SNP forks out £4m on prison that is set to be axed

MORE than £4million has been spent upgrading a prison that has been earmarked for closure within the next few years.

The cash has been spent since 2012 on ageing Cornton Vale in Stirling, even though plans existed at the time to replace it with a super-prison in Greenock, Renfrewshire.

The Scottish Government now plans a series of smaller units instead – but Cornton Vale is still scheduled to close in 2018.

A further £7million had already been spent on the planned replacement super-prison, although the Greenock site could still be used in the future. Conservative MSP Alex Johnstone said: ‘Everyone accepts conditions for prisoners have to be of an acceptable standard and from time to time money will have to be spent on renovations.

‘But people will think it is sheer bad planning for the Scottish Government to spend £4million on a prison it knew was going to close within a few years.

‘There must have been a more cost-effec- tive solution that would ensure conditions were up to standard and the taxpayer got value for money. But if you add that to the £7million wasted on the axed plans for a new super- prison, it paints the SNP i n an extremely incompetent light.’

A Freedom of Information Request to the Scottish Prison Service (SPS) disclosed that the total cost of renovations at Cornton Vale is £4.37million.

An SPS spokesman said the body has a duty to ensure inmates are kept in acceptable conditions. SPS communications man- ager Lyndsey Talbot said: ‘ The Scottish Government has decided that a new 80-place national prison for women will be built on the existing site at Cornton Vale. The existing facilities and accommodation buildings at Cornton Vale will be decommissioned following the completion of the new prison.’

A Scottish Government spokesman said: ‘This is an operational matter for the Scottish Prison Service.’

Plans for the female super- prison at Greenock were reversed earlier this year by Justice Secretary Michael Matheson.