Community Union has voiced its concern following the release of a projection suggesting that Scotland’s prison population could hit an all-time high of 8,700 inmates next year.
The Scottish Government has yet to confirm or deny the projection, but earlier this week Justice Secretary Angela Constance acknowledged that the prisoner population had increased by 9% over the last year alone.
Steve Farrell, Community’s Regional Secretary in Scotland, said:
“Community is concerned by this projection. Undoubtedly such a significant rise in prisoner population will apply an even greater pressure on our members. There was a recent proposal to increase prisoner places in the Scottish estate, however, regrettably other factors got in the way of this.”
“It is crucial that those in authority find proactive solutions to the growing population of the Scottish Prison Estate, rather than taking retrospective steps that offer very little in the way of prisoner rehabilitation and staff safety.”
Community is the union for justice and custodial sector workers, representing thousands of members whose work is vital to our justice system and to public safety. Our members work for a range of organisations in the sector. We represent workers at private prisons, secure immigration centres, young offender institutions, courts, in prisoner escorting and much more. We are a modern trade union, campaigning for a better working world.
© Community Trade Union 2023