Crisis-hit prisons ‘risk breaching rights of inmates’

It said there were concerns about how human rights issues could “present a live risk for the Scottish government and the Scottish Prison Service, as well as a future financial risk” and recommended that a review should be a carried out.

Looking at the GEOAmey prisoner transfer contract, the committee found there was no single factor responsible for recent failings – which have seen prisoners miss court appearances and medical appointments

It said “staffing issues, an increasing prison population with more complex health needs and an increased court capacity aimed at addressing court backlogs” had all contributed to the problems.

The report also raised concerns about how the prisons could meet the needs of an ageing prison population and whether “elderly and infirm prisoners who are of limited risk to society due to their deteriorating health” should remain in prison.

Among other concerns, it noted that Scotland’s newest prison, HMP Stirling, does not have any cells with doors wide enough for a bariatric wheelchair, a heavy-duty type of chair used for obese inmates.

The union representing Prison Officers said they had been raising many of the issues highlighted in the report for years.

Phil Fairlie, assistant secretary of the Prison Officers Association, said they were pleased to see the “powerful report”.

“Scotland’s prisons are dangerously overcrowded, understaffed and as the chief executive of the Scottish Prison Service has said, some are not fit for purpose and on the brink,” he said.

“This is placing huge pressures and strains on our members and has the capacity to compromise the human rights of prisoners.”

Mr Fairlie added: “In absence of a dramatic change to sentencing policy, or the purpose of prisons in this country, then what we need is sustained investment to provide additional staffing and capital investment, to ensure the prison estate can meet the needs of society.”