of 2019-20, there have been 50, with 31 on mental health grounds.

Last year the Scottish Prison Service (SPS) paid out £2.3 million in exit packages – 23 of them worth between £50,000 and £100,000 each. This year’s figure is likely to be even higher.

Last night, Scottish Tory justice spokesman Liam Kerr said: ‘The SNP’s failure to support or resource the SPS properly has led to an unprecedented health and morale crisis.’

The Scottish Government said it ‘takes very seriously the pressures facing prisons, including the issue of substance misuse’.

A spokesman added: ‘We have already made additional financial provision available to help the SPS meet cost pressures.’