‘Broken’ prison system sets inmates up to fail, top Scottish inspector says

The prison system is “broken”, with inmates returning to the community “bored and angry” and “set up to fail”, according to Scotland’s outgoing chief inspector.

Wendy Sinclair-Gieben highlighted a succession of failings in a service she described as “the underdog of the criminal justice system”, as she stands down as HM chief inspector of prisons for Scotland at the end of August.

“The prison service is underfunded and underresourced for what the public and judiciary expect of it, yet it’s a very big organisation having to deal with the most marginalised, violent and mentally ill in society,” she said.

She said rehabilitation in Scotland’s prisons was “not in a million years” sufficient. “Fundamentally, progression – which is the convicted prisoner’s journey through prison out to the community – is broken. The system is broken.”

Sinclair-Gieben, who worked in prison leadership in Scotland, England and Australia before her appointment in 2018, described “despairing” inmates unable to take their next steps towards parole because of “huge” waiting lists for the offending behaviour programmes they are required to undertake.

And she criticised the inadequacy of planning for prisoners who have served their sentences, citing individual cases of reoffenders she had spoken to during her six years in the role.

“I met a young woman who had gone out on to a bed and breakfast where she wasn’t allowed to stay during the day. She was lonely, nothing to do, no money and inevitably she went back to her friends who got her back into crime and drugs, so she came back into prison. What are we playing at? That’s setting someone up to fail.”

Lack of meaningful activity in prison, be that exercise, rehabilitation programmes or work – all of which have been further affected by overcrowding – means that inmates are dangerously bored. “It means that people come out angry and bored, while inside they turn to drugs.”

Overcrowding is as significant a problem for the Scottish estate as for the rest of the UK, with more than 470 prisoners nearing the end of their sentence released early over the summer to ease pressures.

Sinclair-Gieben said that although better community alternatives would gradually reduce numbers in prison, “we need to recognise that the population is unlikely to change in the short term” because of better policing of organised crime and sexual abuse cases dating back decades, which attract long sentences.

She also warned against further delays in opening the replacement for Glasgow’s notorious HMP Barlinnie, which is running at 140% capacity according to its governor , after the completion date was pushed back to 2027.

She said Barlinnie, which was ruled no longer fit for purpose in 2020, was “at risk of catastrophic failure, though not from prisoner insurrection but the plumbing”.

“I worry that the money won’t go through for [completing the new prison],” she said. “We know how cash-strapped the Scottish government is. I can imagine if the pressure comes on for potholes, that they’ll think, ‘Well, Barlinnie can cope for another 10 years.’”

She also reflected on her “absolute delight” that the Scottish government has confirmed no more under-18s will be kept in prison. Her repeated appeals were eventually enacted in legislation, but not before Jonathan Beadle, 17, killed himself at Polmont young offender institution near Falkirk in July.

She pointed out that staff in secure care units, where younger offenders are now accommodated, undergo years of appropriate training as opposed to weeks for a prison officer. “It’s a very much more intensive therapeutic environment with a considerably higher staff custody ratio,” she said.

As well as the moral argument against imprisoning children, there was a “real victim imperative”, she added.

“If someone is a serious offender at 17 … they’re going to be coming out in their 40s, and a real danger to society. In-depth assessment and therapeutic intervention early in their prison career is essential.”

Sinclair-Gieben said she hoped that a more trauma-informed and therapeutic model – gradually being introduced in women’s custody units – could be applied to people aged 18-25, given the “significant evidence” that the young adult brain continues to develop and mature during those years.