New superjail to replace Barlinnie 'by 2025'

The Justice Secretary, along with Colin McConnell, chief executive of the Scottish Prison Service, told the Justice Committee on Tuesday that a deal to buy land for the new superjail was "in its final stages".

In 2018, the Scottish Government announced plans to sell the current site, which was opened in 1882, and re-locate to another area in Glasgow or its surroundings.

In response to a question from Glasgow MSP James Kelly, McConnell said: "We're in the final knockings, the final stages to buy the land on which to build the new Barlinnie."

McConnell (above) also said the Scottish Government had agreed to fully fund the current plans.

He said: "I'm delighted to say that the Scottish Government has given us every indication that the forward plan for Barlinnie, now that we effectively have somewhere to build it, will be fully funded.

"We expect, with a fair wind, that we should have a new Barlinnie by the end of 2024, perhaps 2025."

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McConnell cautioned the committee against sticking too close to the 2025 deadline however, saying "uncertainties in the marketplace" could result in the project taking longer to build.

A presentation was made to the Scottish Government in 2011 for the replacement of Barlinnie and work has been ongoing since that time to secure a suitable site on which to build.

McConnell said: "It would be easy to simply point the finger at the Scottish Government and perhaps ourselves and see we're clearly not very good at what we're doing.

"But as ever, it's more complex than that.

"It has actually taken us that length of time to identify a site that someone was prepared to sell us and which we thought was suitable to buy.

"Here we are, eight years down the line and it's taken us that length of time to get a site."

McConnell also said it took 10 years to secure a site for HMP Highland.

He added: "It's not like ourselves and the Scottish Government have been sitting on our hands waiting for some magic pixie dust to come in and solve everything. These things take an incredible amount of time."

In a later session, Justice Secretary Humza Yousaf (above) said he had "grave concern" about the current state of Barlinnie.

He said: "I know we're investing in Barlinnie, SPS have made progress in terms of the site, we're providing the funding.

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"But Colin McConnell is absolutely right, with the best will in the world we're looking at 2024-25.

"What I have asked my officials to do with SPS as to whether or not there are some interim measures we can potentially look at around making sure the estate is in a better condition.

"I'm happy once we've done that piece of work - we're in the middle of doing it - to provide the committee with a bit more detail.

"Because I have visited Barlinnie and I am not satisfied that it meets our expectations of what we would expect in relation to the prison estate."

The Justice Committee also heard that mental health concerns are the most significant reason for prison guard sickness.

During an evidence session, McConnell told members of the committee in Holyrood that it "should not be surprised" about the number of people who are forced to take time off work due to mental ill health.

According to McConnell, the current situation within prisons, mostly stemming from overcrowding, has caused the spread of stress and anxiety.

Responding to Scottish Conservative justice spokesman Liam Kerr, McConnell said: "We should not be surprised that, in the circumstances we find ourselves in, staff are reporting higher levels of stress and worry and concern.

"I think undoubtedly that is a significant contributor to the high levels of sickness that we encounter."

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The chief executive said there has been a marked rise in the number of people leaving the prison service due to the severity of the impacts on their mental health.

McConnell told the committee the recently extended retirement age being faced by prison officers may also have an impact on the mental health of the already older prison officers.

The chief executive also flagged up that prison staff are reluctant to release offenders on electronic monitoring devices for fear of making mistakes.

McConnell said some officers suffer from "error terror", in case someone who is released goes on to commit a further crime.

Addressing the Justice Committee at Holyrood, McConnell alluded to the murder of Craig McClelland, a father-of-three from Paisley who was stabbed by James Wight, who had 16 previous convictions and was "unlawfully at large" after removing an electronic tag just days after release on a Home Detention Curfew (HDC).

He said: "The way things have gone recently ... in terms of individual events that have happened and the absolute focus on the service and its decision-makers and the incredible criticism that has been levelled against the service for these events.

"You will have heard the term 'error terror', and I think we are in a period right now where decision-makers in the service are concerned about taking decisions and if something is then to happen, to what degree will that individual be held accountable for what happens elsewhere?

"Individual decision-makers having to take into account lots of different information coming from different sources - contributors and professions are always in the position of making the best judgment possible, but not an infallible one.

"My advice to this committee and this Parliament would be to avoid the counsel of perfection.

"I worry that I hear a lot about that going around at the moment, that somehow there are magic, perfect solutions out there if we could only achieve them.

"I have to say to this committee: there aren't."

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Yousaf said revised guidance on the use of the Home Detention Curfew "along with some political signals from the Parliament, that we think there is too much risk aversion in the system will hopefully help to rebalance HDC slightly".

"I don't necessarily envisage it going up to the numbers of 300 as it did previously - it might well do, but I don't envisage it. But, having gone from that to 37, I think most people would agree that the pendulum has swung too far the other way."

Reviews of the use of Home Detention Curfews were carried out in the wake of the murder of McClelland.

Following recommendations from the reviews, the Scottish Government introduced a presumption against violent criminals being released on HDCs, and cross-party tributes were paid to McClelland's family.