Prison bosses at the north east’s superjail have “continually failed” the region’s young offenders a leading prisoner support charity has said.
Families Outside, which works with the loved one of those behind bars, has been left “disappointed” the Ellon Wing at HMP Grampian in Peterhead is still empty.
Young offenders were moved out of the specialist facility in 2014 following a riot just weeks after the prison opened. They have kept at YOI Polmont ever since.
North-east MSP brands HMP Grampian an embarrassment, following riot
The Scottish Prison Service (SPS) said one the reason the young prisoners have not returned to the facility is down is a “dramatic” fall in their number with just 27 currently from the Aberdeen and Inverness post code areas being held.
But Professor Nancy Loucks, the chief executive of Families Outside, said maintaining links with relatives is all part of the rehabilitation process.
She said: “We are disappointed that, after four years, the SPS is still unable to confirm whether young people in custody will return to Grampian.
“The continual failure to reintroduce a hall for young people is contrary to the SPS’s recent Family Strategy and to their stated commitment to locating prisoners close to their homes, families, and communities.
“Maintaining positive links with family means that people are more likely to have a place to stay on release as well as social support, financial support, and links to employment.
“Families Outside has long argued that even the facilities at HMP Grampian are not ‘local’, considering that over 90% of the population there come from an hour away in Aberdeen or further south.
“This is nevertheless closer than the young offenders’ current location at HMYOI Polmont, which poses considerable difficulties and costs for families for prison visits, especially when using public transport.”
Prominent north-east politicians have backed the view taken by Families Outside on matters at the £140 million prison complex.
Labour MSP Lewis Macdonald urged those at the very top of the country’s justice system to “listen” to the concerns raised.
He said: “I couldn’t agree more. The SPS have produced a strategy but they are not delivering it.
“Ministers should listen to agencies who work with the prison service.
“We must get this wing operational.”
Shadow justice secretary Liam Kerr said he “sympathised” with the position being taken by Families Outside.
He called for “clarity” on the future options for the young offenders unit at the South Road prison.
Mr Kerr said: “One of the big selling points of HMP Grampian when it opened was that it would house young offenders closer to their families.
“A local facility provides an obvious benefit for family members wishing to visit, but that contact also helps with the rehabilitation process.
“Due to the ongoing and so far open-ended closure of the Ellon wing in Peterhead, that benefit has been lost.
“I sympathise with Families Outside and I hope that the Scottish Prison Service can provide some clarity soon in terms of where these young offenders will be located in the future.”
A Scottish Prison Service spokesman said: “The number of young offenders has dropped dramatically.
“There are around 27 of them from the Aberdeen and Inverness postcode area and that is quite a limited number, so it is difficult to offer them rehabilitation.
“The bulk of the prison population comes from the central belt and we’ve seen a decline in the numbers in the north-east and that creates its own degree of uncertainty.”
