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Prison bosses say “crisis point” has already been reached as they call for more money to help slash the growing inmate population. The claims made in a new report comes after Justice Secretary Angela Constance announced on Monday that around 1,000 prisoners would be released early by April 2026 after the prison population reached a record high of 8,430. On Wednesday morning, Ms Constance will ask Holyrood’s criminal justice committee to approve her draft proposals. However, a new report by the Prison Officers’ Association said the crisis engulfing the prison estate could now only be tackled by the Scottish Government increasing the prison service’s capital and revenue budgets. The report from the prison officers’ union comes as the association meets in Peebles on Wednesday to discuss serious overcrowding and understaffing, which they say is leading to increased levels of violence, widespread drug misuse and self-harm. Officers have also raised concerns about their own health and wellbeing, recruitment and training policies, the retirement age for prison officers, and the culture within the Scottish Prison Service in this “stark” new report. Read The Steamie - our dedicated politics newsletter Finance Secretary Shona Robison will unveil the Scottish Government’s 2026/27 budget on January 13. Prison officers say there must be increased funding “in the absence of any meaningful strategy to significantly reduce the prison population”. They organisation said more funding would help the stretched service “meet the demands placed upon it and deliver a prison service fit for the 21st century”. Phil Fairlie, assistant general secretary of the Prison Officers’ Association, said: “Crisis point really has been reached in Scotland’s prisons and our members are on the frontline of it. “These skilled workers desperately want to do the job they are trained to do, but are being prevented from doing so because of the intense pressures they face on a daily basis. “The toxic combination of overcrowding and understaffing is having a huge impact on every officer in every prison, and is the root cause of many of the problems experienced by both staff and prisoners. “Addressing overcrowding requires investment in both personnel and the prison estate - this is a key demand contained in this report.” The only European countries with a higher prison population rate are England and Wales, Latvia and Lithuania. This is despite 300 short-term prisoners being released early in the spring in Scotland. The Prison Officers’ Association said it was “supportive” of the early release scheme, but claimed the move was a “sticking plaster approach” as long-term action to tackle overcrowding was needed. The report said the union had “for many years believed that as a society we send too many people to prison”. “We need to provide community support for those with experience of poverty, addiction, mental and physical health conditions, domestic abuse ... only by addressing these issues will offending and reoffending rates be reduced,” the report said. One prison officer said courts should be fast-tracking the most serious cases instead of putting less serious cases on remand. Another added: “We have become a warehouse for offenders, offering few opportunities for rehabilitation. “The Scottish Prison Service and the Scottish Government should be considering what the purpose of prison really is, and investing accordingly.” Suggestions made by the union include having all applicants who make it through to interview stage visit a prison. The report suggests there is “not enough balance or realism in recruitment materials” and the process “paints a glossy, sanitised view of the job”, which is leading to low retention rates. The report says the prison service should consider how officers are recruited from overseas, including looking at visa sponsorship. Seventy per cent of prison officers said overcrowding was making recruitment more difficult. The bulk of the rest of the report from the prison officers’ union focuses on soaring levels of violence and the impact that has on staff. Earlier this year it was revealed almost 70 per cent of prison officers believed the levels of overcrowding were the worst they have ever seen, and 91 per cent said this was causing greater tension in prisons. Officers told the union that violence was increasing and now “part of prison life” and is “often related to a lack of out-of-cell time or food”. One said: “I recently had a prisoner throw a dinner in my face because he couldn’t get a shower.” Others said staff have had their cars set on fire by organised crime gangs and claimed a lot of prisoner-on-prisoner violence goes unreported. In the report, one officer said: “During my 34 years as a prison officer, I have never felt as undervalued as I currently do. Opportunities for both staff and prisoners is at an all-time low, as is staff morale.” A second officer warned: “There is a perfect storm brewing. The level of staff that are being employed is somewhat scary. “That, coupled with losing experienced staff, [means] there is a void of knowledge and capability within the service. “You then have the added pressure of prison population numbers, and the types of narcotics prisoners are consuming, [which] are making prisoners more violent and dangerous than ever - all issues on a scale that has never been seen before, all converging to a single point. It’s a ticking time bomb.” Liam Kerr, the Scottish Conservatives’ justice spokesman, said: “These damning findings lay bare how the SNP’s failure has pushed Scotland’s prison estate to breaking point. “With the prison population at record levels, the safety and wellbeing of both hard-working officers and inmates are being dangerously compromised. “The SNP have failed to deliver the capacity the estate needs with new prisons they promised in Glasgow and the Highlands years late and massively over budget.” The Scottish Government and Scottish Prison Service have both been approached for comment.
