INSPECTORS have branded Scotland’s prisons unfit for purpose and their regimes “inadequate” as overcrowding takes its toll.

In their mid-year report — covering April to September 2023 — HM Inspectorate for Prisons in Scotland (HMIPS) found overcrowding, driven by short sentences and a spike in remand as courts clear a Covid-19 backlog, is harming rehabilitation.

The report, published today, stated that “too many people are held on remand, and too many continue to be given short sentences.

“The regime in many prisons is inadequate, with too many prisoners spending far too long confined to their cells,” it said.

“Scottish Prison Service (SPS) senior managers and the Scottish government urgently need to look at the resources available to prisons if they truly want to offer rehabilitation, reduce the prison population and end the cycle of crime and imprisonment that blights so many lives.”

HM Chief Inspector of Prisons, Wendy Sinclair-Gieben, told BBC Radio Scotland: “It’s worrying. We’ve got a prison estate that, despite significant investment in the last few years, has actually not been fit for purpose.

“The reality is it’s overcrowded, and I think it’s important to remember that overcrowding has a direct impact on the safety of the community.”

Welcoming the report, an SPS spokesman said: “We have a population that is not only rapidly increasing, but also far more complex, which continues to put significant pressure on our establishments, staff and those in our care.

“Despite this, our staff work hard to offer the best possible regimes.”

The Scottish government said that £167 million capital funding will be invested in the prison estate to allow the SPS to progress in the construction of HMP Highland and HMP Glasgow, continuing the modernisation of the prison estate to better meet the needs of staff and prisoners.