Too many prisoners facing activity restrictions at HMP Edinburgh

Too many prisoners at HMP Edinburgh face activity and regime restrictions which prevent them from making constructive use of their time, according to a new report.

HM Chief Inspector of Prisons for Scotland, David Strang, today launches his report of an inspection of HMP Edinburgh carried out in March 2017.

Mr Strang said: “The complexity of the population mix presented a continuing challenge for those running the prison. The situation remains unchanged from four years ago, when we last inspected HMP Edinburgh, and we are disappointed that the SPS has not rectified this either locally or nationally.

“The result has been an observed restriction in the activities and regime for too many prisoners, reducing the time that was available for them to spend constructively outside their cells. Staff attendance patterns only served to exacerbate the issue further.”

He added that there were “insufficient treatment programmes to allow all prisoners to progress through their sentence”, which resulted in “the build-up of a substantial backlog of prisoners waiting for programmes”.

However, Mr Strang also made a number of positive findings. The report states that prisoners and staff in the prison felt generally safe and that there was “good evidence of positive and respectful relationships throughout the prison”.

There were also positive arrangements in place to support prisoners in preparation for their return to the community.

But for many people leaving HMP Edinburgh, their need for suitable accommodation upon liberation remained pressing, as well as timeous access to healthcare in the community.