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A Scottish Prison Service spokesperson said it was proud of staff and the tireless work they do to help rehabilitate individuals and build safer communities. "It is important their voice is heard and listened to, particularly given the extremely high and complex population they are managing, and we remain committed to working alongside them and our trade union partners," they said. Justice Secretary Angela Constance said she welcomed the report and paid tribute to the hard work of prison staff. She said prisons officers have been been awarded an 8% pay increase over two years and £481.5m has been invested into the Scottish Prison Service. She said: "I want a safe and rehabilitative prison environment and have taken a number of actions to tackle the rising prison population, including maximising the estate, increased investment in community justice, with a total of £159m this year to strengthen alternatives to custody, and an increase in the use of Home Detention Curfew. "Whilst prison will always be needed, we need to have sustainable solutions to the prison population and address why Scotland, along with England and Wales, is a complete outlier in comparison with other European countries in terms of our high prison population." The Scottish Conservatives and Scottish Labour have accused SNP ministers of mismanaging the prison system. They say early release has been used as a "sticking plaster solution" without addressing long-term problems.
