Prison governors raise spectre of emergency powers to free inmates
CRIMINALS may have to be freed from prison to tackle an overcrowding crisis, jail bosses have warned.
Seven prisons in Scotland are already at ‘red risk’ status amid soaring numbers of inmates – raising fears they can no longer be safely run.
The Prison Governors’ Association Scotland (PGAS) has written to MSPs to voice concern at the ‘permacrisis’ and to call for emergency release measures and greater use of electronic tagging.
There is a precedent as hundreds of convicts were freed early during the pandemic to reduce the virus risk behind bars – although more than 40 per cent ended up back in jail. Prisoner numbers are already at the highest level since 2019, at around 8,200, while the remand population, those awaiting trial or sentence, has nearly doubled over the past five years to around 2,000 – mainly due to court backlogs.
Ministers predict the total will hit 8,450 by next month, causing significant overcrowding and requiring cells to hold more people than they are designed for.
Scottish Tory justice spokesman Russell Findlay last night said: ‘A succession of dithering and weak SNP justice ministers has allowed Scotland’s prisons to reach a state of permanent crisis.
‘Staff are paying the price for their shocking failure to build much-needed new prisons.’
Of the country’s 17 jails, the PGAS said seven have declared a ‘red risk’. This means the Scottish Prison Service may be required to ‘reduce or discontinue service delivery for those in SPS care [prisoners], leading to increased operational risks, instability and reputational damage’.
In a letter to Holyrood’s criminal justice committee, PGAS chair Natalie Beal said: ‘Our members are working in a state of “permacrisis”, with constant pressures due to a mix of population complexity and physical numbers.
‘We are concerned emergency action will only be taken when something goes significantly wrong. We would welcome the consideration of urgent mitigation in the form of emergency release measures, greater use of electronic monitoring – particularly used instead of remand.’
The latest official figures from the SPS show there were 8,198 people in custody as of April 26.
At the end of April last year, the prison population was 7,361.
An SPS spokesman said: ‘We have a population which is rising rapidly and is increasingly complex, and this is putting significant pressure on our staff.
‘The complexity is driven by the high number who require to be accommodated separately, for example because they are on remand, have links to serious and organised crime, or due to their offending history, all of which exacerbates the challenges faced.
‘Many of our establishments are full beyond design capacity. This restricts our staff’s ability to support rehabilitation which is key to reducing reoffending.’
The Scottish Government said it is ‘focused on addressing the high prison population’, including ‘investing in community-based sentences which can be more effective at reducing reoffending’.
WITH prison bosses declaring a ‘red risk’ overcrowding emergency in seven jails, the SNP government is presiding over a ‘permacrisis’ in the penal system.
Governors warn powder-keg conditions mean some prisons could become unmanageable, prompting them to recommend consideration of releasing some inmates. They also want greater use of electronic tagging to reduce the prison population – but where does public safety figure in this analysis?
As always, it is an afterthought – meaning the needs of criminals are prioritised over those of their victims and the wider community.
Meanwhile, the number of police officers in Scotland has dropped again to its lowest level in more than 15 years – with almost 260 officers having left the force in the past year alone.
The SNP once attempted to present itself as the party of law and order – but not for the first time has been revealed as the party of soft-touch justice.