A REPLACEMENT for Glasgow’s Barlinnie Prison is expected by 2025, MPs heard.
Justice Secretary Humza Yousaf and Scottish Prison Service (SPS) chief executive Colin McConnell told the Justice Committee 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 relocate the prison 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.”
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McConnell 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.”
Yousaf said he had “grave concern” about the current state of Barlinnie. He said: “I have asked my officials to see if there are some interim measures we can potentially look at around making sure the estate is in a better condition.
“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.”
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