Replacement prison still years away as search for site continues

By The Newsroom
Published 29th Sep 2011, 02:55 BST
A REPLACEMENT for Scotland’s smallest prison will cost at least £52 million and is still several years away, the Scottish Government has confirmed.

Justice secretary Kenny McAskill said it was hoped a site would be identified for Inverness Prison between 2012 and 2015.

Labour MSP David Stewart has been pressing for a new jail because of overcrowding at the facility, which was built in 1902.

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Mr Stewart said the prison had excellent staff who were trying to do their jobs “with one arm tied behind their back”. He added: “There have been lots of promises from the SNP about the prison project but not a lot of action.

“Clearly the longer you take to identify a site the more the cost is going to go up. It’s important we do this project sooner rather than later.”

The Scottish Prison Service had identified land owned by Highlands and Islands Enterprise at Beechwood on the outskirts of the city for a new jail. But last year HIE said the site, earmarked for a new academic campus, did not have “a strong strategic fit”.

In 2008 an inspection found an establishment with a capacity for 104 inmates trying to cope with 148.