Those intrepid Lib Dem Scottish Parliament researchers have discovered that Scotland’s prison service is struggling in a number of ways.

In response to a freedom of information request from the party, the Scottish Prison Service revealed that in the past five years two prisoners have escaped from custody. There have been a further 34 incidents where prisoners have been either released or detained in error.

Justice Spokesperson Liam McArthur said:

While these incidents are few and far between they represent a threat to the wellbeing of prisoners and a risk to the public.

Public protection must remain the top priority when it comes to transporting and releasing prisoners. However, risks need to be minimised and pressures alleviated across the prison system for the sake of the welfare, wellbeing and protection of staff and all those who are imprisoned.

Scotland has one of the highest prison populations in Europe. With reports that staff are being “run ragged” and clear evidence that too many people are being sent to prison when more effective disposals are available, the potential for mistakes to be made is there.

It is time for radical and ambitious reform which reduces the pressure on the prison service, reduces reoffending and enables SPS staff to focus on engaging more with serious long-term offenders. Ending the use of ineffective short-term sentences is a good place to start.

In the meantime, the Scottish Government has a responsibility to ensure that prisoner management systems are as robust as they can be.

There is some good liberal stuff in there about reducing the pressure on prisons by imprisoning fewer people an more emphasis on rehabilitation.

This comes just weeks after some research into many failings at the new HMP Grampian were made public by the party.

In the follow-up report after the first horrendously poor one, the problems were clear:

• Staff reporting that they are “run ragged” and that the prison is “running on goodwill”;
• in Ellon wing particularly staff described themselves as “stressed, “stretched to the max” and “at a breaking point”;
• “limited availability of full-time activities, employment, and meaningful/purposeful engagement for prisoners, especially for women, protected prisoners and long-termers”;
• “divisions and ‘competing’ agendas prevented the Grampian vision from being collectively achieved in practice”;

Almost all public services in Scotland just have a sense of being unloved by Ministers at the moment. The SNP Government is showing all the signs of having completely run out of steam. Health, education, prisons, the Police, transport, (don’t get me on the subject of the trains or we’ll be here all night) have no sense of leadership about them. Farmers wait forever to get their payments and ministers just shrug their shoulders. There’s a real sense of biding their time until someone else takes over and attempts to sort out their mess.

* Caron Lindsay is Editor of Liberal Democrat Voice and blogs at Caron's Musings. You can find her on Bluesky at caronmlindsay.bsky.social