The governor of Scotland’s largest prison is to retire after nearly forty years in the service.

In the nine years since Bill McKinlay became the 20th governor of Glasgow’s Barlinnie prison, the number of people in Scottish prisons has nearly doubled to 8000. Now he says that the country is sending too many people to jail.

Mr McKinlay says he understands that the public might want to see criminals locked up. However, he believes that this policy is not working.

He said: "We’re trying to wrestle with this idea that alternatives in the community are seen as a soft option, and trying to convince the public that in actual fact it’s harder for those that commit offences than incarceration, because they have to be responsible and pay back to the community.

"Relapse is really not an acceptable thing for most of the public – in other words, if somebody fails, they fail. In actual fact, we should be continually trying to engage them with the community because they’re coming back into the community.

"It’s costing about £25,000 per prisoner place – and that’s in here. We’re one of the cheaper prisons because of the overcrowding. Remember, most of these people that are in prison come from specific areas – they don’t come from Bearsden, or Milngavie, or the good areas of Edinburgh. We know where they come from, and we have done for decades."

He continued: "So we should be tackling the issues outside because that’s where the behaviours manifest themselves, that’s where the people will live their lives and their behaviour will impact positively or negatively – not in prison.

"I understand victims and their concerns but I think it’s necessary to look at different ways. We can’t keep incarcerating and incarcerating."

Mr McKinlay does not accept that public spending cuts mean that prisons are the most cost-effective way of dealing with criminals, saying that there are "cheaper alternatives".

He said: "We have to be realistic about this. We’re not exempt. I’d rather have schools than prisons. I’d rather have alternatives for kids than spend money on prisons. So there are cheaper alternatives than imprisonment."

Speaking about the changes he had seen during his career, Mr McKinlay said: "I think the prison service itself is at a stage where it’s advancing significantly from what I knew a few decades ago. The problem with that is that it’s expanding, and the last thing that we want is expansion at the cost of society.

"Basically, if we are in a society that wants more prisons, that’s not a very good society to be in. We really have to start getting our head round as a society that there are other means to deal with this, whether it’s authoritative means or by allowing people to stay in the community, repay their debts, and go and live in a community."