Prison can't use full capacity to curb overcrowding due to staffing crisis

Despite nationwide overcrowding, a prison in the northeast of Scotland is unable to use its total capacity due to staffing levels.

Inspectors have said the Scottish Prison Service (SPS) must bring in more staff to fully reopen high-quality accommodation for young offenders at HMP Grampian in Peterhead, Aberdeenshire.

HM Inspectorate of Prisons for Scotland said it should be a priority for the SPS to reach the staffing levels necessary to reopen Cruden Hall, one of the residential housing blocks at the prison.

Inspectors said that would ease overcrowding pressures across the prison estate and reduce the need for inmates to share cells designed for one person or sleep on mattresses on the floor.

Their report said: “Following an occurrence of serious disorder in its early months, male young offenders were relocated and the accommodation they occupied, Cruden Hall, was closed.

“It was disappointing that some of the highest quality of prison estate in Scotland was lying empty at the time of our inspection, although they have now started to reopen part of it to deal with the current overcrowding crisis across the prison estate.

“HMP & YOI Grampian suffered from the same malaise as several other Scottish prisons, an impoverished regime, with almost 40% of the population (who responded) in our pre-inspection survey claiming that they had less than two hours out of cell each day.”

Stephen Sandham, the interim chief inspector of prisons for Scotland, said it was generally a pretty good report but with room for improvement.

He said: “It is frustrating (that Cruden Hall is not open) and that’s why it was our top recommendation that they should work to reopen Cruden Hall – a fantastic facility being left empty at a time when the prison estate as whole is really struggling with overcrowding.”

Since the inspection, 25 prisoners are now in Cruden Hall out of a capacity of around 78.

Sandham added: “It’s much to the credit of HMP Grampian and the SPS that they have now managed to reopen part of that, there’s still more to do to reopen the hall fully but at least they have addressed that recommendation.

“It’s a step forward but it’s not going to solve the problem because the level of overcrowding is such that certainly on its own it’s not going to solve the problem but every little bit helps.”

The inspection report did outline a number of priority areas, stating that excellent work was being done by the outreach team.

It said another highlight was the prison’s development programme and associated staff mentoring arrangements.

Justice secretary Angela Constance said: “The Scottish Government welcomes the Inspectorates report and the finding that HMP & YOI Grampian is a stable, forward-looking prison.

“The report has identified a number of good practices in relation to both prisoners and staff – highlighting the prison library, strong multi-agency and partnership working, and the ‘excellent’ person-centred’ work of the outreach Team. Inspectors praised the good work in relation to supporting staff development and wellbeing.

“It is clear, however, that there is still room for improvement, and the Scottish Prison Service will respond to all of the HMIPS recommendations and are taking steps to reintroduce a more productive regime and address challenges around staffing.

“We have increased investment in our vital prison service by 10% to £436.5m in 2024/25 to enable SPS to continue to provide a safe and secure prison estate.”

A Scottish Prison Service spokesperson said: “We welcome this report, which highlights that HMP & YOI Grampian is a forward-looking prison, with many areas of good practice, including a strong focus on addressing the needs of older people, an emphasis on specialist training for staff in neurodiversity, and some of the best accommodation in Scotland.

“Work is already underway to address many of the recommendations made.

“Cruden Hall has been re-opened as part of our ongoing work maximise our use of all available space across our establishments in response to the population pressures our staff have been managing for several months.”

Earlier this week, a bill reducing the automatic release point for short-term prisoners was passed by MSPs.

The Prisoners (Early Release) (Scotland) Bill is expected to see the release of between 260 and 390 prisoners by reducing the automatic release point to 40% of the sentence of those serving less than four years, from 50%.

The legislation was proposed to reduce the pressure on Scotland’s ailing prison service, which is currently struggling with overcrowding, but will not allow the early release of those convicted of sexual or domestic violence offences.

As of November 22, the prison population was 8,277, compared with an operative capacity of 8,007.

Sandham said: “If you have been a victim of crime and you are now seeing somebody released earlier than you would have anticipated, that’s a bitter pill to swallow.

“What I would say to them is unless we release the pressure in the system, the prison service as a whole is not going to be able to provide the sort of regime and sort of opportunities for people to progress.”